A beach, a mountain, or an office building — the world is your workplace
Making a distributed team work in style
Flystein is an online platform that offers consulting on the cheapest flights and other travel services. The startup’s mission is to help people save hundreds of dollars through reliable advice on flying in style without breaking the bank.
Run by a team that spans the globe from Estonia to Australia, Flystein is a great believer in new ways of working. Looking to expand the reach of their marketing efforts, the team recently used Jobbatical to hire a growth hacker. Co-founder Vlad answered a couple of questions about their experience and the pros and cons of working with a distributed team.
What made you decide to hire on Jobbatical and what role did you fill?
We were in need of a new marketing person at Flystein. As we helped team Jobbatical fly to their own jobbatical (clever, eh?) to Malaysia, we decided to give the site a go as well.
“The main challenge was that we got so many good candidates from Jobbatical in a short time, that it was very hard to choose.”
We didn’t have a separate marketing person at that point and were doing everything on our own. Marketing is extremely important to us, so we needed someone to focus solely on that.
How has your Jobbatical hire helped your company?
Our newest team member has taken over our marketing activities and is managing our social media accounts, and much more. For example, our blog is becoming more and more popular, and the number of our social media followers is growing fast as well. One of our biggest accomplishments is being featured as Travel Massive’s startup of the month.
We’re also already working on ways to expand our business to new services like Flystein for Teams and new markets.
How have things changed for the team since Svea joined? Have you learned any new and interesting things about her home country and culture?
The team just visited Tallinn, where she is from, so we got a firsthand experience with the country and its culture.
How is your team distributed?
Our team is distributed all over the world — we have people in Italy, Australia, Estonia, Hong Kong, France, etc. The core team is made up of three people who handle marketing, sales, IT, etc. The co-founders are in Italy and Australia, and marketing is based in Estonia. Our flight experts are scattered all over the world, both living and jetting from A to B.
What are the main pros and cons of having remote team?
The main pro is probably motivation and diversity. Letting people work from wherever they are gives them freedom and also inspires them a lot more. Also, by seeking remote employees, you’re able to find people with a wider experience.
The main con is probably the fact that there is always a time zone difference. News and tasks don’t get to people as fast as they would if they were sitting in the same office, co-working space, or café with you.
What are the benefits of building an international team?
You’re able to tap into a much wider pool of experienced professionals. Also, different cultures bring on different ideas, ways of working, and attitudes. It’s actually crucial for us to have to have people in different time zones, as our service works around the clock.
How do you envision the future of work?
The 9-to-5 way of life will never die. There are always going to be sectors where it’s the only way to work. But I think that remote working will become as common as traditional office hours. A lot of industries are moving online, and let’s be honest — that’s where life is in this day and age.
“As internet connectivity is no longer a problem and your work is online anyway, what’s the difference between working on a beach, on a mountain, or in an office building?”
Looking to add international talent to your team? Join Jobbatical for Business! Looking for an adventure of your own? Check out the other side of the platform and explore the opportunities!
