Ask HN: How do you communicate in a remote startup?

> No plans to be in person

Figure out how to have some kind of face-to-face relationship. This could be an annual all-hands trip, or otherwise take a week to fly out and spend time with the person you work with.

You learn A LOT about each other when you interact face-to-face. I once worked with two developers in India, and assumed that the shy one was just so-so, and the talkative one was brilliant.

After some deep day-long conversations, and a few day trips, I realized my assumptions were completely wrong: The shy one was shy, and the talkative one spoke before thinking.

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More recently, I started work with a hybrid team. I live 60 miles from the office, but it's brutal commute. I go in once a week.

I've also met someone who was so different in real life, not their funny and exuberant selves at all, that I had trouble seeing them the same way when we later met back online. This wasn't work-related but a formerly multi-year friend I met in a video game and talked to daily about anything and everything. It was a strange experience for teenage me, but so this can go both ways (nearly all of my "first IRL meetup" experiences were good, though). If someone is great in online communication, I wouldn't say that there is a reason to meet up unless both parties want to. But you're probably right that, for a company, you need to decide to invite everyone or not to have this type of meeting. You can't exclude some of them so the point is probably moot

For the meetups my company does, one thing I like a lot is that we mix it up. Different countries, different settings, different events. Beyond that not everyone enjoys the same environment, the change itself also makes it interesting and creates talking points. People share more tips or explore something together because nobody is already familiar with the place and/or activity