The Pros and Cons of a (Mostly) Online Startup
Technological advancements in our society have made it much easier to stay connected with friends and family. We have social media, where we can peruse constant updates of our friend’s lives, and Google, where we can essentially learn anything, with just a few clicks on a keyboard.
Through this enhanced communication and access to knowledge we have the ability to run businesses on apps and websites that were created to make companies more efficient. At Abstract Assembly, a startup company that creates Artificial Intelligence for engineers, we use numerous platforms to communicate ideas and coordinate meetings. For example, we use Slack to discuss meeting times and small updates of our different sub teams, and for our meetings, we sometimes use Google Hangouts to communicate in a group setting without having to be in the same room. Abstract Assembly also utilizes the software-centered project planner and source code manager, GitLab, to better visualize and organize a project’s timeline as well as the tasks that must be accomplished.
Although these applications solve many issues for a startup, they also create potentially unforeseen problems. For example, if a Slack message about a change to a meeting time goes unread, or an issue on GitLab was created without an appropriate description, the use of these applications becomes less efficient. Using these online platforms for communication requires all team members to be active in the conversation. If someone were to theoretically “disconnect” from this digital conversation, then all benefit from these applications is lost and the enhanced communication is rendered useless.
Although these ways of communicating can potentially create some problems, when used appropriately, they can be a big reason why a company is successful. Living in today’s world and having access to all these different kinds of applications to increase productivity is priceless for a startup like Abstract Assembly.
As always, if you’re interested in learning more about Abstract Assembly and how we’re using AI to help engineers, please feel free to checkout our website and Facebook page!
