Going global 🌐
How and why to hire remotely
Hi friends, today I’ve teamed up with my good friend Doc (occasionally known as Bill from Athyna or the guy from the Open Source CEO newsletter), to do a deep dive into the who, how, when, and why of building a distributed global team.
I’ve written about why I invested in Athyna. Besides their team, product, and brilliant and unique growth drivers, they’re onto something super powerful, which is how they’re amplifying the undercurrent or super trend that is remote work.
I touched on the idea of going global in that deep dive, but there’s a lot more worth sharing. So I asked Bill who has nothing at all on his plate right now if he could find some time to help with this post. He happily said yes.
Pulling his insights from his experience with Athyna and its impact on the remote hiring landscape, here's a quick snapshot of what’s to come:
A brief history of remote work
How global hiring unlocks access to top-tier talent
Why remote teams offer unbeatable cost-efficiency
Common challenges of remote work (and how to overcome them)
The pros and cons of going it alone vs. partnering with a recruitment agency
Key tips on building and sustaining culture with a remote workforce
Why hiring in LatAm (or other emerging markets) might just be the competitive edge you need
Unlike me, Bill does a better job at keeping things short. This morning’s letter is a 9-minute reader. ☕
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Today, we’ll be going deep into one of the most relevant trends shaping business today: remote work. Remote work is no longer just an option—it’s becoming the foundation for how great companies build their teams and grow efficiently.
I’ll walk you through why going remote (especially globally) is more than just a way to cut costs; it’s the way to find the best talent, unlock new growth opportunities, and future-proof your business. Let’s get started.
The evolution of remote work
The world of work has changed dramatically over the last few decades. From IBM testing telecommuting back in 1979 to the global pandemic-induced work-from-home revolution in 2020, remote work is now an integral part of business strategies.
Here's a quick timeline for context:
1970s-1980s: Telecommuting begins with small tests in companies like IBM and JCPenney. NASA coined the term “telecommuting,” but it was a niche concept.
1990s: The internet arrives, enabling broader remote collaboration. Enter the rise of outsourcing and offshoring, particularly in South East Asia.
2000s: Skype (2003) and Google Docs (2006) make collaboration across continents easier. Remote work starts to scale.
2010s: Tech companies like Automattic, Buffer, and GitLab build fully remote workforces, setting the stage for global adoption.
2020: The pandemic forces companies worldwide to embrace remote work—and many are now sticking with it.
The outbreak of Covid led to a mass, rapid adoption of remote working. In both the EU and the U.S., close to 100% of the jobs that could be done remotely transitioned to fully remote, with employees working from home. This shift caused an immediate boom in the use of remote work tools, as shown by Zoom's stock price surge. From January to March 2020, Zoom’s stock price more than doubled, underscoring just how essential remote communication tools had become to the new way of working.
Today it’s the new normal, and if you’re not embracing it, you’re missing out on massive talent pools, cost savings, and efficiency.
Why remote is a game-changer
So why should you go global and hire remotely? Let’s dig into four major reasons: access to high-quality talent, reduced competitive pressure, cost efficiency, and cultural fit.
1. High-Quality Talent, No Boundaries
Building a world-class team is all about finding superstars—and they aren’t all living in San Francisco, New York, or London. In regions like LATAM, companies are producing some of the best talent, with professionals who have experience at top companies like Mercado Libre (worth $86B) and Nubank ($62B).
The ability to hire someone with experience from these powerhouse companies, and pay them just 25% of what you’d pay locally, is an unbeatable advantage.
💡 Key takeaway: Why limit your talent search to one city or region when you can tap into a global network? Talent is everywhere, and remote work lets you hire the best.
2. Less Competitive Pressure
By 2030, the world is expected to face an 87-million-person shortage of tech workers. That means talent competition is going to be fierce—especially if you're fishing in the same small pond as everyone else.
Companies like OpenAI are paying engineers upwards of $900,000 a year. How can startups and mid-sized companies compete? The answer is remote hiring.
When you expand your talent search globally, you sidestep the hyper-competitive hiring wars of Silicon Valley, Sydney, or London. You’re no longer just a small fish in a big ocean—you’re fishing in your own pond, full of top-tier talent.
3. Cost efficiency without compromise
Let’s be real—business is tough. Everyone is trying to save money. And remote hiring, particularly in regions like LATAM, offers an incredible opportunity to find talent at a fraction of the cost you’d pay in traditional tech hubs.
At Athyna, we always ask ourselves: Will this person deliver four times the value by being based in New York, San Francisco, or London? The answer is almost always, no.
💡 Pro tip: If you're looking for cost-effective talent, focus on global tech hubs like São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bangalore, and Cape Town, where salaries are much more affordable. This doesn’t mean underpaying—it means paying well relative to local markets, and that’s a win-win for everyone.
4. Cultural fit and time zone alignment
One common concern about remote hiring is cultural fit. Will people halfway around the world really integrate well into your company? The answer is yes.
Take LATAM, for example. With a strong cultural alignment with the U.S. and Europe, plus the benefit of similar time zones, these professionals are perfectly positioned for real-time collaboration with your teams. And let’s not forget—there are now more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than in Spain. The cultural overlap is undeniable.
💡 Pro tip: Look for talent in regions with overlapping time zones and cultural alignment. LATAM is an excellent option for U.S. companies, while Eastern Europe offers similar benefits for European organizations.
Challenges of going global (and how to overcome them)
Hiring globally and remotely isn’t without its challenges, of course. Here are the key hurdles—and how to overcome them:
1. Building company culture
Some say remote work makes it harder to build a strong culture. At Athyna, we’ve proven that’s not necessarily true. With 93% engagement in our fully remote team, we’ve built a culture of trust, accountability, and collaboration.
But here's the deal: if you're already struggling with culture in the office, going remote won't fix it. Culture is a leadership issue, and if you can’t build it remotely, it’s likely your whole organization is on borrowed time.
But what are the pillars of good company culture? Communication. Clear, intentional communication is key. Many remote-first companies adopt a “less is more” approach, reducing the number of unnecessary meetings and focusing on written communication. Atlassian, for example, uses its own tools like Confluence to ensure that communication is clear, transparent, and easily accessible to all team members.
Additionally, companies often implement set ‘core hours’ where team members are online at the same time for essential meetings.
💡 Pro tip: Define communication guidelines for your team. Specify which tools are used for what purpose—Slack for real-time updates, email for formal communication, and project management platforms for task tracking. This structure reduces noise and helps the team focus on meaningful communication.
2. Managing time zones
When you're working with a team spread across different time zones, scheduling can become tricky. Teams often find it difficult to coordinate meetings, deadlines, and even casual catch-ups. The issue is exacerbated when there's little or no overlap between the working hours of team members, leading to delays in decision-making and collaboration.
How to overcome it: Successful remote companies like Zapier and GitLab embrace asynchronous communication to mitigate the challenges of time zone differences. Asynchronous work means team members don’t need to be online at the same time to contribute effectively. Instead, they document everything—from project updates to decisions—in shared platforms like Notion, Trello, or Google Docs, where everyone can catch up and contribute on their own schedules.
Take GitLab, which has a strong asynchronous culture. Their public handbook outlines how team members can collaborate across time zones without needing everyone online simultaneously. They focus heavily on clear documentation, task ownership, and setting expectations for response times, ensuring projects move forward smoothly, regardless of where people are working from.
💡 Pro tip: Use project management tools like Asana, Monday.com, or Slack alongside document-sharing platforms to create a digital paper trail, so no one misses out on important information, regardless of when they log in.
3. Security standards in a distributed workforce
Security is a major concern for companies operating with remote teams. When employees are working from various locations and using different networks, the risk of cyber threats increases. From data breaches to phishing attacks, ensuring that sensitive company information is protected becomes a top priority.
How to overcome it: Leading remote companies implement strict security protocols to mitigate risks. This includes enforcing VPN use, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and secure password management tools like LastPass or 1Password. Additionally, companies conduct regular security training for employees, teaching them how to identify phishing attempts and handle sensitive data securely.
Deel, for example, prioritizes security in every aspect of its operations. They use encrypted communication tools and require all employees to access company systems through a secure VPN, ensuring that remote work does not compromise the security of their data or operations.
💡 Pro tip: Regularly audit your security practices and update them as needed. Make use of cybersecurity software, and don’t forget to train your remote team regularly on security best practices.
How Athyna does remote right: Internal and external success stories
At Athyna, we practice what we preach. Our internal team is made up of rockstars from companies like AWS, Nubank, Uber, Meta, and more. And we help our clients build high-performing remote teams by placing top talent from LATAM in key roles, from cloud engineers to marketing specialists.
Athyna has taken its recruitment strategies to the next level with its “AI-for-talent” approach, leveraging cutting-edge technology to streamline talent sourcing and improve hiring precision. This strategy is supercharging what’s already working, making it even easier to connect clients with the best global talent. Let’s take a look at how this works...
Our internal talent
Our team at Athyna is a powerhouse of talent, with key hires from:
AWS & Uber: Our sales and leadership team members have worked at some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
PedidosYa: Our Head of Talent was a Director at this LATAM giant.
Nubank: One of our CSMs honed her skills at one of the most successful fintechs in the region.
This talent allows us to compete—and win—against some of the biggest players in the industry.
Client success stories
We’ve also placed top-tier talent with our clients. For example, we’ve helped tech startups build teams of engineers, designers, and content creators.
One client, a friend of the newsletter Tom Alder, hired one of our content assistants to help scale his operations, while larger enterprise clients have built entire cloud engineering teams with our talent. The talent is out there. You just need to know where to look.
How to hire globally: Options for success
So how can you get started with global remote hiring? You have a few options.
Option 1: Go it alone
You can choose to hire globally on your own. This works well if you have an internal recruitment team with experience in international markets. You’ll also need local expertise or boots on the ground to navigate hiring laws and compliance. While this is the most cost-effective option, it can be a tough road if you don’t have the right resources.
Option 2: Find hiring partners
If you want to save time, effort, and risk, you can work with a partner like Athyna. We handle the hard stuff—compliance, payroll, benefits, and sourcing top talent—so you can focus on building your business.
Our recruitment fee model is simple and transparent. Depending on the role, we charge a fee of ~$8-10k for remote hires. And with our 37% blended margin, we offer competitive pricing while delivering top-tier talent.
Final thoughts: Why remote is the future
So, why should you go global and hire remotely? The talent is there. The cost savings are real. And the ability to build a high-performing, culturally aligned team is no longer limited by geography.
Companies like Athyna make it easy to access top talent from emerging tech markets like LATAM, enabling you to grow your team efficiently and effectively. So what are you waiting for? The future of work is remote, and the best teams are out there—just waiting for you to tap into them.
If you’re ready to build a global team, we’re here to help. You can book a call with our team and see how we can help you grow.
Thanks, Bill!
Once again, if you want to learn more about how Athyna can help your company grow, you can learn more here or just book a call directly with them. If you say you came from How They Grow, you’ll get the VIP service, I promise you. 🤝
If you have any questions for me or Bill…drop them in the comments!
As always, thanks for spending time with us here today.
Until next time.
— Jaryd ✌️
Further Study
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I concur. Remote has been my development strategy from day one. Now, the question is whether it is a regular PM or an IC PM. Then, what is the best incentive plan to reward your contract superheroes? But first, you need the deal of a lifetime to build as the bait.