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How Paul Graham Is Wrong

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Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#181

Post by stormbrew »

dennisgorelik wrote: post #164
tptacek wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you handling the tax implications of foreign workers? Are you doing something to withhold FICA/FUTA? I'm doing some research and I don't see the exception that says that workers that would otherwise be classified as full-time employees can instead be 1099 contractors simply because they're foreign; on the contrary, the SSA seems to say that you're required to ensure that foreign employees obtain social securi…

> the SSA seems to say that you're required to ensure that foreign employees obtain social security numbers But you cannot issue Social Security Number (SSN) for foreigner without going through immigration process. I think the same immigration process that would block employers from issuing SSN would also block any foreign contractor from winning "I was de-facto employee" case in court. IANAL

There is a way to get something like a SSN as a foreigner who isn't eligible for immigration. It's called a Taxpayer Identification Number and it does in some way allow you to file and pay american taxes as someone who is not American or in the immigration pipeline, afaik. I have not had or had to use one, though, so I am unclear on the specifics.

I have a relative who snowbirds in the US on the max visitor visa from Canada and she has all sorts of problems dealing with even basic things like cable companies who want a SSN to do tech support for some reason.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#182

Post by mattm »

ownedthx wrote: post #123

I have completely 180'ed on this topic. I used to think to be a successful startup, you all had to be in the same room, ideally at a big huge desk etc. After working at my current startup, I realize I was wrong. We are an entirely remote operation, and have been since day 1. A few of us are in Austin, and rarely meet for a face-to-face, but it's more of a 'oh yeah, you actually exist' meeting rather than a hash-it-ou…

> The other reason we are successful is due to experience. We've all done startups before, so we know the drill. I can't emphasis how important this is enough

I've worked remotely for a few years now and think this is the key. I would not advocate hiring junior developers remotely. There's too much risk in it. I was once faced with the task of trying to mentor a junior dev remotely and it just didn't work.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#183

Post by mgkimsal »

ci5er wrote: post #176
mgkimsal wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you mean "disagree"? Can't tell what your point is. I like f2f problem solving too - whiteboarding, high energy, etc - it has its place.

I mean "agree". My point is that the hassle is a hassle -- the f2f problem solving sometimes makes it worth it. Not often enough to make the decision cut-and-dried.

Gotcha. Agreed. There are times when I want/need that face to face - whether it's project team mates or just other tech/dev/biz folks, to brainstorm, troubleshoot, etc. It's part of the reason I'm in a coworking space.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#184

Post by sberkun10 »

barce wrote: post #50

This is a great how to article on remote management. The tools he lists are all there. The author mentions Skype, Slack, G+ Hangouts, and then surprisingly WordPress. Would the author care to discuss how he specifically has used WordPress to remote manage a team? I think the issue is that most managers don't want to remote manage which makes me wonder, "Why?"

I worked for Mullenweg for a year at WordPress.com to write a book about all of these questions. It documents all the tools I used and what life was like as a remote manager of a development team.

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Without-Pants-WordPress-com-Futur...

You can read a free chapter about culture from the book here:

http://scottberkun.com/2014/why-culture-always-wins-an-excer...

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#185

Post by sberkun10 »

barce wrote: post #50

This is a great how to article on remote management. The tools he lists are all there. The author mentions Skype, Slack, G+ Hangouts, and then surprisingly WordPress. Would the author care to discuss how he specifically has used WordPress to remote manage a team? I think the issue is that most managers don't want to remote manage which makes me wonder, "Why?"

The direct answer is most managers have no experience managing remote workers. Certainly that's not the entire story but it's a new way of working and many organizations reject it for its novelty without understanding it's advantages or what investments have to be made to get them.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#187

Post by manto »

mgkimsal wrote: post #141
timr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing I've learned through hard experience: programmers (and yes, I am one) generally over-value individual productivity and under-value communication. So yeah, you can "hold a good conversation" via Skype, but you still have to plan the call, set up a time, etc. There's friction to spontaneous collaboration, and spontaneous collaboration is what people really care about when they talk about the benefits of in-person…

Companies that want that sort of environment need to structure the entire business process around spontaneous collaboration, not just pay lip service to it. The reason I didn't hit deadline X? 5 "spontaneous collaborations" happened at my desk in 3 days. Wait... I don't get my bonus because we missed the deadline? But... my collaborations helped the marketing dept hit their goal ahead of time, and they did it by comi…

This seems fairly anecdotal. Do you believe this is a larger issue that the spontaneous collaboration is causing you to miss deadlines? Ultimately if the marketing goals are met through your efforts why not use this as leverage?

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#188

Post by massimosgrelli »

mcfunley wrote: post #119

I just finished a remote job search. I'm in Los Angeles, and most of the companies I talked to were in SF. I had previously worked remotely for a company in New York (Etsy), and I was honestly really surprised how hostile SF companies were to the idea. I was mostly going through personal connections, so I assume that I was getting the gigantic break of having a solid recommendation that most people can't get. (I feel…

How does remote working get done at Stripe? what tools? What practices are a consolidated standard? It would be really useful to the discussion if you could share something with us.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#189

Post by samastur »

mattm wrote: post #182
ownedthx wrote: post #123

I have completely 180'ed on this topic. I used to think to be a successful startup, you all had to be in the same room, ideally at a big huge desk etc. After working at my current startup, I realize I was wrong. We are an entirely remote operation, and have been since day 1. A few of us are in Austin, and rarely meet for a face-to-face, but it's more of a 'oh yeah, you actually exist' meeting rather than a hash-it-ou…

> The other reason we are successful is due to experience. We've all done startups before, so we know the drill. I can't emphasis how important this is enough I've worked remotely for a few years now and think this is the key. I would not advocate hiring junior developers remotely. There's too much risk in it. I was once faced with the task of trying to mentor a junior dev remotely and it just didn't work.

In general I would agree, but I think it also depends on junior developer in question. Every now and then you meet someone whose overflowing intelligence, talent and work ethic will make them an exceptional engineer, but are not there yet. It would be a shame not to support that.

I recently mentored such person and she is already one of our most productive developers.

Re: How Paul Graham Is Wrong

#190

Post by massimosgrelli »

sberkun10 wrote: post #184
barce wrote: post #50

This is a great how to article on remote management. The tools he lists are all there. The author mentions Skype, Slack, G+ Hangouts, and then surprisingly WordPress. Would the author care to discuss how he specifically has used WordPress to remote manage a team? I think the issue is that most managers don't want to remote manage which makes me wonder, "Why?"

I worked for Mullenweg for a year at WordPress.com to write a book about all of these questions. It documents all the tools I used and what life was like as a remote manager of a development team. http://www.amazon.com/Year-Without-Pants-WordPress-com-Futur... You can read a free chapter about culture from the book here: http://scottberkun.com/2014/why-culture-always-wins-an-excer...

Do you recommend this book to understand remote working dynamics at Wordpress ? Learning from companies that succeeded in setting up the remote working practice is definitely the best way to understand if you can put the process in a bottle. Anyway thanks for sharing this title.
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