Team, Co-founders & Legal

Should my startup be remote, hybrid, or in-office?

A starting point

Remote works and widens your talent pool massively, 37signals has run a calm, remote-first company for two decades, but it demands strong async writing and real trust. Hybrid is often the worst of both if you're sloppy, with in-office people forming a de facto in-group. Pick a model deliberately and design for it; don't drift into a default and hope.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it's here.

Read

📖 Book
Paid Beginner

Rework

From 37signals by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson ~288 pages

Why we picked it

A punchy, contrarian classic on building a lean, sane, profitable company from the founders of Basecamp. It's the antidote to hustle-culture folklore about how startups must operate.

  • Small teams, less process, and shipping beat planning theatre
  • Say no to most things and protect focus
  • You can build a great company without following the standard playbook
Open amazon.com →
📖 Book
Paid Intermediate

It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work

From 37signals by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson ~232 pages

Why we picked it

The definitive manifesto for building a 'calm company', remote-friendly, sustainable, and free of chronic overwork, from a team that's lived it for two decades. Essential for founders designing culture and operations.

  • Sustained output comes from calm and focus, not permanent crunch
  • Default to async, protect deep work, and kill the always-on expectation
  • Reasonable hours and a livable pace are a competitive advantage, not a weakness
Open amazon.com →

People also ask

How do I build company culture intentionally from day one? Culture is what you do repeatedly and reward, not a poster of values, so your own behaviour and your first hires set it whether you're deliberate o... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I run a remote team without endless meetings and burnout? Default to async: write things down, replace status meetings with written updates, and protect long stretches of uninterrupted focus, real work hap... Intermediate 3 resources → What operating cadence and rituals should an early team have? Keep it lean: a short weekly written update, clear owners for every project, and one focused planning rhythm (weekly or bi-weekly) is enough at fir... Beginner 3 resources → How do I avoid burning out my small team while still moving fast? Reject the 'crazy at work' hustle myth, sustained output comes from calm, focus, and reasonable hours, not heroics and permanent crunch. Protect pe... Intermediate 3 resources → How do we preserve culture and values as we grow past the first team? Codify your values into concrete hiring, feedback, and promotion decisions, culture scales through who you reward and who you let go, not through s... Advanced 3 resources →