Reminder to those who aren’t aware: Quora is a rich man’s hobby business. You aren’t going to get practical knowledge from their decisions.
How is it any different from Stack Overflow or Yahoo Answers, except generalized and civilized?
Quora goes permanently remote-first
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Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#32There's an insightful series of comments from Sid, CEO of Gitlab about why this is not likely to work over the long term: https://twitter.com/sytses/status/1264341436138270720 It might be different for Quora given that their CEO and SLT will be remote. But I still believe that whenever you have an office you are creating a community of employees who will have a different relationship to those who are working remotely…
The question is, does that 'community' effect offer a measurable, competitive advantage to businesses with offices vs those that don't?
If no competitive edge is present, it is wasted spending that could be redirected into more fruitful efforts: growing R&D, etc.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#33Their careers web page is already updated to reflect this. They also state remote employees need to be available 9am to 3pm PST and they will be keeping their SV office open: https://www.quora.com/careers They are also hiring a Head of Remote role to manage all of this: https://boards.greenhouse.io/quora/jobs/4774947002
Blows my mind becuase I do not understand how Quora is still around or even generating revenue at all. My first thought when I saw the headline was this is really just about self-preservation and runway extension. Most companies who pivot to a remote first approach are not going to be doing it for altruistic reasons - like being good for their employee health - they're gonna do it merely because it saves money.
Advertising.
Maybe 1 in 3 of the answers you see are just paid ads. They read like utterly normal answers, but work in a reference for why X is the best product to item #4 on their top 5 travel hacks list.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#34Reminder to those who aren’t aware: Quora is a rich man’s hobby business. You aren’t going to get practical knowledge from their decisions.
It was kind of interesting at first when the answers were good and there were some "celeb" participants.
But seems pretty stale now with lots of lead gen answers.
They claim huge traffic numbers which could be possible given the pretty good Google placements.
I don't really get it.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#35Reminder to those who aren’t aware: Quora is a rich man’s hobby business. You aren’t going to get practical knowledge from their decisions.
You can't throw out a comment like that and give no follow up. In what way is it a hobby business?
I’m guessing they’re referring to the fact that the CEO is very wealthy [1] and has self-funded the company, and suggesting that he’s not as concerned with the financials.
1: https://www.forbes.com/profile/adam-dangelo/#657861427cb4
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#36I can't believe this site still exists, who goes there?
I actually have enjoyed a lot of the content there - it’s like Q&A with an emphasis on the personal experience of the person answering. Tons of stuff that would not be appropriate for Stack Overflow, but interesting nonetheless.
To me Q&A is not the interesting part; discussion, rhetoric, and bigger context behind questions are. That's why I always found niche subreddits or niche StackExchange websites a lot more interesting than Quora. I don't remember finding interesting content on Quora on something that's not already on reddit or stackExchange. The only time Quora shines is when some celebrity makes an interesting, historical comment. Like when Alan Kay himself defines OOP, it's clearly some interesting shit. But reddit AMAs and StackExchange celebrity accounts do scratch that itch as well. So, Quora is pretty meh imho. I still read it (without an account) but I don't find it irreplaceable unlike the other two.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#37I really hope we see some specialized remote worker residential communities in the future. Actually, I’m sure there’ll be money in building them.
Imagine a small town with no cars or roads. The community has lots of events to socialize you with your neighbors. Lots of traditions and festivals. Some communities may look like Brooklyn—row houses, except just grass and trees lining the blocks. Maybe another community would have a quirkier layout, with maze-like walking paths between apartment buildings.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#38I really hope we see some specialized remote worker residential communities in the future. Actually, I’m sure there’ll be money in building them. Imagine a small town with no cars or roads. The community has lots of events to socialize you with your neighbors. Lots of traditions and festivals. Some communities may look like Brooklyn—row houses, except just grass and trees lining the blocks. Maybe another community wo…
Sounds like Geocities!
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#39There's an insightful series of comments from Sid, CEO of Gitlab about why this is not likely to work over the long term: https://twitter.com/sytses/status/1264341436138270720 It might be different for Quora given that their CEO and SLT will be remote. But I still believe that whenever you have an office you are creating a community of employees who will have a different relationship to those who are working remotely…
> But I still believe that whenever you have an office you are creating a community of employees who will have a different relationship to those who are working remotely.
Fully concur. Senior leadership needs to lead by example, whether it be remote work, taking paternity leave, or using a healthy amount of vacation. As some have pointed out, remote work as some companies has the potential to become the new "Unlimited Vacation"-- i.e. technically the policy but employees worried about advancement are unlikely to take advantage.
Props to Quora leadership for leading by example.
Re: Quora goes permanently remote-first
#40Has anyone tried using VR for work? What, if anything did you discover that worked, and what didn't? I know of some VR companies that do all their meetings in VR, whether its their own, or in a game.
It's probably doable these days (Pixel Density) but what's the point.
The most productive way to use VR in such a context (remote work I assume) would be to work normally for a bit, thrash around in beat saber for 30 minutes to burn some calories (Mind and Body etc.) have lunch and get back to work.