Reimagine Our Workplaces to Reflect the Changing Times: Interview with Tony Jamous, Co-Founder and CEO of Oyster

I recently went one-on-one with Tony Jamous, co-founder and CEO of Oyster.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Tony: Shaped by my upbringing in Lebanon during a violent civil war, I am passionate about empowering talented individuals from emerging economies to gain access to fair career opportunities. That’s why I co-founded Oyster, a global employment platform that helps remove the barriers to remote work and distributed hiring. 

Previously, I was the CEO of CPaaS provider, Nexmo (now Vonage), before exiting in 2018 and launching Oyster with co-founder and Impact Officer, Jack Mardack in early 2020. With Oyster, we hope to make it easier for companies everywhere to hire people anywhere. 

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Tony: When founders head for the exit, new doors open. For me, it meant opening the door to explore what work and the concept of work-life balance truly means for myself and society at large. By having the time to reflect on my past—escaping a war zone, experiencing life as an immigrant, and working full-tilt to exhaustion—I wanted to embark on a new journey to define my own meaning of life. 

I knew the next company I founded needed to sit at the intersection of software and impact, and the work had to support my renewed focus on my life goals, rather than a return to what would drain me. And then the pandemic hit. While every leader grappled with the unknown, this sense of purpose and the urgency of discovery proved to be the catalyst that inspired my idea for Oyster––I fully committed to creating this company, finding its people, and establishing our mission. Now, I place a high value on my role in creating a better approach to work for people worldwide. 

I built Oyster from my own need to work at a fully remote and diverse company. I couldn’t find a solution that met my needs, so I decided to create one. This move changed my career trajectory and also reinforced my leadership approach: Embrace change, take risks, build collaborative teams, and trust your people. 

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Tony: Back in 2019, I asked myself a question: How can we make global employment possible, viable, human-centric, and attractive to workers? And how do we help companies themselves effectively find talent and hire across borders? The basis of this question is the fact that “work” has the potential to transform into an altogether more human, better supported, and more globally accessible experience for all––and I wanted to create a future of work platform that helps pave the way to a world where people can succeed on the merit of their talent and ambition, rather than their location.  

Global employment reduces inequalities and removes the barriers of employment to increase people’s ability to support their families, access benefits, and tap into better-paying opportunities from their home countries. I knew the idea for Oyster was worth pursuing because everyone on this planet deserves fair work opportunities. 

When it comes to testing a new business idea, my advice is to follow your purpose. In a world cluttered with businesses chasing the next big thing, the entrepreneurs that will be most successful are the ones that seek out ventures that align with their passions. Look for meaning and find fulfillment in creating something that aligns with your deeper values and visions. Entrepreneurs that find a deep connection to their mission are the ones who will rise above. 

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Tony: When you start a business from the ground up, no one knows you or your technology. Knowing this, I wanted to start by focusing on “friendly customers,” or people I knew within the B2B world that could help me network and expand upon my business idea. Then I started posting on social media to start conversations around remote work and global hiring. I gained a following, and thereafter, grew the business with like-minded organizations. I existed as a human being first [on LinkedIn] and leveraged this brand to create impressions and drive traffic to my business. 

Take your business to the next level by driving impact. You cannot waste time - think of what your path has to be to quickly generate revenue, and iterate from there. For mission-driven startups specifically, growth in the midst of the current macroeconomic environment can feel like a delicate balancing act. But embedding your company’s mission into the business model, culture, and governance from day 1 means that, as it grows, so does its impact. A company’s mission and culture can be a deciding factor for both talent and customers weighing which company to join or which platform to buy (this is where your impact helps connect you with like-minded customers, people, and collaborators). And this success will reap massive benefits—attracting the best talent and gaining more access to capital. 

Of course, this comes with its own obstacles, but as Oyster is opening a world of career opportunities for global communities outside influential clusters––while simultaneously increasing employee-centricity and reducing inequality and climate impact––we scale by staying true to our mission: Create a more equal world by making it possible for companies everywhere to hire people anywhere.

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Tony: At Oyster, we’ve always been focused on tapping into education, trust, and emotional connection. Many companies come to us for our expertise, and we foster a sense of partnership for them as they navigate global employment. A lot of our deals are won because of that trust that is fostered when a prospect feels that they can depend on us for knowledge, advice, and expertise. On the marketing side, we really value that educational component. My best tip would be to take time to understand your customer, their pain points, and what problem they’re trying to solve. Once you understand that, it becomes easier to create content and experiences that reflect the end user and their goals and priorities, leading to an even greater sense of brand affinity and connection.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Tony: Collaborative and empathetic leaders are the most effective –– especially in today’s distributed and remote workplace. Human-centricity is at the heart of everything we do at Oyster, so purpose-driven leaders who guide their teams with compassion are essential. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Tony: A company’s future success—and the future of work—depends on our ability to let go of the past and reimagine our workplaces to reflect the changing times. It’s time to create resilient, agile, distributed workforces that lead with transparency; diversify talent; are empathetic with their customers and people; offer purpose, autonomy, and flexibility; and are deliberate and intentional about how teams should spend their time. Building teams comes easily when people resonate with your company’s mission in creating a workplace where global talent can thrive, while also recognizing the importance of work-life balance. Remember: the archetypal 9 to 5 is not conducive to a high-performance culture.

As the creator of a mission-driven company, it’s important to understand the value in keeping teams united in purpose and execution, and implement initiatives to address work in ways that will help employees feel connected to the company. Oyster leads and manages teams via our “Follow the Sun'' initiative––where team members ending their days can seamlessly hand off work to those starting their days in different parts of the world––empowering employees to work according to their global placement and not feel pressure to conform to the time zones of their team members or managers. This set of guidelines, split into four pillars (project management, handoff, meetings, and connection), gives team members a space to connect to their work and to each other in ways best suited for them, fostering a thoughtful and effective company culture. People-first policies that encourage leaders to reimagine communication and collaboration to manage, engage, and retain their teams is critical. 

We also believe strongly in continuous feedback. We use a platform called Pando that enables managers to give feedback, discuss career growth, and conduct employee assessments on an ongoing basis. This process is very important to us as a remote company. When someone joins Oyster, we want them to feel that we are invested in their professional growth — that we’re supporting them on an ongoing basis, not just once a year. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders? 

Tony: 1) Promote flexibility in the workplace! Savvy leaders today adapt to new work paradigms and realities, and find solutions that work for both employers and employees. To build a fairer world of work, I believe accessibility and flexibility must remain at the heart of hiring and employee experience. 

2) Prioritize mental health. There’s a misconception that a successful leader always has to be “on” and working around the clock. This isn’t the case - and in most cases, an always on approach results in burnout. Leaders prioritizing their mental health will trickle down and influence the behaviors of everyone within the organization. And a company is only as healthy as its employees.

3) Establish a personal brand to network with like-minded individuals or companies. Whether it’s to build brand awareness, improve talent acquisition and retention strategies, or to voice a point of view on important discussions happening within your respective industry, entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders can amplify their perspectives via social media, to foster human connections in today’s remote/hybrid working world. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Tony: My grandfather, who passed away when I was seven, taught me to always lead from the heart. This advice has been the catalyst to not only my entrepreneurial journey but also my leadership style. Back in the 1960s, my grandfather took villagers from his home in Lebanon to Bahrain to work in the construction business. He was really in the employment business and wanted to help his village people to find jobs abroad. Oyster is now doing what my grandfather did but on a global scale to help people access job opportunities. He made me understand that being an entrepreneur was about creating opportunities for people and leading from my heart.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Tony: It’s a pivotal time for companies to redefine how they work in the future and get excited about global hiring as a force for thriving workplaces, meaningful working experiences, and a more equal world. Building distributed teams is a proven strategy for growing companies, and should not be considered a challenge to overcome, but a strength. 


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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