Apple’s popular Remote App hasn’t been updated for months, most likely because the software was developed by just one man who has picked up other tasks within Apple’s start-up style culture. Posterous CEO Sachin Agarwal tells us what he knows about the app, pointing out that it is the work of a good friend of his, he then offers some valuable insights into how Apple does what it does. “Apple doesn’t build large teams to work on every product they make. Instead, they hire very few, but very intelligent people who can work on different projects and move around as needed.” Among other things he observes something quite interesting, “The engineers on the Mac OS and iOS teams move back and forth between the two projects based on release cycles and what needs to ship next.” An engineer at Apple can’t just assume they will be working on one project forever, he explains, telling us that the focus on small teams fosters a more flexible and creative working atmosphere. This is in contrast with Microsoft, which continues to cling onto the belief that large teams are required to solve problems. Agarwal is himself a former Apple engineer. Among other things he thinks a tech company should be run by engineers, that good firms need a culture of respect between managers and employees, and the need to give employees freedom to own and improve the products, (autonomy and ownership).
