Sharon has built businesses from his own computer for the past 20 years. He started back in the era of the dot com crash, where he ran a web hosting provider with an office in India. Like many entrepreneurs, he was taken in by the idea that he could combine the growing technical expertise in India with the much lower cost of living and hire several expert developers for the cost of a single western worker. But the reality made much less sense than the math. The fact was that he had the people, but they lacked the team spirit, the culture. His experts were scattered and didn’t know how to work together – and the company suffered for it. Once he sold that first company, he realized that whatever he would do next, he would benefit from managing his own employees remotely, but also that he would need them to feel the same
tight-knit bond that people working in the same office have. As a child, he loved team sports like rugby and football, so he knew exactly what to shoot for – he just had to make it happen online!
FMM: Share your background. Who inspired you for remote work?
I was born in Israel and moved to Montreal, Canada at age 10. I grew up in a house where owning your company was not encouraged, but at the same time, it was the only option.
It was actually my dad, the first person I ever say building an entire company from his computer. He would design entire machines on his computer with clear instructions, send it to a machine shop to put them together, and send it to a client. I’m talking about half a million-dollar machines all from his home office.
FWM: How obsessed are you with remote management?
I’m supercalifragilisticexpialidocious obsessed. Or, as my daughter likes to say, googol obsessed. I want the world to turn into a remote haven, but even more I want to create an infrastructure where remote work could be awesome for everyone. We have a website for everyone interested in remote work called ThinkRemote, we’re also building a software at this moment and I’m even focusing on remote work out. I hope this is obsessed enough 🙂
FMM: Share a pivotal moment in your career
The most major pivotal moment in my career is getting my first 2 big clients. Knowing that they were real clients who wanted my product was a huge relief and what disconnected me from the famous cliche business statistic that 9 out of 10 businesses Fail. Even more important, this also meant that I could pay my bills.
I believe that to succeed in business is to stay in business, and for that, the key is to pay your bills. I know you probably expected me to mention when I made my first million or when people recently started to accept remote, which are also pivotal points. But for me, the knowledge that I’m running a business with a product that people want to buy, and I’m paying my bills was the most important period in my business.
FMM: Your new book, Surviving Remote Work: Thrive as a Leader and Entrepreneur in the Remote Age. Who is this book for?
This book is directed both to managers and employees. My message is that the employee is only as good as the management. Yet if the management sucks, in the book, you’ll find what you can do to become the next manager.
FMM: Share a few best practices from your book.
One of the best practices mentioned in the book that I’ve learned b many years working remotely is prioritizing your social life as you prioritize work and business meetings.
Another best practice is regarding trust. As a leader, you need to focus on building trust. Building trust is not about whether you can trust or not your employees; it’s about them trusting you. A good litmus test is how you react to your employees’ feedback. If they call you out on bullshit every once in a while and whether you take it well or not.
FMM: How does remote work benefit companies and their bottom line?
There is already so much research, including the MIT Sloan one, showing that remote people are happier, independent, and more productive. At home, you get to work in a more optimal environment; you get less distracted by colleagues talking over you. You don’t need to stop in the middle of a project to go home or to eat during a specific lunchtime. You don’t get interrupted by random meetings as you do in a regular office.
In general remote employees are more aware of their distractions. Not mentioning you waste less on office space, and expenses revolve around it. Going remote is the right choice for most companies.
FMM: You run DistantJob, a unique recruitment agency geared specifically for finding full-time remote employees who work from all over the world. Tell us more.
To continue that phrase, we headhunt exceptional people from established companies and entice them with a remote job. Even more unique is our add one HR service, where we make sure that all candidates get paid in their personal optimal format and pay attention to their mental health and motivation.
FMM: Is “Surviving Remote Work,” a must-have tool for 2021?
Absolutely, considering the ‘remote era’ we’re living in, my book will help you get through this interesting time.
