THINK ACT

Break the Rule!
Ground your employees
British startup WorkSnug has banned its employees from flying
– even though it’s a thriving international business. Food for thought…
By Christian Meier Illustration Theresa Grieben
FOR INTERNET STARTUPS, the United States is
the promised land; nowhere else will you find
so many potential investors, great business
ideas, and sources of capital. To succeed, the
two main things you need are the art of persuasion
and an airplane ticket.
Richard Leyland, 34, started his own business in London
in the summer of 2009. WorkSnug is an online-ratings
database of free Internet-access locations. In May this year,
WorkSnug had around 100,000 registered users, details
for 35,000 locations, and a smartphone app to help people
find the nearest one.
Leyland and his colleagues have yet to make any sales
trips across the pond. Leyland is a former marketing man-
ager, he has big international expansion plans, and is planning
a visit in October – but he won’t be flying. He’ll be
spending nine days on the high seas, running his business
from aboard a ship.
Why take the slow route? Is this a PR stunt? No, says
Leyland, definitely not; it’s one of WorkSnug’s ten guiding
principles, which also include being “human”, “useful”, and
“a community.” Principle number 7 is “We don’t fly” – for a
new small business employing a handful of full-timers and
freelancers, keeping your feet planted firmly on the ground
does make you stand out from the crowd.
“For us, this has an experimental and a symbolic dimension,”
Leyland explains. “It’s experimental because
we’re building a startup without flying, and it’s worked
52 THINK ACT SEPTEMBER 2011