A look inside one startup’s work-from-home playbook

Working from home is having a moment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but some startups are having an easier time of it than others.

Collage, an e-commerce site for custom gifts, has been all-remote since its inception; co-founders and co-CEOs Joe Golden and Kevin Borders started the company while Golden lived in Seattle and Borders was in Washington, D.C.

"Our team was remote from the start and we quickly realized we could make remote work work and turn it into an advantage for us," Golden tells TechCrunch.

Those advantages touch many aspects of the business, from hiring the best people - no matter where they're located - to saving money on office space. As with all things, there are disadvantages and challenges along the way. But Collage has found a way to make it work for them.

"You have to be more deliberate with your communication than you do in an office setting," Golden says. "But over time we've realized that this makes us a stronger company regardless. Lots of the processes we've developed to make remote work work, such as clearly explaining our thinking and assumptions in writing, and clearly documenting all of our business practices, would likely improve many companies, but they are critical for remote organizations."