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The Challenges of Protecting Patient Data with Telemedicine

Posted: 06 Dec 2019 11:00 AM PST

Digital healthcare uses technology that allows you to speak with a health care provider remotely, access test results online and receive ongoing care via in-home monitoring devices. The telemedicine market is expected to make close to $130.6 billion dollars by 2025. This exponential growth is due to an increased demand for flexible and affordable healthcare, the increased use of smartphones and newly well-developed digital healthcare communication systems. 

Telemedicine has been found to surpass patient expectations when compared to traditional office visits and will continue to grow as more employers start to offer digital health care to their employees, and government programs along with private insurers extend medical coverage to online appointments. 

The risks of digital healthcare

But as healthcare goes digital the industry faces challenges regarding the privacy and security of patient information. Data breaches cost the U.S. healthcare industry $5.6 billion every year. On top of that, more than 27 million patient records were affected with an average of at least one health data breach per day in 2016. If the digital healthcare industry wants to continue to grow at its current rate, it needs to be at the forefront of cybersecurity or patients will not feel safe utilizing digital health resources. 

Whether you're interested in setting your employees up with a digital healthcare plan or you want to know for yourself or your family if digital healthcare is a good option, it's important to know how digital health platforms are working to keep medical information protected in a world of data breaches and hackers. 

Urgent, primary and mental health care go mobile

Want to video chat with a primary care doctor about your sore throat? Interested in speaking with an online psychiatrist about your mental health? Before receiving medical care online you need to ensure the platform you are using complies with privacy regulations and provides a secure network through which you can meet with a doctor, receive medical advice, review prescriptions and check test results. 

Not all digital health platforms are created equal. Before booking an appointment make sure the company states they are HIPAA compliant. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was passed in 1996 and established national standards for the flow of healthcare information and the handling of electronic medical records, among other things. 

In order for telemedicine platforms to claim they are HIPPA compliant, they need to not only have a secure platform for interfacing with doctors, receiving test results and storing medical records but they also need to make sure that their doctors are operating with the highest HIPPA practices. HIPPA compliance is a bit more complex for digital healthcare doctors than in-person doctors due to the increased reliance on web services. 

In addition to HIPAA compliance you should check that the company complies with the Security Rule. It took effect in 2003 and modernized the protection of digital medical information. The Security Rule requires digital health companies to meet three different safeguards: administrative, physical and technical. These protections ensure the handling of medical information is secure from employee authorization within the digital healthcare company, to the proper disposal of equipment that may hold personal health information, to the implementation of closed networks or data encryption. 

If you do not see any information about security compliance on the digital health companies homepage then you should be skeptical about the level of security being provided. That said, there are many digital health companies that go above and beyond to ensure they exceed privacy regulations and provide fast and secure digital health services. 

What do digital healthcare companies do to ensure health data security?

There is a wide range of things healthcare companies do to secure health data, including:

  1. Prioritize security across departments: All employees should receive cybersecurity training and frequently update these skills as new security methods are implemented. This includes software and operating system maintenance, the importance of strong passwords and backups, appropriate network access and computer best practices. 

  2. Protect mobile devices: As more doctors see patients through mobile apps it's crucial that proper encryption methods are utilized to ensure these channels are secure.

  3. Use a firewall: Anything connected to the internet should have a firewall.

  4. Installation of antivirus software: These software protect patient information and need to be updated frequently in order to maintain the highest level of security. 

  5. Restricted access to medical records: The only people who should be able to see patient medical records are doctors and approved persons indicated on the HIPAA forms. 

Is digital healthcare worth it?

The answer to this question may depend on who you are. For those who live in remote areas, those who are low income or uninsured, the elderly and disabled, those taking preventative medications and those struggling with mental health disorders, the benefits of digital healthcare may outway the cybersecurity risks. 

Those living in remote areas, such as the rural south, may be hours away from the nearest healthcare facility. With 100 rural hospitals closing since 2010 and 430 more rural hospital at risk of closing, access to medical care is an issue for many rural Americans. Digital health services provide access to doctors, psychiatrists, prescription medications, follow up care, in-home monitoring and more. For some patients online access can be the difference between receiving care and living with an illness or injury. 

For patients who are low income or uninsured, digital healthcare provides a more affordable option than urgent and emergency care centers. While digital healthcare is not an alternative to emergency care, for those who are not experiencing an emergency it is a great option to access medical care. The average urgent care appointment is $150, compare this to a digital healthcare company such as PlushCare where the uninsured can see a doctor for under $100 and the average insured patient pays just $25.

For the eldery and disabled who may have a hard time leaving their home, have limited access to transportation or require a caregiver to take them to a doctor's appointment, telemedicine is also incredibly helpful. These groups need more care more often and the convenience of receiving it from the comfort of home cannot be understated. 

The use of digital healthcare is also ideal for anyone who is taking preventative medications and requires occasional check in's with their health care providers for a prescription refill. Increased access to online doctors improves patient outcomes as they can be sure to properly take preventative medications and receive refills on time.

Mental health patients can also benefit from online counseling sessions and access to online psychiatrists. Digital appointments with healthcare professionals are more convenient, especially for patients who may struggle to get to appointments due to disorders such as anxiety and depression. This study showed that patient satisfaction for digital depression treatment was the same as in-person depression treatment. Of course, there are cases when a patient's mental health calls for in-person treatment, but for the average person struggling with a mental health disorder, online services are just as good, if not better, than traditional psychiatry and psychotherapy.

If you do not fall into any of the above categories and you're still wondering if digital healthcare is a secure option, the best course of action is to give it a try. You can meet with a doctor without handing over your medical records or receiving test results. Just make sure you choose a platform that states it's HIPAA compliant and your face-to-face with the doctor will be confidential and secure. 

The truth is, online doctor appointments are quickly becoming the norm as more doctors jump on board, offering patients a digital healthcare option. For this trend to continue, digital health companies will need to go beyond complying with industry regulations by leading policy efforts and implementing up to date security measures to ensure personal medical information is secure as technology continues to intersect with healthcare. 

Use Your Competitors’ Keywords to Create a Superior SEO Strategy

Posted: 06 Dec 2019 09:00 AM PST

Many entrepreneurs are hesitant to change their well-established SEO practices for fear of losing hard-earned traction. However, in the dynamic world of digital marketing, standing still means going backward. To excel in the long run, you need to keep up with your competition and stay up to speed on the latest niche trends.  

You don't need to invent effective SEO tactics on your own. It is much more effective to learn from the mistakes of other businesses and leverage their best practices. By following in the footsteps of your thriving competitors and tapping into their success formulas, you can save tons of time and money and avoid the harsh lessons of trial and error. 

Borrowing the most effective tactics and approaches from industry leaders and supplementing them with your own unique solutions can create a powerful mix that sends your website's rankings soaring.  

This article will teach you to select strong keywords while learning from your competitors' experiences. 

How keywords should not be used

Not long ago, website owners went to great lengths to try to trick search engines by overstuffing their pages with popular keywords. They paid little attention to the quality of their content, and rarely cared about the value their content delivered to their target audiences. To discourage keyword stuffing, Google enhanced its search algorithms and introduced penalties for unoriginal, irrelevant and spammy content. 

If you visit the websites of your prosperous competitors, you are sure to find high-end texts with embedded keywords that look natural and fit seamlessly into the text. You should apply the same approach to your website's content. 

Benefits of in-depth keyword research

Here are a few compelling reasons to spend time and effort on thorough keyword research.

  • Skyrocket your rankings. Do you want your website to be featured on page one in search engine results pages (SERP)? It will not happen without powerful niche keywords. They should be used throughout all your pages, and organically embedded in texts, titles, meta tags and URLs. If your website reaches the top of search rankings, your number of clicks, views and conversions will grow, and your profits will greatly increase. 
  • Reach the right people. Advertising your business to everyone on the web means squandering your budget. Duly-selected niche keywords target your promotional campaign to those who are genuinely interested in your products or services and are ready to pay for them. 
  • Increased engagement. Niche keywords are based on topics that your prospective clients are interested in. If you create valuable content that addresses users' problems and makes their lives easier, they will become more engaged with your brand. 
  • Expand your target audience. If you want to discover new directions for growing and developing your business, keywords from adjusted niches will help to extend your scope of activity and gain more clients and sales.
  • Stay tuned to marketing trends. To keep up with your competition, you need to learn the patterns of your average customer's online behavior and identify which marketing trends are most relevant for your business and will yield the best results. 
  • Enhance your online exposure. Thanks to higher positions in SERP, you will become more visible to your prospects, which will positively influence your sales. 
  • Streamline your promotional budget. Keyword optimization is a relatively inexpensive way to attract new customers. PPC ads and other promotional methods are much more costly, and not necessarily more effective. You don't have to spend a lot of money to push your website higher in search and enjoy a boost in traffic in the long run. 

Step-by-step strategy for spying on competitors' keywords

Follow this comprehensive guide to the best keyword optimization practices. 

1. Identify your key competitors

To rise above the most successful companies in your niche, you need to understand who they are, how they think and which tactics help them excel. Assess the semantic core of your competitors' websites, identify which keywords help them ascend to page one in SERP, distinguish the best SEO practices, and take note of their share of organic and commercial traffic.

2. Assemble your semantic core

Do not attempt to mimic your competitors without adding your own unique twist to your promotional campaign. What is good for other firms is not necessarily good for you. Prior to adopting the best practices, make sure they match your goals and the specifics of your project. 

Do not rush to embed high-frequency keywords in your content, since they are used extensively by large companies. If you are a smaller business, using mid-frequency queries that accurately reflect your scope of activity can be more effective in bringing your site to the top of search rankings.  

Leverage useful tools like Google AdWords and SEMRush to automate and simplify the process of the semantic core assembly. 

3. Realistically evaluate your chances of winning

Prior to initiating a trade war with your competitors, carefully evaluate your likelihood of success. If you are not duly prepared, trying to beat a strong and well-established competitor may be a waste of precious time and energy. Remember that slow and steady wins the race. 

Start your path to niche superiority by taking on companies on a par with your own. Once you achieve the desired results, you will be ready to move to the next level. Step by step, you will be ready to take on the strongest competitors in your niche. The extensive knowledge and experience you gained in the earlier stages will prepare you to withstand the pressure of competing with industry giants. 

4. Monitor indexed pages

Find out which of your competitors' pages are indexed, what content is published on them and how the audience responds to them. Distinguish successful patterns of thriving companies that garner brand recognition and customer loyalty. 

5. Leverage Google Alerts

If you need an accurate and faithful SEO advisor, Google Alerts is a great option. It will provide you with a pool of useful information on competitors' semantic cores and backlinks, as well as suggest options for compiling your own list of powerful keywords. You can collect various SEO metrics and use them to tailor your next promotional strategy. 

6. Find the most reputable contributor platforms

Strong backlinks are vital to high rankings. You may have a brilliant website, but if the web community does not recognize your authority and does not talk about you, your SEO efforts will be thwarted. 

Quality link building should always take precedence above quantity. Posting dozens of spammy backlinks will only bring a fraction of the benefits delivered by a single backlink placed on a reputable platform with high domain authority. 

Scan the web for the resources where your competitors post their backlinks. Enroll in those platforms as a guest writer or an affiliate partner. 

Of course, well-established websites can be rather demanding when it comes to guest posts. They may reject your content or ask you to rewrite your articles. Do not be discouraged. Simply jump through all their hoops to get your content published on their platform.

Creating powerful backlinks requires a lot of time and effort, but your persistence will pay off with increased brand recognition and a position at the top of SERP. 

7. Adopt the best PPC approaches

In addition to attracting organic traffic with SEO, many large companies launch PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns. Discover which keywords successful firms are paying for and allocate part of your promotional budget to launching PPC ads embedded with these traffic-grabbing signals. 

Utilize a tool like iSpionage that shows you the cost-efficiency of different keywords and helps you choose the most powerful ones for your PPC campaign. 

8. Make your company stand out from the crowd 

Do not try to turn your company into a clone of another successful brand. Trying to outrun the original with an awkward copycat will look ridiculous and alienate customers. 

It is better to blaze your own trail. Offering standardized products of decent quality is not enough to rise to the top in today's competitive market. Focus on delivering positive emotions to your visitors and creating an extraordinary style for your brand. 

Compare the strongest companies in your niche to one another and distinguish which features help them break through the wall of advertising noise to reach prospects with unique solutions. Use this information to create your own unique trademark to make your business stand out from the crowd. 

By offering something unique, you will be able to narrow down the competition and find a target audience that is genuinely interested in your brand. 

9. Scan your competitors' content

Selecting the strongest keywords is not enough; you also need to find ways to use them effectively. With Google's new algorithms, keyword stuffing is no longer an effective SEO tactic. Today, you need to discreetly embed SEO signals in first-class content that delivers value to your target audience. 

Some entrepreneurs copy their competitors' semantic core and embed keywords in poorly written texts. Prospective customers are directed to the site by search engines, but they quickly leave when they find no useful information. 

To avoid this mistake, pay attention to your content marketing. Identify important topics that are not being addressed by other niche firms and fill the gap by publishing content that meets customers' needs. 

10. Keep weak competitors on your radar

Weak market players may seem harmless and unworthy of your attention today, but they may push ahead in SERP tomorrow. Do not take your eyes off their SEO metrics and be ready to defend your position when they swiftly progress. 

Turn their weaknesses into your strengths by learning from their mistakes. For example, if you know that your rival provides poor customer support, do your best to create a brilliant customer service desk. 

11. Never stop perfecting your strategy

Today, almost every market is dynamic and unstable. New ventures are constantly being launched, while old ones fall off the radar. 

The list of your closest rivals and the keywords that help them excel will constantly change. You have to remain flexible and regularly revise your strategy in order to stay competitive. 

Use this comprehensive guide from time to time to upgrade your SEO campaign, stimulate a robust influx of traffic with relevant keywords and escalate your website in search.

3 Ways to Protect Your Small Business From a Data Breach

Posted: 06 Dec 2019 07:00 AM PST

As 2020 approaches, cybersecurity is top of mind for c-suite executives at virtually every company, in every sector. Indeed, shifting consumer sentiment, increased government regulation and escalating costs have made this problem unavoidable. 

The latest Cost of a Data Breach Study revealed that the average breach costs a company nearly $4 million, and the immediate financial implications are just the beginning. For instance, a recent study found that 81% of consumers would stop interacting with a brand online after a data breach, depriving businesses of a critical opportunity to connect with their customers during the recovery process. 

At the same time, privacy regulations like Europe's GDPR and California's CCPA are indicative of the wave of government oversight coming to companies around the world. 

Taken together, it's clear that today's data landscape is increasingly challenging to navigate. This is especially true for SMBs that are disproportionately impacted by data breaches. According to Accenture, more than half of all SMBs incurred a data breach in the past year. Unfortunately, 60% of SMBs that experienced a data breach will go out of business within six months.  

For SMBs, cybersecurity is a bottom-line issue, and getting this aspect right can be the difference between a flourishing business and bankruptcy. By rightly understanding the risk, SMB leaders can take the proper precautions to ensure that their data is secure. 

What makes SMBs vulnerable? 

After years of high profile data breaches at companies like Yahoo, Equifax and Marriott, many hackers have turned their attention to SMBs and local municipalities to collect people's personal information. By August, The New York Times counted more than 40 governments that were victimized by costly ransomware attacks this year. Similarly, a recent study by the Ponemon Institute found that SMBs are experiencing an uptick in cybersecurity threats on many fronts, in some regions of the world, increasing by as much as 21% year-over-year.

From phishing scams to insider threats, cyber incidents have become a normative part of running an SMB. Here's why. 

1. SMBs operate with limited budgets

By their very definition, SMBs have fewer resources to dedicate to cybersecurity initiatives than their corporate competitors. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are aware of this disparity, making SMBs susceptible to opportunities for cybercrime. 

Interestingly, cybersecurity is a significant concern for these companies. A recent survey by Untangle found that 80% of SMBs rank IT security as a high priority. However, the study, which polled more than 300 SMBs, found that nearly one-third of these companies dedicate less than $1,000 of their annual budget to cybersecurity defense, and more than half don't have a dedicated cybersecurity professional on staff. 

That doesn't mean that these companies aren't tech-savvy. More than half of SMBs have more than 100 devices on their network, and 40% operate in at least five different locations. 

In other words, SMBs are heavily reliant on tech capabilities, but their budgets create a chasm between their business ambitions and the realities of today's threat landscape. 

2. SMBs struggle to acquire top talent

Perhaps unsurprisingly, businesses that don't prioritize cybersecurity in their budgets also struggle to acquire top cybersecurity talent. 

Currently, cybersecurity talent is one of the most in-demand skill sets, as companies of all sizes strive to protect their IT infrastructure from cyberattacks. Deloitte estimates that, in Canada alone, companies will need to fill 8,000 cybersecurity roles by 2021. Consequently, many SMBs are being priced out of the market. 

Therefore, many small businesses are turning to less experienced personnel to protect their data. McAfee's 2019 Cybersecurity Talent Report found that 54% of small businesses employ cybersecurity personnel with no cybersecurity credentials, while 24% of mid-sized businesses do the same.  

At the same time, the novice talent that they can acquire often demand on-the-job training that limits their effectiveness and continues to balloon the cost of cybersecurity talent. In total, it's estimated that demand for cybersecurity professionals will soon require an additional 4 million trained workers, which means that SMBs will need to get creative when it comes to acquiring and retaining the cybersecurity specialists who will help keep the company's IT secure. 

3. SMBs face fatigue and burnout 

As companies struggle to allocate sufficient resources toward cybersecurity priorities and personnel, those responsible for protecting company data are facing alarming burnout rates. According to a 2019 study by Goldsmiths, nearly two-thirds of cybersecurity personnel have considered quitting their jobs, and 64% are contemplating leaving the industry altogether. 

This reality only exacerbates the cybersecurity dilemmas at SMBs that often ask employees to manage high-stakes responsibilities that exceed their expertise. Taken together, SMBs have a difficult job ahead. Not only are they collecting and storing more data than ever before, but bad actors and accidental data thieves are compromising this information from seemingly every angle. 

How SMBs can succeed at data security?

Fortunately, data security doesn't have to be a hopeless endeavor. In contrast, there are active steps that every company can take to protect their information and their long-term viability in today's hostile digital environment. 

1. Expect the expected 

In many ways, cybersecurity can feel like an existential threat that is both unidentifiable and undefinable. In reality, some risks are more prominent than others, and SMBs can cover many of their basis by expecting the expected. 

Specifically, a company's own employees represent one of the most prescient threats in today's data landscape. For instance, Verizon's 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report found that fully 30% of all data breaches are attributable to insider threats. Whether employees maliciously steal company info or accidentally expose sensitive information, they are often the ones working directly with data. 

To protect this valuable information, every company should consider some iteration of employee monitoring or data management software that can regulate data access and movement while holding bad actors accountable for their actions. 

Of course, employees compromise information in other ways, as well. More than a quarter of all cyberattacks start with phishing attacks that coax unsuspecting employees into handing over their credentials and giving bad actors unparalleled access to company data. That's not to say that most employees are foolish or fraudulent. Rather SMBs should expect the expected threats, and they should appropriate their resources to address these vulnerabilities. 

2. Automate whenever possible 

SMBs can support their cybersecurity initiatives – and their beleaguered IT staff – by instituting automation whenever possible. 

Today's employee monitoring and endpoint data loss prevention software is more capable than ever before, and the best options come equipped with automation tools that reduce the strain on overworked cybersecurity staff. For example, SMBs can automate access to sensitive data sets, making it less likely that this information will end up in the wrong hands. Moreover, placing automated restrictions on data movement or privacy controls helps ensure that data privacy is a priority down to the software level. 

This is especially important for supporting already-exhausted cybersecurity staff. Cisco's 2019 Asia Pacific CISO Benchmark Study found that Australian organizations receive over 100,000 security alerts every day, a number that's so large that it can feel like an abstraction. However, it's indicative of the significance of the task and the importance of lightening the load whenever possible.  

3. Prioritize cybersecurity communication 

Effective cybersecurity initiatives require an all-in approach from SMBs, which means that top-down communication and collaboration are crucial. Actively train employees about the magnitude of the data threat, and provide them with the information they need to successfully protect company data. Since a company's very survival could be on the line, everyone has an incentive to get this priority right. 

In addition, communicate data handling and management standards. If employees shouldn't access company data on personal devices, let them know, and enforce that standard with the right technology. Whatever the expectation, make regular communication an integral part of your cybersecurity strategy. 

It might help identify additional best practices for data security, and it will undoubtedly help employees do their part to keep information secure. 

It's estimated that improving cybersecurity will collectively save companies more than $5 trillion over the next five years, which means that SMBs have much to gain and everything to lose by embracing this priority. 

For many consumers, data privacy and cybersecurity are becoming the differentiating factors when choosing where they want to spend their money, time and attention. In truth, today's data landscape is as much an opportunity as it is a liability, and companies that can deliver on this prerogative have positioned themselves to flourish in today's digital environment. 

Tech Companies Hire Remote Workers. Should You?

Posted: 06 Dec 2019 06:00 AM PST

  • Remote work is becoming more popular among employees in all industries.
  • High-growth companies including Sketch, InVision, Zapier and Clevertech have even built purely remote workforces.
  • Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google hire most of the top talent in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it difficult for startups to compete.
  • To attract and retain exceptional talent, Silicon Valley startups must embrace the remote work model and shift their focus from local to national (and even global) talent. 

It might be fair to call the current remote work trend a renaissance – nearly three-quarters of business teams will have some remote members by 2028, according to an Upwork report. And these days, 52% of the global workforce works remotely at least once a week. It's tempting to think that going remote will save money, but that's not the case. Often, innovative, high-growth technology companies hire remote workers to access the best talent. It's hard to innovate as a technology business if you don't hire top 2% engineers, and usually, you'll need some portion of the team to have domain expertise. But if you limit hires to only a few cities, you probably won't find the best talent.

While it's still advantageous to create a tech company and raise capital in the San Francisco Bay Area, scaling a team there is especially challenging. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google (FAANG) and others hire many of the best engineers, making it increasingly difficult for other tech companies to compete for that talent. In response, companies like Zapier began looking for alternative ways to appeal to talent. In 2017, Zapier began paying $10,000 in moving costs to employees who wanted to relocate somewhere with a more manageable cost of living. The goal was to appeal to new recruits and decrease the risk that employees leave for a FAANG or similar company. Zapier was already totally remote, made up of nearly 200 employees in 17 countries; after announcing its "delocation" package, Zapier saw a significant increase in job applications.

Companies are no longer limited to the talent in their hometowns. If the search parameters are expanded beyond local areas, then companies can easily recruit the "10x" employees – individuals who can do the work of 10 people. The tech is there to allow distributed teams to seamlessly collaborate with one another. Now's the time to tap into the remote work movement.

The rise of the remote team

Tech companies such as Sketch, InVision, Zapier, Clevertech, Fiverr and Toptal have all proven that it's possible to foster and sustain success with a completely remote setup. Doing so, however, requires rethinking company processes such as communication protocols and learning to build a strong company without the continuous face-to-face interactions that traditional workforces are used to. How will collaboration work if employees can't bump into each other at the watercooler or stop by someone's desk for a quick chat?

Tech, fortunately, can help address many of these concerns. Tools such as Slack and Zoom are designed for easy collaboration and can somewhat replace the organic interactions that occur when workers are all in the same place, helping teams feel like a cohesive unit even when employees are scattered across the globe.

How to make remote work effective

At Moovweb, quarterly on-site events at our San Francisco headquarters help remote workers feel plugged in to the culture and invested in the company's goals. We also use messaging and video conference apps in various ways to connect our workforce that spans three continents. For example, we hold virtual happy hours where remote and San Francisco-based employees chat via video to get to know one another, and some remote employees are using video conference software to simulate an office setting. We also have a video conference "robot" that remote employees can use to awkwardly creep up on teammates who ignore their Slack messages.

Moovweb Director of Platform Engineering Paul Dunham's team is fully remote. At first, the team started the day with a video conference to sync up. Over time, that meeting got longer and longer, and they got in the habit of leaving the video conference open all day on their computers after that morning conference. This helps the team feel less isolated and allows them to participate in the easy, impromptu communications that people are used to in office settings.

Not all of the challenges presented by remote workers can be solved by tech, however. For a remote team to succeed, everyone must agree to be flexible and responsive. When you're operating across multiple time zones, employees often have to jump on a call or troubleshoot a problem outside normal working hours. Time differences can be accommodated with split shifts or night shifts, but regardless, some early morning or late-night work is inevitable.

For example, Moovweb Head of Engineering Mark Brocato is an American ex-pat running the Moovweb office in Tallinn, Estonia, and he uses split shifts to his advantage. Mark wakes up late, codes until 5 p.m. his time, spends time with family, and then comes back to work at night to coordinate with the other locations – notably, the San Francisco office.

The primary benefits of going remote

Successfully managing a remote team takes some effort and requires rethinking typical office culture and processes. But the returns can far outweigh the effort. There are two main ways that building a remote team can benefit your company.

1. It helps you recruit the best talent in the world

When you're not limited to the workers in your ZIP code, you can expand your search to find the best fit for the job and your company. This makes it much easier to land the coveted 10x workers. The Pareto Effect states that 20% of individuals produce between 80% and 98% of the output. This effect applies across all industries; it's been found to be true for scientific discoveries, entrepreneurial pursuits and overall productivity.

It's clear that FAANG companies believe in the Pareto Effect by the way they pay top 2% engineers. By expanding your talent hunt globally, you can recruit more of these high-octane stars. However, going remote won't necessarily save startups money as exceptional talent requires exceptional pay. Remote top talents may earn slightly less than those who work in Silicon Valley due to the cost of living differences, but the cost difference is spent flying teams out to headquarters several times a year. For startups, going remote is mainly about accessing the best talent.

Fortune 1000 companies worldwide are restructuring their offices around employees' de facto preferences. About 80% to 90% of the U.S. workforce reports that they would like to work remotely at least part-time, and studies show that workers' desks are vacant at least half of the time.

The gig economy, coupled with tech tools that enable collaboration, and the hyper-competitive recruiting market found in heavy tech locations, all combine to create an opportunity for companies seeking exceptional talent. Remote workforces are here to stay.

2. It helps you supercharge your business's growth

Let's say your company has a goal of doubling its revenue each year for the first three to five years after launching its product. This is a top 2% outcome, so you'll need top 2% workers to achieve that goal. However, you will be competing with other technology products across the nation or globe. So, if your most critical input is talent, how can you compete with global products with a local workforce?

You can't. You will see a shortage of possible candidates in any local market if you require the top 1% to 2% talent, especially if you require specialized (e.g., domain knowledge) skills for any key functions. Hiring only local employees will become a barrier to success. Scaling at unnatural speeds requires you to tap into the national and even global pool of talent.

To support Moovweb's tremendous growth while maintaining our bar for top talent, we shifted all but 20% of our team out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Going remote was a key enabler for our rapid growth. The money we've saved on San Francisco office costs goes toward salaries, marketing, recruiting and other business functions that actually translate to revenue growth.

In addition to saving money, your employees will save time because they won't have to commute. Commute time is a beast, especially in big cities. The average commute in the U.S. is now nearly an hour a day. That translates to five hours of dead time each week. Remote teams, however, don't have to commute, giving them back an hour a day they can use to complete the work needed to create the innovative products and solutions that will lead to your company's growth. Moreover, the top 1% to 2% of workers acutely understand the value of their time and know that even an hour spent commuting is not the best way for the world to see the impact of their talent. They'd rather spend that time working or with family or friends.

Remote work is the future, and tech tools are making it easier than ever for companies to find success with a decentralized model. Workers benefit, but so do the companies employing them. With a larger talent pool to draw from, you can attract top talent for less and reach new revenue heights.
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