203: Floyd Marinescu - Ask Yourself "Am I Stuck?"

**Summary:** In Episode #203 Ari shares the Less Doing Podcast with [Floyd Marinescu](http://www.floydmarinescu.com/), CEO and Founder of [C4Media](http://c4media.com/about.html), a media company that focuses on delivering unbiased content and information in the enterprise development community, through two main platforms, [InfoQ](http://www.infoq.com/) and QCon Conferences. Listen as Ari and Floyd discuss the challenges of running a company in the virtual space, and the tricks they use to make it all work. **Time Stamped Show Notes:** - 12:55 – Introduction of Floyd Marinescu, CEO and Founder of [C4Media](http://c4media.com/about.html) - 13:40 – At the age of 37, Floyd has only had eight months of in-office experience—he’s always worked virtually - 14:19 – Floyd defines what C4Media does - 14:45 – [www.InfoQ.com](https://www.evernote.com/www.InfoQ.com) - 15:03 – Floyd is based in Toronto—his company is based EVERYWHERE - 17:51 – Floyd’s company has yet to find a reason to pivot from Skype and Hangouts instead of Slack - 18:48 – Slack doesn’t support threading really well which can be a problem - 19:19 – Running a virtual company is all about understanding rhythm—without rhythm it doesn’t work - 21:23 – Make your employees actively ask the question “Am I stuck?” - 22:12 – When people are left alone, their productivity soars - 22:55 – When you’re not forced to commute, when you’re not force to interact with co-workers merely for the sake of sustaining social norms/etiquette, your energy levels and focus remain high from sunup to sundown - 24:24 – Floyd breaks down his day in detail - 26:26 – If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist - 28:31 – On-boarding and transparency are integral to the success of any business, not just a digital business - 29:50 – Be bottom-up in every respect, encourage employees to self-report - 33:10 – The one quality Floyd looks for in employees joining his virtual environment?—transparency and accountability - 33:55 – [www.InfoQ.com](http://www.infoq.com/) **5 Key Points:** 1. Once your employees are ramped-up, give them your trust, give them autonomy. 2. Encourage your organization to operate from the bottom-up. 3. Transparency and accountability are the two things your employees MUST have—everything else can be taught. 4. Never be afraid to ask yourself “Am I stuck?” and “Do I need help?” 5. If you need your conversations stacked, don’t use Slack. **Resources Mentioned:** - [How to Bootstrap Prison](https://t.co/1FTgCiyopV) – An article from Entrepreneur magazine about the savviness of the incarcerated - [The Interest in Having Children](https://t.co/68qR5jZlhq) – A questionable test comparing reactivity to porn in men, and their desire to have children - [Beepi](https://t.co/XPhGRxc1Oe) – A new service that makes it easier to buy and sell your car - [CodeDesign](https://t.co/MMZvH0Xrvm) – a plug-in for Google Chrome to help web designers - [Mezi](https://t.co/aylo0AqDMB) – Your personal shopping assistant - [Esper](https://t.co/04BozirKOB) – How you spend your time each week - [OverLap](https://t.co/ix9BSo4Sjd) – An AI scheduling assistant - Call 1-844-i-do-less – Toll-Free number, Press “0” to speak with a Less Doing Certified Coach - Text DOLESS – Text DOLESS to 33733 **Special Announcements:** [Leave Us a Review!](https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ari-meisel-less-doing/id605938952?mt=2&uo=6) Hey Less Doing Podcast Listeners, we want to hear from YOU! Visit us on iTunes and leave a review or subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already a dedicated follower. **Credits** - Original Music provided by [Felix Bird](http://2014.felixbird.com/) - Audio Production by [Chris Mottram](https://www.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-mottram/96/b12/708) - Show Notes provided by [Mallard Creatives](http://www.mallardcreatives.com/Testimonials) ------- [Get the FREE Optimize, Automate, Outsource Blueprint here.](https://go.lessdoing.com/blueprint?utm_