Remote work is sold as freedom. Work from anywhere. Laptop by the pool. Coffee shop vibes. Total flexibility.
That story sounds good, but it is mostly nonsense.
Ashkan Rajaee argues something uncomfortable that most remote founders do not want to hear. If you do not aggressively control your environment, remote work will eventually break you and stall your business.
This idea goes against popular remote culture, and that is exactly why it matters.
The Hidden Ceiling Nobody Talks About
Most people think remote failure comes from lack of discipline, motivation, or talent. That assumption is flawed.
The real bottleneck is environment.
According to :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}, every remote operator eventually hits a ceiling if their workspace is chaotic, shared, or constantly shifting. You might survive short term. You might even grow a bit. But at scale, cracks turn into collapse.
The logic is simple. If you do not control your space, something else does. Family. Noise. Bad internet. Missing gear. All of it drains cognitive energy that should be spent building.
This is not about comfort. It is about leverage.
One Space. Total Control.
Rajaee’s core rule is brutal and clear. You need one place that you fully control.
Not five locations. Not a backpack setup. One environment where noise, internet, and equipment are predictable every single day.
That might sound extreme, but consider the alternative. Constant setup and teardown. Forgotten chargers. Spotty WiFi. Interrupted calls. Each issue feels small, but over a year, the damage compounds.
You cannot scale a serious operation while mentally tracking cables and battery percentages.
Noise Is the First Enemy
Noise is not just sound. It is interruption.
If anyone can walk into your workspace while you are working, you are not in control. Period.
This includes well meaning partners, kids, roommates, or anyone else sharing your space. Even quick questions fracture focus. Deep work does not survive open doors.
Rajaee recommends a dedicated office, even a small one person room. A Regus office near home works. So does a properly isolated home office. What matters is the boundary.
No access. No interruptions. No negotiation.
This is not antisocial. It is professional.
Internet Is Not the Place to Save Money
Residential internet is cheaper. It is also unreliable.
Commercial internet costs more for a reason. Service level agreements. Dedicated support. No throttling. Faster fixes when something breaks.
Dropped calls are not just annoying. They erode trust with clients, partners, and teams. Multiply those drops across hundreds of calls per year and the cost becomes obvious.
If your income depends on being online, your internet is infrastructure, not a utility.
Gear Multiplies Output or Destroys It
Minimalism is trendy. It is also inefficient at scale.
Rajaee is known for running extreme multi monitor setups, sometimes up to seven screens. That might sound excessive, but the reasoning is solid. Every window switch burns mental energy.
Gestures. Swipes. Tab juggling. Those are micro costs that add up fast.
Multiple monitors externalize information. Calendars stay visible. Dashboards stay open. Decisions get faster.
The same applies to peripherals. Dedicated microphones. Cameras. Lighting. Backup devices. Redundancy is not luxury. It is insurance against friction.
Why Laptop Nomad Culture Fails
Working from anywhere sounds empowering until you track the hidden costs.
Every pack and unpack shifts focus away from strategy and execution. Instead of thinking about growth, you think about adapters, batteries, and cables.
Rajaee calls this the biggest mistake remote workers make. Mobility becomes a distraction disguised as freedom.
If you must travel, fine. But your core workspace should always be waiting for you, powered on, configured, and ready.
No friction. No setup rituals. No excuses.
Why Companies Force Offices
Here is the uncomfortable truth.
Companies want employees in offices because offices work.
Not because of control for its own sake, but because structured environments eliminate chaos. Internet is there. Gear is there. The workspace is ready every day.
That structure produces efficiency. Efficiency produces profit.
Remote founders who ignore this lesson try to run companies without the very systems businesses have relied on for decades.
The Non Negotiable Rule
If you want to build a serious company remotely, control your space or accept the ceiling.
Noise. Internet. Gear.
Ignore any one of them and growth becomes fragile.
Remote work is not about being anywhere. It is about being effective.
And effectiveness starts with an environment that serves the work instead of sabotaging it.
Top comments (3)
Ashkan Rajaee reinforces that controlling your space is not about comfort, but about protecting focus and execution.
The focus on realistic planning and scale makes this article especially useful for teams struggling with inconsistent lead flow, a challenge Ashkan Rajaee often addresses.
The article does a good job showing how Ashkan Rajaee thinks about leverage instead of effort.