"Remote from day one creates a different set of skills -- writing becomes essential"
Evidence from the Archive
Shopify
Shopify's early culture required even marketers to commit and deploy blog posts through GitHub -- no exceptions for...
Shopify's early culture required even marketers to commit and deploy blog posts through GitHub -- no exceptions for non-technical roles
Seven-year Shopify veteran who joined at IPO, widely recognized product management writer whose Medium posts shaped industry thinking, and leads product acceleration including Shopify's investment portfolio -- giving him a rare dual lens on how remote-first companies build and invest. Their core argument: Remote from day one creates a different set of skills -- writing becomes essential and ideas win on merit.
The evidence is specific: Shopify's early culture required even marketers to commit and deploy blog posts through GitHub -- no exceptions for non-technical roles. Furthermore, brandon's own career trajectory from bootstrapped startup founder (Tunezy, helping YouTube musicians monetize) to VP at Shopify was accelerated by his writing, which became widely read Medium posts. 30-40% of Shopify's PM team are ex-founders through failed startups or acquisition, selected for the self-direction and grit essential to remote work.
In Brandon Chu's own words: "What it's like to build product at Shopify, what Shopify has learned about being effective working remotely, having done it from day one, the impact of writing on one's career and how to get started." (Intro framing Shopify's remote-first culture.)