running a virtual, international company

How to run a Virtual Business

Case study:

About me

InfoQ.com● 750,000 unique

visitors/month● 60 new content items

published/week● Available in 4 languages,

managed by separate teams of staff and editors in:○ China○ Japan○ Brazil○ International (english)

QCon conferences● 500-1200 attendees each● 7 cities worldwide

Stats

● Revenue sources: ○ Online advertising

■ Highly targeted topical sponsorships■ Lead Generation

○ Conferences■ Ticket Sales & Sponsorships

● People and operations in US, Canada, Romania, China, Greece, Brazil

29 staff members across 6 countries

150 editors worldwide

They all work from home

What we'll cover

● How the company got started

● Structural Issues & Benefits

● Tactics used to run a virtual business

● Mindset and culture

How it started

2005: Worlds smallest multinational● Floyd - CEO/Chief Editor - Canada● Roxanne - Sales - California● Alex - Developer - Romania● Jason Lai - Translator - China

5 lead editors (par time)

Today

● C4Media English InfoQ & QCon team○ Canada

■ 3 people: CEO, Ad Prod. Mgr, Finance Ops○ US

■ 2 sales in California, Events Dir. in Florida○ Romania

■ 4 Operations people, 4 software developers○ Greece

■ 1 Platform Lead / Prod. Mgr.○ 40 active editors part time

● China Subsidiary: 15 people + 30 p/t editors● Brazilian Subsidiary: 3 people + 30 p/t

editors● Franchise Partners in Japan, France

Structurally

Canadian Corporation● 100% foreign source revenue (no CDN

revenue)○ US, EU, China, Brazil

● Many international full time contractors● Incorporated in Brazil, US and China● No revenue: no employment relationship

needed for full time people

Benefits

● No commute / Less stressful● Introvert friendly● More time for work● People feel empowered● More time for family● Significantly Lower Operational Costs● Lends well to results-oriented environment● Teams distributed where talent can be hired

for highest value and ○ Nearsourcing ○ Developing Economies

Highly Cost Efficient and Productive

My company would not have survived the first years if completely local & in-person

Being international & with no fixed costs allowed us to be profitable much earlier, crossing the most difficult time when most companies fail

Advantages in Canada

Small Business Deduction: 16% corporate tax on 1st $500K, vs. 30% + in rest of world

Toronto (Eastern timezone) well suited to interact with

○ West coast (afternoon)○ Europe (mornings) ○ Asia (9am or 9pm meetings - 12 hrs diff)

Diversity● Age, gender, culture - all are irrelevant in a virtual

environment where results are what you primarily see● Easier to overcome normal human biases when hiring

Tools and Tactics

Tools Demo

IM/skype- day to day communication

Yammer - culture & info sharing

Google docs- spreadsheets for project specific trackers

Tools Demo

Dashboards○ Objectives Dashboard○ Scoreboards

15five - Automates the weekly 1:1Wiki - for long term reference materialKanbansEmail

Culture and Mindset

Things needed for a well-run company EVEN more important for a virtual oneOne Page Business Plan that everyone has copy of

Purpose and Core Values

Quarterly Objectives

Metrics

Rhythms

Meeting Rhythms

Departments● Quarterly Review & Objectives Setting● Monthly Review● Weekly Dept ● Daily Standups

Per Project● Weekly calls

Annual All-hands Meetings2013: Ireland 2012: Spain2011: Prague 2010: China

Dan Pink: What really motivates employees

● Purpose● Mastery● Autonomy

C4Media’s Purpose

To facilitate the spread of knowledge and innovation in enterprise software development

Purposes Around the World● Apple: To make a contribution to the world by making

tools for the mind that advance humankind● Nike: To experience the emotion of competition, winning,

and crushing competitors● Sony: To experience the joy of advancing and applying

technology for the benefit of the public ● Wal-Mart: To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the

same things as rich people● Walt Disney: To make people happy

Shared Values

C4Media’s Core ValuesTransparency – Be transparent about process, status, expectations, your feelings, successes and failures.

Integrity - We do what we say, and we say what we do. We publish content our readers can trust. We fulfill our commitments to readers, customers, and each other. We act in the best interests of the company. Mastery- We never stop learning and we strive to continual improve our selves, our processes, and our company.

Service – The joy of serving others, we go above and beyond for our customers, for our readers, and for each other. Accountability - Take ownership for results. We'll do what it takes to get things done and are very serious about our commitments Resourcefulness - Find creative solutions to get things done, have a “can do”

attitude.

6 Core Values of

● Safety● Positivity and passion● Appreciative● Fun and friendly● To align customer and corporate interests● Honesty and openness

MetricsEvery Dept should be tracking key metricsReviewed Weekly Dept / Project Calls

Quarterly Objectives

Everyone thinks hard once a quarter: How did I do and what can we FOCUS on to grow the most this quarter?

Common Questions

How do you know people are working?

Trust + TransparencyTrust without transparency is foolishnessTrust with transparency is empowering

Creating Transparency

Dedicated use of transparency tools:● Yammer ● 15five● Scoreboards & Dashboards● Metrics● Dashboards● Emphasizing via core values

Leadership must set an example

Scoreboards for transparency and alignment

Editor Scoreboards

Trust

I'm willing to be misled for a month or two, we'll find out eventually - manageable cost

The motivational worth of trusting everyone who IS working well is priceless

Other Common Questions

Competition? What if people work for competitors?

- no different from any company environment

How do you know they are working correctly?- transparency and rhythms

How do you resolve interpersonal conflict? - no different than any company environment

More Questions?FLOYD@C4MEDIA.COM