{"id":253,"date":"2019-09-17T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/?p=253"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:08:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T04:08:24","slug":"start-your-company-100-remote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/start-your-company-100-remote\/","title":{"rendered":"Start Your Company 100% Remote & More Advice From the CEO of TaxJar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We recently interviewed the CEO of\u00a0TaxJar<\/a>, Mark Faggiano, on our\u00a0Outside the Valley<\/em>\u00a0podcast. In fact, he was our lucky first guest! (Scroll down halfway\u00a0if you\u2019d like to read the episode transcript in full.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark had plenty of personal views on the subject of remote work. He\u2019s been working, and leading, remotely since 2001, so he\u2019s very experienced at\u00a0how to collaborate effectively on a remote team<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post we\u2019ll break down some of the main things we learned from Mark \u2014 and trust that these insights will help your own remote work practices. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remote Work > Commuting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mark can\u2019t stand the traditional way of working:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not comfortable with the idea of getting into a car, having to wake up earlier than probably normal, getting into a car, sitting in a lot of traffic, and then going into a building. And that is supposed to dictate when I am going to be productive, right? That concept to me doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>Mark Faggiano, CEO of TaxJar<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Results Matter Most for Remote Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a remote team, the corporate idea of \u201cface time\u201d quickly becomes irrelevant. Like other high-performing remote-first companies, TaxJar is a results-oriented workplace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026we all have a job to do. But it\u2019s up to us to determine how we get that work done, and when we get that work done. The only stipulations that we have at TaxJar is that you\u2019re doing your best work, and you\u2019re doing it on time. Otherwise, we don\u2019t care if you\u2019re working all night or taking a two hour break to go to the gym or take care of your kids or whatever it is. That doesn\u2019t matter to us.\u00a0What matters most is the end result.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Onboarding is Everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Until TaxJar hit over 20 employees, Mark did all the onboarding himself! However, as the company scaled, this was no longer possible. So one of the critical roles within TaxJar is their Employee Experience role:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we noticed was that there was confusion around where do I go for basic things? How do I get signed up for this, that or the other thing? How do I get my questions answered? And those are things that should have been explained in a proper onboarding process. So that\u2019s the point where I realized we need somebody to come in and be 100% focused and dedicated. And that was our first Employee Experience hire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Only Great Teams Can Achieve Great Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a people-driven CEO, Mark places huge emphasis on the quality of his team:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all about the team. That\u2019s what matters the most. [\u2026] There\u2019s a lot of things that we want to do, and there\u2019s goals that we want to accomplish [\u2026] We can\u2019t do that without the best team possible. That breaks down to\u00a0every single hire has to be put in a position to succeed<\/strong>. You can\u2019t do that without a really, really helpful and valuable onboarding process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yes, You Need an Organizational Chart<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes formalizing things is helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026the first time, I can remember it clearly when we said we need an org chart, and I went, \u201cOh, seriously? Do we need to do that?\u201d But you have to get over that really quickly because the reality is, now you have a lot of new people, you have people that you don\u2019t know. And the worst mistake you can make is they don\u2019t understand where they fit into the organization, and where the opportunity is for them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Developing Processes Might Be Painful, But Not Having Them is Worse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fair to say that Mark doesn\u2019t like developing processes. But as TaxJar grew, he came to understand that things had to change:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re still extremely fast and are able to do things super fast. But you do have to adjust as a CEO to realize, things are a little bit more complicated, and there needs to be processes developed. Otherwise, you go sideways, and that\u2019s the most frustrating thing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no process.\u00a0Everybody standing around waiting for somebody to make a decision. That\u2019s death.<\/strong>\u00a0You can\u2019t let that happen. So, where it makes sense, get those processes\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Grow Big, But Think Like a Startup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mark recommends retaining the ability to think like a startup, and not becoming too regimented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What made us great, and what got us here, was the ability to think quickly, make decisions fast, and get to work. We don\u2019t want to implement artificial bottlenecks just for the sake of having processes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Creative Team Bonding Strategies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bonding as a fully-remote team takes some work, so let\u2019s lift the lid on some of the ways TaxJar does it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n