Working Remotely

We work across two hubs — San Francisco and Berlin — with team members spread across Europe. The Working Mode section of our Principles page describes the full setup: the Berlin week cadence, onboarding expectations, and why we work this way.

This page is about the practices that make remote work well in day-to-day reality.

Async by Default

The default is remote-first. That means communicating async wherever possible:

• Write things down. RFCs, decision logs, and project specs are how we stay aligned across locations and time zones. If it’s not written, it didn’t happen.
• Use #team-async for updates that don’t need an immediate response. Save #team (notifying) for things that actually can’t wait.
• Don’t create a meeting for something that can be a short doc or a Slack message.

Stay Unblocked

If you’re stuck, don’t sit quietly in a DM thread waiting. Post in Slack, start a quick call, or — when in Berlin — tap someone on the shoulder. Blockers should surface within hours, not days.

Video Calls

Mixed remote/in-person calls need a few explicit norms to work well:

• Raise your hand when you want to speak. People in the room naturally talk over each other; remote participants need to be actively called on.
• Turn your camera on by default. It makes a real difference for remote participants to feel present.
• Join from a quiet space. If you’re in the office, use a meeting room or call from your desk with headphones. If you’re remote, take calls from your desk.

Calendar

Mark your working location in Google Calendar using the location feature — your home city, and when you’re traveling to Berlin. This helps everyone know when there’s time-zone or in-person overlap, and avoids confusion about availability.

Home Office Setup

We expect everyone to have a setup that lets them do their best work from home. A reliable internet connection, decent webcam, and microphone are the baseline.