How to build a cross-border team without losing speed

In 2016, we launched GuestReady in six countries at the same time. Our ambition was to build a globally leading company, so building across different locations was a given from day one. Our thinking was simple: if Airbnb worked in a market, we would work in that market too. We picked these markets fast and entrepreneurially, but weren’t exactly scientific in how we evaluated them.

Out of those six, only two worked. We shut the others down.

That expensive lesson taught me to be more strategic about market selection. But it also forced us to master something equally important: building effective cross-border teams. Operating in multiple countries from day one, we quickly learn that distributed teamwork isn’t optional but essential for survival.

Eight years later, we’re a team of over 300 people representing more than 60 nationalities, working across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. We’ve learned how to scale internationally without losing the agility that makes startups competitive. Building across borders isn’t about managing complexity – it’s about turning that complexity into competitive advantage.

Here’s what actually worked for us when building cross-border teams.

Start with what unites everyone: Mission, vision and values

When people work across different countries, cultures, and time zones, they need more than tools or processes to stay connected. A clear mission, vision, and set of values can serve as the foundation that holds a distributed team together.

A mission and vision act as the north star, reminding people why they are part of the organisation, even if they have never met many of their colleagues in person. Values guide day-to-day behaviour, particularly when teams face challenges or cultural differences.

In our case, we started with too many values, and no one could remember them, including me. Over time, we narrowed them down to four that people actually live by: working better together as a team, being systematic in building processes for scale, driving change by staying proactive, and taking ownership of outcomes.

These few but clear principles cut across differences in background and culture, creating a shared identity that everyone in the organisation can recognise and align with.

Communication as the operating system

In a distributed setup, communication isn’t just a function. It’s the operating system of the company. Get it right, and you move fast. Get it wrong, and you stall.

In the early days, we had weekly all-hands calls where everyone could add agenda points. It was informal, direct, and unbureaucratic. That format worked when we were small and needed constant alignment.

As we grew past 100, then 200 people, weekly became too operational. We switched to monthly all-hands with more preparation and structure, plus quarterly town halls for strategy and long-term goals.

The principle: Our communication cadence needed to evolve with our size. What keeps a team of 20 aligned will drown a team of 200.

During a crisis, communication matters even more. When COVID hit our industry hard, we ramped up communication: weekly all-hands calls plus weekly updates I wrote personally. Every 2-3 days, everyone within heard directly from me what we knew, what we didn’t know, and what our plan was. In a distributed team, we don’t have the luxury of people seeing me in the office. Transparency and frequency replaced that.

This structured approach became crucial when we built RentalReady. What started as our internal tool is now a comprehensive platform serving over 8,000 units across Europe. Having distributed teams actually accelerated development. Our developers could collaborate directly with operations teams in Portugal, France, the UK or Dubai to understand real localised user needs.

Time zones: keep the team in sync

One hidden cost of distributed teams is time zones. A 10-hour difference can mean a full day lost waiting for replies.

We had to make a deliberate choice: no Americas team for now, since the time difference with Asia would have been too large. Today, our maximum time zone difference is about seven hours.

We also adjust working hours to increase overlap. Our Malaysia team, for example, often starts later and works closer to European hours. That way, we maximise real-time collaboration and minimise asynchronous delays.

We found that overlap mattered more than expected. Without it, speed quickly dropped.

Onboarding and belonging from day one

One of the biggest speed-killers in cross-border teams is slow onboarding. If new hires take months to get productive, your distributed setup will always feel sluggish.

We solved this with structured onboarding workflows. Every new hire goes through a process covering tools, processes, and culture. We also assign a buddy to every new joiner for personal support.

Once a month, our CTO and I host calls with all new joiners. It’s a small-group Q&A where we answer questions transparently. This isn’t just knowledge transfer. It’s about building connection and belonging. When people feel connected, they move faster.

Performance and accountability

Speed doesn’t just come from communication and onboarding. It comes from clarity. Everyone needs to know what’s expected and how performance is measured.

We built a performance management framework combining yearly 360° reviews with peer feedback, half-yearly performance reviews between managers and direct reports, and transparent KPIs tracked in monthly business review calls.

We share company-wide performance in monthly all-hands and quarterly town halls. This transparency ensures no one is “out of sight, out of mind.” Accountability is shared, regardless of location.

Processes alone do not build culture, though. People still need moments of connection.

Human connection: Distributed but not fully remote

We’ve never been fully remote. Instead, we operate a distributed model with hubs in key cities. People can meet in person when needed, and this makes a huge difference.

In the early days, we held yearly global meetups, flying everyone together. That created bonds that carried us through the rest of the year. Today, we focus more on regional meetups: still in-person, but less costly and more frequent.

Sometimes, you need to shake hands, share a meal, and laugh together. Digital tools can’t fully replace that human element.

The reality: Complexity that drives speed

I’d be lying if I said we’ve figured it all out. Building across borders remains one of our hardest challenges. But the alternative, staying local, is far more limiting.

Hiring across borders isn’t despite speed; it can be a driver of speed. The diversity of perspectives, access to talent, and resilience of a distributed setup can make your company stronger and faster.

We have built a team of 60 nationalities. We’ve faced crises, scaled across continents, and stayed fast. Not because we avoided the challenges of cross-border teams, but because we tackled them head-on and built the culture, processes, and communication to make it work.

If you’re building a distributed team, don’t fear the complexity. Done right, it’s one of the biggest advantages you can create.

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