Four inspiring remote work success stories from remote-first businesses

When small teams commit to building remote operations with careful intention, remote work case studies prove that this employment approach can have a huge payoff for employees and employers. 

Let’s look at some real-life remote work success stories and what makes them work so well. 

What does it mean to be a remote-first business

A remote-first business is about building a company and its culture around the idea that teammates won’t share an office or a time zone. That means processes, tools, and communication norms are built from the ground up with remote work in mind. 

While 2020 accelerated the shift by forcing a lot of employees into this work style, it’s more of a standard and expectation in today's job market. Companies are finding that remote-first work models help them:

• Hire smarter

• Reduce distractions

• Create happier employees

• Build more focused, outcome-driven teams

Why companies are choosing to go remote-first

Remote work gives teams more flexibility and autonomy while bringing structural advantages that help small businesses run better for everyone. There are also hiring, financial, and cultural benefits to offering work-from-home experiences. 

What are the motivations for the shift to remote work?

Remote-first companies are solving familiar small-team challenges, like hiring limitations, tight budgets, and high turnover. 

• Access to global talent: Sometimes, the best candidate for a job doesn’t live in your city, state, or even the same country. With a remote-first working model, you can find the right person for the role, not just the one who’s closest. 

• Cost savings on real estate: The overhead for office rent, utilities, and supplies increases every year. When you choose a remote-first workforce, those funds are freed up for better uses like hiring, marketing, and product development—or, for smaller remote teams, health stipends, team connection tools, and remote setup costs.

• Improved employee satisfaction and retention: Remote employees reported being 20% happier in their roles compared to in-office workers, and companies that offer remote employment noted 25% less turnover than office-only businesses.

What strategic advantages does remote work offer?

Beyond the initial benefits, other long-term business advantages of remote-first work models include: 

• Operational flexibility: Adapt quickly, scale efficiently, and stay productive during unexpected disruptions

• Business continuity: Remote teams won’t shut down if there’s a power outage, storm, or emergency event in one location.

• Competitive edge in hiring: Roughly 98% of employees are looking for remote work and prefer companies that actively support this working style. 

What are some remote work success stories?

Remote work success stories are a great way to help you understand the benefits of work-from-home experiences. These companies didn’t just send employees home with a laptop. They redefined what remote work is and built their workforces around trust, clarity, and independence. 

Here’s how four companies, GitLab, Zapier, Buffer, and Marco Polo, have turned remote work into a profitable reality. 

GitLab: Building a remote-first culture from the ground up

Long before COVID sent the workforce home in 2020, GitLab was already ahead of the remote working game. They started in 2011 as a remote-first company with a workforce spanning 60+ countries. And with the right tools, playbooks, and transparency in place, they’ve been succeeding ever since.

So, what makes GitLab stand out as a remote work success story? Their more-than-2000-page, publicly accessible handbook and strong focus on asynchronous communication, written documentation, and trust. That clarity reduces meetings, supports autonomy, and keeps everyone aligned. 

Their belief in asynchronous communication gives power, flexibility, and autonomy back to their workforce. When you allow your teams to own their work, have unparalleled work-life balance, and trust them to do their job without micromanaging, you get happier, more fulfilled, more productive employees.

Their success shows that when you give employees space to focus and make decisions, you get stronger results.

Zapier: Running a global team without offices

When you’re successfully running a company with over 800 remote employees across 40+ countries, you’re definitely doing something right. And that’s why Zapier is one of the world’s top remote work success stories. 

The Zapier founders didn’t set out to be a remote-first company, but they quickly fell into it and realized it was ideal for their business and employees. The company found that being a completely remote business gave them access to the best employees worldwide, saved operating costs, and made it easier for teams to focus without office distractions. 

To make remote work successful at Zapier, they use async work tools and follow an in-depth guide to keep everyone on the same page about remote-first expectations. They’ve even shared this remote playbook to help other teams make the switch.

Buffer: Thriving with a fully remote team

Buffer started remote hiring in 2011 and became a fully remote team in 2015. Now, their nearly 100 teammates spread across 10 different time zones are proving that intentional communication, flexible scheduling, and prioritizing employee well-being can help a small business thrive. 

With no physical office location, the Buffer team relies on clear documentation, asynchronous updates, and periodic check-ins that respect individual work rhythms and styles while staying focused on outcomes instead of hours online.

Buffer has shown for over a decade that remote work can be successful when you trust your team, maintain open communication, and have the right tools to help keep everyone connected. 

Marco Polo: Keeping remote workers connected via async video

At Marco Polo, we didn’t go remote because we had to. Before “Zoom fatigue” was even a thing, our co-founders started this company without a central office, believing meaningful connection shouldn’t depend on being in the same place at the same time. We were distributed from day one—spread across cities, time zones, and continents. 

Our app was originally created to help friends and family stay close, but we quickly realized it was helping us stay close too. Today, we have a strong culture of async communication built on the platform we started. Our remote team uses Marco Polo to: 

• Celebrate team wins in a way that feels personal, not performative

• Catch up across time zones without clogging calendars

• Connect person to person, not just teammate to teammate

• Brainstorm and collaborate when it works for each person

• And a lot more

Remote work has helped us build trust, reduce burnout, and stay aligned without sacrificing flexibility. It’s not perfect every day, but it works.

What can you start doing today to see similiar remote team success?

The orgs we’ve mentioned above are great proof points that remote work can work—and work well. But when you're a team of 5, not 500, you don’t need a 2,000-page handbook or a global HR department to make it work. You need simple, repeatable practices that save time, reduce friction, and help everyone show up at their best.

Here’s what small teams can steal from the pros without needing a playbook the size of a phonebook.

 1. Switch one live meeting to async video this week.

Asynchronous communication lets people send and respond to messages when they’re ready without constant pings or unnecessary meetings.

Action: Pick one recurring meeting (like a daily standup or project sync) and replace it with a shared Marco Polo thread. Set a 24-hour window for team members to share updates or ask questions.

Why It Works: Frees up calendar space, allows thoughtful responses, and gives everyone a voice, especially across time zones.

Example: Apartment Life, a non-profit working in the multifamily residential space, uses Marco Polo to eliminate calendar overload across four U.S. time zones and the U.K. Just 15 minutes of async updates replace hours of Zoom calls while preserving culture and participation without the burnout.

2. Create a shared doc that outlines a process or expectation.

GitLab’s handbook, Zapier’s internal guides, and Buffer’s async meeting notes show that clear documentation supports autonomy and reduces confusion.

When your company documents its standard operating procedures (SOPs), team knowledge, and communication norms, people won’t have to question how to do their job or what comes next. 

Action: Create a shared document that clarifies procedures and norms related to something your team frequently asks about, such as meeting expectations, communication best practices, or a specific tool. 

Why It Works: Reduces guesswork, keeps everyone aligned, and scales with your team.

Example: 

• A shared Notion or Google Doc tool guide that outlines communication expectations (e.g., “Use Slack for quick updates, Polo for nuanced discussions, Docs for anything ongoing.”)

• A project kickoff template that includes goals, deadlines, roles, and where to find related files

• A running meeting notes doc that captures decisions, roadblocks, and next steps so no one has to ask, “What did we decide on that?”

• A “how-to” folder with step-by-step instructions for things like onboarding a client, publishing content, or running payroll

• A guide to meeting expectations (e.g., “Show up async if you can’t make it live,” “Share notes after every call”)

3. Update your team success metrics to center around results.

Nearly 80% of managers feel their team members are more productive when working remotely. You can see the same benefit by trusting your team to work on their own terms and shifting your focus from being online to delivering impactful results.

Action: 

1. Agree on what success looks like. Set clear, shared goals for deliverables and deadlines to align everyone on team expectations.

2. Ditch the green dot. Don’t treat Slack activity or “online” status as proof of productivity. Instead, use project tools or shared docs to track progress visibly and fairly.

3. Model asynchronous accountability. Record a weekly Marco Polo update recapping your wins, challenges, and priorities. Ask your team to do the same to build transparency without the Zoom fatigue.

4. Celebrate results out loud. Shout out project completions, client wins, or team improvements in async channels. Make performance visible, not presence.

5. Give people space to manage their day. Encourage your team to design their own deep work windows and communicate their availability. Trust grows when people feel in control of their time.

Why It Works: Teams with shared goals focused on results tend to be more engaged, effective, happy, and self-sufficient. 

Kiava Clothing’s remote five-person marketing team grew YoY sales by up to 25% through async video updates. Marco Polo helped them stay aligned on performance outcomes, reduce meetings, move faster on product launches, build stronger relationships, and achieve their goals without being in the same room.

Ready to create your own remote work success stories?

Going remote-first works best when you have the tools to support how your team works and communicates. With Marco Polo, employees can share updates, provide feedback, collaborate, and stay connected using a single, easy-to-use app that lets them respond when it’s convenient for their workflow. 

Marco Polo supports thoughtful, asynchronous communication where employees can see each other’s faces and hear context, intent, and tone without misinterpreting a message. 

If you’re looking to reduce interruptions, strengthen connections, and improve communication, Marco Polo is here to help. Reach out today for help turning your remote team into a remote work success story. 

Key takeaways

• Remote-first is more than working from home: Successful remote teams build their workflows, tools, and culture around the assumption that employees won’t share an office or time zone.

• Access to global talent gives small teams a hiring edge: Remote work removes geographic limitations, opening the door to the best-fit candidates, no matter where they live.

• Asynchronous communication reduces noise and boosts focus: Tools like Marco Polo help teams communicate clearly without unnecessary meetings or constant Slack pings.

• Documentation builds autonomy: Clear expectations in writing help team members move forward confidently and reduce repeat questions.

Trust and flexibility drive outcomes: High-performing remote teams focus on results, not hours online, and they often outperform their in-office peers.