Loom makes an asynchronous video communication tool that fits seamlessly into the world’s shift to remote work.
Loom’s CTO, Vinay Hiremath, says that they are their own ideal customer—a remote, asynchronous company that serves other remote, asynchronous companies. With an organizational philosophy that emphasizes autonomy and transparency, Vinay and team are compelled to find communication styles that allow them to evolve. They’ve found that written communication and documentation are integral tools for supporting their remote culture as they grow.
Vinay and the rest of Loom’s leadership team find it valuable to be crystal-clear with their company goals in writing—and it’s particularly important to write down why those goals exist.
“This allows anyone to examine and re-examine that logic to make sure it makes sense.”
According to Vinay, documenting the reasoning behind the company’s goals leads to more autonomy and efficiency throughout the organization. "Plans become more ambiguous as you grow, which is fine because you empower the team to generate their own documents to define the clear, atomic what based on a string of logic that led you to those decisions," says Vinay. "This allows anyone to examine and re-examine that logic to make sure it makes sense."
In an organization distributed across many time zones, writing provides clarity of thought that helps keep Loom employees aligned asynchronously. Building and maintaining a strong writing culture also helps Loom’s employees feel empowered in their work. “There are so many companies where individual contributors don’t even think they have a right to know why they’re doing the work they’re doing,” says Vinay. “I want everyone to feel like they own their piece in where the company is headed.”
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