Episode #129: Building a $100 Million Company in 5 Years and Reducing Global Wealth Inequality by Making Remote Work Available to Everyone with Tony Jamous

Episode Summary

Tony Jamous takes us on his journey growing up in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, being inspired to his grandfather’s entrepreneurship, and eventually moving to France at age 17 and starting his world travel journey. He reflects on his top travel experiences, what travel means to him, and how he ended up founding and scaling his first company to over $100 Million in under 5 years and selling it for $230 Million. Tony breaks down some of the biggest leverage points that enabled him to scale that fast and build an operational infrastructure with internationally distributed staff in over 50 countries. He reflects on his personal leadership style, what he feels makes a great CEO, how to attract and hire top talent, and tips for managing an internationally distributed team. Tony also reflects on how and why remote teams can outperform in-office teams and gives tips on how to effectively build company culture in fully remote businesses. He then shares his personal productivity routines, stress management techniques, and how he approaches business problems. Tony also talks about his latest venture, Oyster, that he founded with the vision of changing the world by making remote work accessible to everyone. He explains how his talent-enablement platform works to empower employees from anywhere in the world to work for the best global companies without leaving their home countries. He explains the mission and values of Oyster and how his goal is to reduce global wealth inequality and positively impact the environment by disrupting and revolutionizing the way companies can hire the best staff around the world remotely. He explains the service offering, the customer experience, and how companies can start using the Oyster platform today. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT: www.TheMaverickShow.com

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About the Guest

Tony Jamous

Tony Jamous is a location-independent software entrepreneur, early stage tech investor, and currently the CEO and founder of Oyster, the company that believes anything is possible remotely. As a distributed talent enablement platform, Oyster is making remote work a reality for everyone. Born and raised in Beirut, Tony left Lebanon at age 17 to study computer science in France, Business in Switzerland, and has since lived many places around the world. In 2010, Tony founded Nexmo, an API Platform for building communication applications, which he scaled from zero to $100 million in annual revenue in less than 5 years, hired people in over 50 countries, and eventually sold for $230 million. Tony is passionate about making a positive social impact on the world and empowering people to achieve their full potential, regardless of where they are located.

What You'll Learn

How to build a company to $100 million in annual revenue in under 5 years
How Remote Work Reduces Global Wealth Inequality and Environmental Impact
How Oyster helps companies easily and affordably hire top talent all over the world

Links From the Episode

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USE OYSTER TO BUILD YOUR REMOTE TEAM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

#1 BOOK TONY RECOMMENDS

Leadership and Self Deception by The Arbinger Institute

PERSON WITH WHOM TONY WOULD MOST LOVE TO HAVE DINNER WITH

Any of his remote colleagues at Oyster

LEBANESE WINE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Chateau Musar

TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

#1 BUCKET LIST DESTINATION

Latin America

LOCATION WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE

OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

CONTACT TONY

Time Stamped Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

[3:07] Growing up in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War

Lessons and Impact of growing up during a civil war

[5:29] Moving to France at Age 17 and Starting to Travel the World

[8:47] Tony’s Reflections on his World Travels

What travel means to Tony
How Tony’s identity has changed through world travel
Having dinner with a spy
Reflections on the environmental impact of business travel

[15:12] How Tony Founded and Scaled Nexmo to $100 Million in Annual Revenue in 5 Years

Being inspired by his grandfather in Lebanon
Identifying a void in the market and developing a high value product
Closing some of the largest companies in the world as customers
Hiring staff in 50 countries and scaling the operational infrastructure

[22:29] Tony’s Leadership Style and What Makes a Great CEO

Creating space for other leaders
Mission-driven leadership vs. Vision-driven leadership

[24:38] How to Attract, Retain and Manage Top Talent Remotely

Keys to attracting the top talent
How remote teams can out-perform in-office teams
Tips for managing fully-distributed teams

[30:30] Building Company Culture in Fully Remote Businesses

The challenges of building culture in distributed companies
How to use strong values and principles to build a remote company culture

[33:16] Cash flow Management During Rapid Company Growth

[34:58] Tony’s Techniques for Productivity, Stress Management and Handling Setbacks

Approach to business challenges and setbacks
Personal productivity routines and habits
Energy management techniques
Setting and Updating priorities
Training himself to slow down his perception of time
Tony’s stress management techniques

[42:14] How to Select a Great Co-Founder

[44:17] Founding Oyster to Make Remote Work Available for Everyone in the World

Identifying the challenges and pain points in building fully-distributed international teams
Changing the World by Making Remote Work Available to Everyone
Accelerating growth during the pandemic

[48:15] How Oyster Reduces Global Wealth Inequality and Environmental Impact