“The first generation of ‘future of work’ software products were largely IQ-tools — utilities that moved information efficiently. We’re starting on a next set of FoW software which I’d call EQ-tools, and these are more attuned to ‘HOW’ we all work together.”

VC Hunter Walk recently blogged about how the great work-from-home experiment translates to different aspects of work. Turns out Slack, Asana, and other SaaS collaboration tools can only get us so far. Walk believes remote work is optimized for solo creative work and execution sprints. Not so great for WFH: Collaboration around new ideas, team building, and bursts of execution involving cross-functional participants. His observations as a seed stage VC further validate Steve LeVine’s thesis that much of Silicon Valley’s success is attributable to moments of IRL serendipity, which is a lot harder to manufacture over Zoom.

The Essential Nature of In-Person Work For Early-Stage Startups