Virtual HQs race to win over a remote-work-fatigued market

The disappearance of third places—a social space separate from work and home—has exacerbated the problem. Youth culture has a rich history in cafes, clubs, libraries and parks. But many young people now feel priced out of physical experiences. The virtual world has become a vessel for creativity and self-expression, otherwise inaccessible in the ph... See more

Remote is in vogue and founders are rushing to build all parts of the distributed startup supply chain: Terminal helps generate remote teams, Tandem and There attempt to create a remote “office”, and Loom helps teams share their work over video.

• If the distinction between real and virtual becomes blurry, how will future workers be competitive?• How does communication and collaboration within the “infinite office” take place?

Things have accelerated massively on the distributed work front (obviously) and, per Gartner it seems many companies won't look back — 74% of CFOs expect to shift some workers remotely on a permanent basis. This inorganic acceleration has, however, come at a pretty significant price.

People will struggle to structure their time now that virtual activities carry more social weight than they did in the past. IRL hangouts have more tangible controls and barriers to entry that prevent people from engaging endlessly, and physical anchors that help form habits and routines. Without that, people are going to either burn out or quickly... See more