For this episode of the INSIDE Stellar podcast, we did something a little different.
The episode wasn't recorded over a video call, or in the car like we usually do. Instead, it was recorded at 1 a.m. in a villa near Bordeaux, just after the entire team had finished a karaoke night during one of Stellar's company congresses. Needless to say, our voices were not at their top performance by the end of this evening.
This episode was not pre-planned. We had simply spent the last few days together celebrating Stellar's fifth birthday, surfing, cooking, brainstorming, challenging each other's ideas, processes, and catching up with colleagues we normally only see through a screen. By the end of the evening, it felt like the perfect moment to capture why we invest so much into bringing everyone together in person.
The conversation quickly moved beyond karaoke and birthday celebrations.
As a fully distributed company, we spend most of the year working remotely across different countries, departments, and time zones. Remote work allows us to move fast, but there are certain conversations that flow much more easily when people share the same space. The discussions between workshops, while preparing meals, or over a late-night drink often uncover the small inefficiencies, new ideas, and different perspectives that simply don't surface during scheduled online meetings.
That's ultimately what these congresses are about. Yes, they're an opportunity to celebrate milestones together, but they're also where tech, operations, and commercial teams align on where we're heading next. They're where transparency increases, ideas improve, and everyone leaves with a better understanding of how their work fits into the bigger picture.
This episode is, in many ways, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a behind-the-scenes podcast. It's a conversation recorded exactly as the moment felt: unfiltered, slightly sleep-deprived, and a genuine reflection on why, despite being a remote-first company, we still believe nothing replaces meeting in person from time to time.
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