How many companies are 100% distributed? (Research Summary)

By Shawn Prenzlow, Research Ninja


I’m continuing to research topics for Scott’s upcoming book. One hard to pin down topic is how many companies are 100% distributed?


The most obvious, and famous, example of this is Automattic. With over 130 employees, everyone works from the location of their choosing. Teams get together in person regularly as needed for individual projects. But no one has to schlep to the office every day. That’s my definition of workplace Nirvana.


Because of Automattic’s size and incredible community support, they’re the most frequent reference in articles. What is surprising is after hours of research, I’ve found that writers and reporters rarely mention any other company.


That’s right: Time and again, articles on distributed work models reference Automattic and no one else. Just the one company. Full stop. Over and again, I’ve found myself staring at a screen in mild disbelief. Once in a while, an article might also reference GitHub or 37Signals. But those articles are exceedingly rare.


So who else is out there? Surely there must be others.


The answer is that are others, but they’re hard to find. It’s possible the distributed model becomes is harder to manage as a company’s size increases, meaning  companies who use the model are smaller-sized businesses without much press or media coverage.


Soft Criteria: If you think you’re distributed, leave a comment.


Harder Criteria:  Bonus points if you meet the following:



Company size of 20 or more employees
Employees  geographically distributed (for example, in at least several states or regions, if not countries)
The company is a for-profit company

Here’s are some companies we’ve identified as having a distributed model:



37Signals
Automattic
Genuitec
GitHub
Kalypso LP
MCF Technology Solutions
ProofHQ
Treehouse
Copyblogger (source)
YouNeedABudget
StackExchange (50/50)

Do you know of others, even if they don’t meet all of our criteria? Please leave a comment.

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Published on February 26, 2013 09:40
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