Work Together Anywhere

Introduction

IN 2006, I lived in California and belonged to a social community interested in technology, the future, and staying healthy. Every Sunday we went hiking together. One person in the group particularly interested me because he was working on a peculiar start-up idea: he wanted to eradicate death.

I learned there are a lot of longevity devotees out there experimenting with and researching anti-aging: rocket scientists, theoretical physicists, entrepreneurs, software developers. Some practice calorie restriction. Some research cryonics. Some work on nanotechnologies. Through his networks, my death-defying hiking friend was introduced to others working toward the same goal—but no one was talking regularly or sharing data. So he dreamed of building an online project-management tool to enable longevity scientists from all over the world to collaborate and solve the problem of aging.

It was an aha! experience for me. For centuries, employers have hired the most qualified workers who were able to convene at a central location. The location was by necessity the constant; the variable was the most qualified workers able to convene. That didn’t necessarily mean the team was populated by “the best and the brightest”—just the best who were nearby or willing to relocate. Of course, that’s the employer’s view. From the employees’ view, the job offers they accepted were the best they could get at the time—whether or not those jobs made them excited to get up in the morning.

But ...