BUILDING A REMOTE AGENCY: THE STORY OF DANTE MEDIA 

One of the unique aspects of working at Dante Media is that we operate as a fully remote team, spread across Europe. Whilst working across time zones and not having much face time comes with its challenges, our team continues to deliver outstanding results for our clients, showcasing that a team doesn’t need an office to do a good job. 

As someone who joined early in Dante Media’s growth journey, I decided to speak to our founder to truly understand what inspired him to set up a remote agency in the first place - something which has allowed me a great deal of flexibility whilst working on exciting, impactful projects.

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1. Where did the idea for Dante Media come from? 

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After going between working at big corporations, impact-driven NGOs and agencies, I realised that I’d like to dedicate my time to creating a positive impact, rather than working only to generate profit for someone else. 

Running a business was an idea I had ever since my early university days. I came to a crossroads, choosing between a job offer from POLITICO, or the option to pursue my own business. 

So, with no startup capital or promise of career progression, I decided I would rather try and fail at doing something I care deeply about than succeed in being a small part of something big.

Dante Media has since grown in ways I didn’t imagine when I started the agency, and the decision I made back in 2020 has allowed me the freedom I need to truly develop and thrive in my career. 

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2. Did you always intend to build a fully remote team? Why/Why not? 

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Yes.

Being a non-EU citizen, things like having a visa are often contingent on having a job, whilst companies are reluctant to support working visas. For entrepreneurs, this is even harder, as most countries do not grant working visas unless a new technology is being developed. So being ‘physical’ was not an option for me to begin with.

Most EU countries do not support small businesses nearly enough. Hiring employees, paying corporate income tax and getting an office all add up, making the startup cost of any business very high. It is simply not feasible without having a large investment from the beginning - an investment I did not have, starting Dante with only 1,000 EUR I had saved from previous work experiences.

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This, coupled with the immense talent available to me across Europe, made it a simple choice to not limit myself to the job market of one single country. So, I started an Estonian company with an e-residency and hit the ground running with a team that could work anywhere.

3. What are the benefits of running a remote agency? 

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Being on this journey for 5 years now, I have noticed 3 main benefits of a remote-first set-up: 

1. Access to talent
We have team members in London, Barcelona, Tbilisi, Milan, Istanbul, Brussels and many other cities across the continent - access to such a diverse pool of the best talent available definitely gives us a competitive edge compared to being based in one city and having a central office. Not only do we get the best candidates out there, but we are also able to provide opportunities for people, who like myself, may not have access to many Europe-based roles.

2. Versatility 
Having a remote structure provides my team with the versatility of working from where they live, or elsewhere - standing as a testament to the freedom that this generation needs in order to thrive. This in general creates better balance, and satisfaction, for the team, which shines through in the quality of work. 

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3. Scalability
Being remote also allows us to scale faster. It has reduced employment costs, doesn’t constrain us to the limitations of office space and hence makes us a more agile team. We can quickly and intentionally grow the core team, and I am able to speak to and hire qualified candidates across Europe without the worry of relocation needs. 

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4. What are the biggest challenges of having a remote team? 

It’s definitely the feeling of ‘presence’. Though we have plenty of virtual meetings and our team members often meet each other in various cities, it is sometimes difficult to connect on a deeper level with our colleagues. We circumvent this by having bi-weekly team calls that are only about ‘non-productive’ things while also considering quarterly physical meetups to balance these out as a new model right now. 

Additionally, small things sometimes become bigger than they are, due to the inability to just go over to someone’s desk and ask. Sure, tools like Slack are amazing, but they don’t fully replace face-to-face contact. This has however made our team better at communicating and planning their time to account for communication needs and still deliver work on time.

5. How do you ensure quality of work when working across countries and time zones?

We utilise robust project management systems, clear deadlines and mutual expectations between our team, where everyone has a strong sense of ownership of their work and deliverables. If anything, we see better quality work when people get to work on their own time and on their own terms, rather than having to show up to an office at a set time each day of the week. As long as all the work is done within our agreed timelines, our team has full flexibility to give their best when they feel their best – whether this is at 8 am or 10 pm.

6. What are your views on “good” company culture? What does that look like in a remote agency?
   
   

Good company culture to me is based on trust, initiative and transparency - the key for my team is that everyone feels confident in executing their work, and has ownership over it and control over how they tackle tasks while enjoying the work they do. 

Traditionally, company culture has referred to after-work socials or team-building activities, but I believe that satisfaction in your work is the key to building a strong, happy team.

At Dante, our core principles are self-management, wholeness and evolutionary purpose. These principles guide us to not follow traditional hierarchies for our teams, empower individuals to make autonomous decisions; foster flexibility and responsiveness; and harbour an environment where everyone brings their full selves to work rather than a professional ‘mask’. We encourage authenticity, emotional engagement and a sense of purpose which drives our work. This means that the team shows up as themselves, both internally and externally. 

We value purpose, honesty and transparency as well as ambition in our team as core values to drive us.

7. How have you found client attitudes toward working with a fully remote team?
   
   

In the post-COVID world, this has never been a discussion. Most of our clients are global organisations who work with remote teams themselves and also collaborate with agencies remotely. We have even had instances where the project team and client were in the same city for a whole year and didn’t meet once in person! Online meetings everyone can attend from wherever they are without commute times and mandatory small talk makes us much more efficient and precise in our work, and clients haven’t expressed any need to meet us in person.

8. Has running this type of agency in any way influenced how you view productivity and work quality? How? 

Absolutely. I had my doubts about the remote aspect of being a business owner in the beginning but I quickly saw that everyone I collaborated with was significantly more productive than anyone I had ever met working in a corporate office before. People being able to fulfil their work while being personally fulfilled is the most important thing about work for me, and I think remote work allows everyone to make work part of their lives rather than making their lives an extension of their work. Allowing the team to work on their own terms and timings has definitely boosted productivity across the board.