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India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Dropbox CEO says going to office for work belongs to past, slams work-from-office commands
While Silicon Valley bosses remain divided between giving employees the option to work from home or calling them back to the office, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston believes that office-based work is now an outdated and impractical practice in the age of AI and remote collaboration. In a new episode of Fortune's 'Leadership Next' podcast released on Wednesday, Houston likened forcing employees back into offices to bringing back relics of a bygone world's different,' said Houston. 'Forcing people back to the office is probably going to be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theatres. Nothing wrong with the movie theatre, but it's just a different world now.'Notably, Dropbox was one of the first tech companies to fully adopt remote work during the pandemic. It announced in 2020 that the company is shifting to a 'virtual-first' model. Since then, the company has doubled down on its belief in distributed work. Dropbox believes that when remote work is done right, it's not only viable but can be more productive and empowering for teams. Under its current 90/10 rule, Dropbox employees work remotely 90 per cent of the year and meet in person for occasional team events. In the podcast, Houston also spoke about how office mandates often lead to inefficiencies. 'We can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been in at home. There's a better way to do this,' he also stresses the fact that planning work for a remote environment requires more than just replicating the office digitally. He said it demands a rethinking of workflows and smarter use of technology. Houston shared the example of Dash explaining how AI tools can reduce day-to-day friction, helping with knowledge retrieval and task coordination. 'The manual way of auditing your calendar is about as annoying as it sounds Why would a human have to do this? These are the most automatable things Dash is an example of that. No one has a functioning search box. That's going to be like the first level of our silicon brain at work,' he said. The Dropbox CEO also argued that in the coming years, AI and automation will play a key role in making distributed work more effective.'We're going to find all kinds of ways from getting the information you need at work, to actually helping you do the work,' he this is not the first time Dropbox CEO has spoken in favor of remote working. In an interview from 2023, Houston revealed that the early decision of the company to adopt virtual-first transition made it successfully transition to remote work policy. 'You need a different social contract and to let go of control,' he said in a 2023 interview. 'But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance.'
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘It's just a different world now': Dropbox CEO Drew Houston slams return-to-office mandates
In a sharp rebuke of corporate return-to-office policies, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston likened the push to bring employees back into physical workspaces to reviving outdated institutions. 'Forcing people back to the office is probably going to be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters,' Houston said during an episode of Fortune's Leadership Next podcast on Wednesday. 'Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now.' JPMorgan, in particular, has faced criticism from employees after CEO Jamie Dimon insisted on a five-day office week, dismissing remote work as ineffective for collaboration and mentorship. 'You can't learn working from your basement,' Dimon said in a recent Bloomberg interview. 'We can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home,' he said. 'There's a better way to do this.' Nearly half of employees who work from home at least occasionally say they'd be unlikely to stay in their current job if remote work were eliminated, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Dropbox pivoted to a 'virtual first' model in 2020, and now operates under a 90/10 model — employees work remotely 90% of the time, with the remainder reserved for periodic in-person gatherings. Houston emphasized the need to evolve remote work strategies beyond the early pandemic's reactive model. 'Version two, version three of this is going to be a lot better than the version point-five that we had in the pandemic,' he said. 'If you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults,' he told Fortune in 2023. 'Trust over surveillance.'
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston: 'Forcing people back to the office…is unproductive if you…'
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said that forcing employees back to office makes no sense if the same work can be done virtually. Speaking in an episode of Fortune's "Leadership Next" podcast, Houston said 'Forcing people back to the office is probably gonna be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters. Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now'. He further stated 'It is unproductive if you just sort of try to photocopy what you're doing in the office onto Zoom'. 'We don't have to do this—we can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home. There's a better way to do this,' he said. For those unaware, Dropbox switched to a 'virtual first' way of working in 2020, making remote work the main setup for its employees. In 2021, the company introduced a 90/10 rule—employees work from home for about 90% of the year and meet in person at a few company events during the remaining 10%. In a 2023 interview, Dropbox CEO said that remote work has given companies "the keys that unlock this whole future of work." "You need a different social contract and to let go of control. But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," he then said. JBL Tune Beam 2 Review: The TWS Earbuds That Punch Above Their Weight! AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston says mandating a return to office is 'like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters'
Forcing workers back to the office for most of the workweek is pretty futile if you ask Drew Houston. Houston, the CEO of Dropbox, equated office-first working arrangements to other relics of a pre-pandemic era in an episode of Fortune's "Leadership Next" podcast released Wednesday. "Forcing people back to the office is probably gonna be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters. Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now," he said. Houston said a return to the office doesn't make sense when you're doing the same work you could do virtually. "It is unproductive if you just sort of try to photocopy what you're doing in the office onto Zoom," he said. "We don't have to do this—we can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home. There's a better way to do this." At a time when many of Dropbox's tech peers have mandated a return to office in some form, the company remains optimistic that it can accomplish just as much remotely. Dropbox announced in 2020 it was adopting a "virtual first" approach to work, where remote work outside of the office would be employees' primary working arrangement. The next year, the company began following a 90/10 rule in which employees work remotely 90% of the year and attend a handful of off-sites in-person during the remaining 10% of the year. Houston previously said remote work has given companies "the keys that unlock this whole future of work." "You need a different social contract and to let go of control. But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," he told Fortune in 2023.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Finland's Oura went from a tiny Kickstarter campaign to a $5.2 billion startup with Cristiano Ronaldo and Prince Harry among its fans
Mark Zuckerberg, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jennifer Aniston, and Prince Harry have one thing in common: They all own Oura Rings. The Finnish company Oura, founded in 2013, is on the verge of a growth spurt as its niche innovation in wearable tech heads for the mainstream. Demand has boomed recently, with sales set to double this year and nearing the $500 million mark. Oura just capped off a Series D funding round in December led by Fidelity Management, which values the company at $5.2 billion. The capital injection is a key milestone, given that Oura was valued at half that figure just two years ago. The global wearable tech market is set to expand by 14.6% by the end of the decade. Of that group, smart glasses and rings are the ones seeing the most growth. This could be just the beginning of Oura's popularity as the company also has plans to go 'beyond the ring' with its new influx of funding, CEO Tom Hale said. "We're seeing kind of cultural relevance here in that Oura is becoming a shorthand for how you're doing. It's like the doctor's note that isn't a doctor's note," Hale told Fortune's Leadership Next podcast earlier this year. So, what made Oura a worthy competitor to the Apple Watches of the world? Oura was founded in Finland by Petteri Lahtela, Markku Koskela, and Kari Kivela, who wanted to find a way to gather wellness information on one's finger. In 2015, the young startup launched a Kickstarter campaign (like Peloton and Allbirds did), raising over $650,000 by the end and exceeding its goal sixfold. The following year, Oura won a CES Innovation Award that helped establish it as an emerging tech company. From its early days, Oura's approach to overall wellness lured many users amid a growing focus on health. More specifically, the Oura Ring gave people insights on their sleep levels, which hit a 'sweet spot with a particular customer set,' Hale said, according to the Financial Times. Oura's app shows its users a 'Readiness Score,' a number from one to 100 that reveals their preparedness for the day based on various health metrics, including sleep quality, heart rate, body temperature, and more. 'Wearable tech is for anyone who wants to better understand the state of their health and live more optimally for longer,' Hale said. Smartwatches from Apple or Garmin serve daily utility or track exercise but aren't comfortable to wear all day long. They may also need to be charged more frequently. On the other hand, Oura Rings fit more seamlessly as an accessory and have a longer battery life. The latest version, the Oura Ring 4, which launched in October, aims to be even sleeker in its look and feel. Don't let the size of Oura's devices fool you into thinking they cost less. They follow a subscription model that costs $6 a month, while the ring costs upwards of $350. Wellness and longevity are hot topics—and Oura is playing the long game in the tech market by catering to these trends. Celebrities have been spotted wearing Oura Rings, a culmination of the overall clout the device has gathered over the past decade. CEOs think the device boosts their performance by giving them specifics on their energy levels throughout the day. For now, Oura is a leader in the tech it pioneered. Hale confidently wrote off Apple foraying into the wearable ring market, leaving the Finnish company to contend with a small but growing pool of rivals. However, Hale has noticed people pairing up an Oura ring with another wearable—often times, an Apple Watch, he told Fortune. Competitors are in plenty: for instance, this summer Samsung launched a Galaxy Ring, which doesn't charge a subscription fee and is made by one of the biggest tech companies globally. Still, Hale is unfazed by the competition; he argues that it further underscores the unique value of this category of wearable tech. Meanwhile, the Oura Ring is finding new ways to be indispensable: It's been used in marriage proposals and indicated how stressed Americans were in the lead-up to Donald Trump's election. Women are Oura's fastest-growing segment, with those between the ages of 25 and 34 representing a third of the women using its rings. Following Trump's victory, Hale quelled concerns about the privacy of medical data, assuring users that their information would be kept private. "Our business model is we serve you and our goal in serving you is to improve your health," Hale told Fortune. "You think about like some of our competition, maybe they're not quite so scrupulous or maybe they just have stronger incentives to actually, do something with that data that's not, strictly speaking, in the interests of your health. We are 100% focused on it." A version of this story was originally published on on Dec. 20, 2024. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
