Discoveries #14 | You Can’t Build Culture in a Zoom Room
Welcome to Edition 14 of Discoveries. Each week, I share inspiration on design, product building, and what's next.
You Can’t Build Culture in a Zoom Room (Trust Me, I’ve Tried)
I just got back from four days in Cancun with the BoomPop team—equal parts work, play, and figuring out how many tacos it takes before someone says “I shouldn’t have had that last taco.” (Spoiler: it’s always one more than you think.)
And as I sat watching our team laugh over late-night guac and swap stories by the pool, one thought kept coming back to me:
You can’t build strong culture if you’re 100% remote.
Since founding BoomPop in 2020, we’ve always been remote-first. And like many remote companies, we tried everything: Zoom happy hours, virtual escape rooms, awkward Slack threads asking about your weekend. All well-intentioned, none particularly effective.
Eventually, we realized the truth: no digital workaround can replace the depth of in-person connection. Culture isn’t built in calendar invites or emoji reactions—it’s built in the messy, unplanned, human stuff. Like walking to dinner and ending up in a conversation you’ll remember for years. Or realizing your quiet coworker is hilarious once you’ve spent some time together away from the computer.
A few years ago, we changed our approach. We started flying our entire team to a different city every quarter for a few days of focused time together. It’s part strategy sprint, part soul-filling reconnection. We work, we play, we eat absurd amounts of food—and we return home with our metaphorical cups full.
Over the next three months, those cups slowly empty again… and then we refill them at the next offsite. It's a rhythm that’s become core to how we operate.
One of my favorite quotes on culture comes from Chip Conley:
“Culture is what happens when the boss isn’t around. The more distributed your company, the more culture matters. It guides decisions and attracts the right people.”
Want a quick culture gut-check? Ask a few team members to describe your company in three words. If the answers sound like they’re describing entirely different companies… you’ve got work to do.
Another thing I’ve noticed: remote work is fantastic for experienced folks, but it can be brutal for people earlier in their careers. Some of the most valuable lessons I learned early on came from simply being there—overhearing product debates, joining impromptu whiteboard sessions, or catching an exec in the hallway with a quick question.
Remote work, by nature, makes everything deliberate. There are no casual run-ins or serendipitous moments. Everything has to be scheduled—and let’s be honest, some things just don’t make it onto a Google Calendar.
So if you’re just starting out and job hunting, my advice is this: Find a company that’s at least hybrid. You’ll learn more, faster. And sometimes, the best career move is showing up in person.
Product Inspiration
I gave up on stock photos and started making my own with ImageFX—and I’m never going back. It’s the best AI photo generator I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot).
What I'm Reading
🔗 The Product Design Talent Crisis
The design industry is facing a growing crisis: companies are hoarding senior talent while starving the pipeline for junior designers.
Without entry points or mentorship, the design pipeline is drying up fast—and the creative engine behind tech is at risk of stalling. The fix? Steal the playbook from industries that know how to grow talent and invest before we flatline.
Other Finds
Have a great week,
Blake
P.S. I'm always looking for feedback. Reply and let me know what you think! (I reply to every email)
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