When I started Invene years ago, I wanted a massive office. Like Michael Dell, I envisioned having a shiny building with a flagpole in front. There’s something deeply satisfying about looking at a large building and thinking “I own this”. When I hired my first employees though, that vision quickly came crashing down. I could hire great engineers, but on one condition – they wanted to work from home. Willing to do anything to ensure my company’s success, I decided to discard my dream of having an enormous headquarters. In hindsight, it turned out to be the right decision. By being fully remote, I was able to snag great talent long before COVID popularized working from home.

Since I have employees spread across 10 states, I thought it would be useful to share two of the rules we implemented at Invene to increase overall developer productivity.