The Remote Job Board from the Pioneers of Remote Work: How We Work Remotely Became the Go-To for Distributed Teams

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have been running a remote company since 1999.

That's 25+ years of distributed work—long before Zoom existed, before "remote-first" was a phrase, before the pandemic made everyone an expert on working from home.

When they wrote the book Remote: Office Not Required in 2013, it was considered radical. When they launched We Work Remotely as a job board for remote positions, it felt niche. Now? It's the largest remote work community on the internet.

We Work Remotely (WWR) attracts 263,000 monthly organic visitors searching for remote jobs. It generates $6.5 million in annual traffic value. And it came from the company that's been practicing remote work longer than almost anyone.

Authority matters in directories. When the founders literally wrote the book on remote work, their job board carries credibility no competitor can match.

Who better to curate remote job listings than a company that had been successfully remote for decades?

The timing was prescient. What started as a niche board for "people who want to work remotely" has become essential infrastructure for the distributed work movement.

What The Numbers Tell Us

Brand Searches Dominate: WWR's top keywords are branded ("we work remotely," "weworkremotely," "wwr"). When people search for your brand directly, you've achieved meaningful awareness.

Generic Intent Capture: "Work remotely" and "contract jobs" are valuable generic keywords that WWR ranks #1 for. This captures people who haven't yet heard of the platform.

Authority Through Practice: 37signals has been remote since 1999. They didn't study remote work—they invented how many companies approach it. This lived experience creates unmatched credibility.

Why This Model Works

The Book as Marketing: Remote: Office Not Required (2013) positioned Fried and Hansson as thought leaders on distributed work. The job board is a natural extension of that authority—built-in credibility that money can't buy.

Pandemic Surge: When COVID forced everyone remote, We Work Remotely was already established. While others scrambled to pivot, WWR simply received more traffic from people who suddenly needed remote jobs.

Focus Creates Differentiation: WWR only lists remote jobs. This focus differentiates them from general job boards and attracts users who specifically want remote work, not just flexibility.

Strong Brand = Strong Moat

Brand Searches Dominate: WWR's top keywords are branded ("we work remotely," "weworkremotely," "wwr"). When people search for your brand directly, you've achieved meaningful awareness.

The Remote Show Podcast: Content marketing through podcasting builds authority and keeps the brand top-of-mind for remote work conversations.

Generic Intent Capture: "Work remotely" and "contract jobs" are valuable generic keywords that WWR ranks #1 for. This captures people who haven't yet heard of the platform.

Here's what We Work Remotely taught me: The best directories come from genuine expertise, not market analysis.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson didn't spot a market opportunity in remote job boards. They had been running a remote company since 1999. They wrote a book about it. They built tools for it. A job board was a natural extension of what they already knew.

That authenticity matters. When employers post jobs on WWR, they know it's run by people who understand remote work deeply. When candidates apply, they trust the curation.

The core insight: Don't chase trends you don't understand. Build in areas where you have genuine expertise. Let that expertise become your competitive moat.

What do you know deeply enough to build a directory around?