Mastering Remote Team Building and SaaS Growth – with Liam Martin

One of the biggest changes we see is how a SaaS company can grow and scale. Building this kind of business is not just about writing code or creating ads. It is about solving real problems for remote teams and making team collaboration easier. It is also about creating systems that improve communication and help remote employees feel connected. This is why the topic matters. Every entrepreneur faces the challenge of growth and the need to build a strong, reliable team.

In this episode of the Best Business Podcast, Daryl Urbanski sits down with Liam Martin. He is the co-founder and CMO of Time Doctor and Staff.com. These are two companies that have become essential tools for managing remote teams and measuring productivity. Together they explore the realities of building a SaaS business. They talk about hiring and training staff. They also discuss overcoming churn, raising capital, and creating clear systems for accountability that support company culture and team morale.

Success in business comes down to discipline, process, and people. For SaaS companies, these strategies can improve employee engagement and make team building stronger across distributed team members. Tune in to learn from Liam’s journey and discover how you can apply these lessons to your own path.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. Learn how effective remote team building can transform the way your company grows, creating stronger collaboration and accountability among team members.
2. Explore proven team building activities and strategies that help remote employees stay engaged, improve productivity, and strengthen company culture.
3. Discover how successful SaaS companies overcome challenges with hiring, training, and scaling remote teams while keeping team morale high.

Resources:

• Liam Martin: LinkedIn
• Running Remote: Website
• Time Doctor: Website
• Best Business Podcast with Daryl Urbanski - Where you can find more insightful interviews like this one.

Episode Highlights:

Dissecting the Remote Work Revolution

• Imagine managing a workforce across time zones. Meetings shift from a Zoom meeting to a video call, while projects move forward in a virtual setting.
• In this world, remote team building and team building activities are vital for keeping remote workers engaged and aligned.
• Host Daryl Urbanski welcomes Liam Martin, co-founder of a leading SaaS company building tools for team collaboration.
• Liam’s story is rooted in solving problems faced by remote team members and creating systems that support productivity worldwide.

From Academia to Business: A Misfit’s Turning Point

• Liam’s early struggles in academia pushed him toward remote work and digital entrepreneurship.
• Teaching for low pay led him to build an online tutoring agency, managing hundreds of employees across borders.
• He saw disputes when a team member shares hours worked but clients doubted the time, highlighting a lack of accountability.
• That challenge inspired the creation of new tools designed to measure productivity and create fairness for both tutors and students.

The Churn Problem: Why Remote Hiring Marketplaces Fail

• Staff.com launched as a virtual team marketplace, connecting businesses with long-term remote employees.
• Revenue grew quickly but churn made it impossible to scale, even with a large team of clients.
• Liam explains how poaching and retention problems often destroy platforms trying to organize team building activities or long-term hires.
• The pivot redirected focus toward team engagement and enterprise-level analytics that help companies grow sustainably.

Building Effective Teams: Systems, Process, and Sacred Knowledge

• Liam warns about the danger of sacred knowledge. When only one person holds critical company information.
• Team leaders in virtual meetings or one on one meetings must document tasks so the entire team can access them.
• He advises SOPs, google workspace docs, and evolving wikis as practical team building solutions.
• These methods improve communication, build shared experiences, and prevent roadblocks when scaling.

Hiring Game-Changers, Not Clones

• As companies grow, leaders must empower others instead of doing all the work themselves.
• Liam shares how hiring top performers, even in smaller groups or niche roles, improved team bonding and innovation.
• Leadership shifts to data-driven guidance, where team leaders use slack channels and microsoft teams for alignment.
• Recruitment becomes the real engine for growth, helping companies build relationships and solve bigger challenges.

Reinventing Productivity: Discipline, Data, and Devotion

• Time Doctor was built to track productivity without hurting company culture or employee engagement.
• Integrations with new software like Trello and google meet enhanced visibility and accountability.
• Liam encourages founders to track themselves first. Spend a few minutes daily measuring how you work.
• Productivity tools reveal work schedules, energy levels, and help remote employees create habits for long-term growth.

The Dark Side of Venture Capital

• Venture capital can look glamorous but often leaves founders diluted and disappointed.
• Liam shares an example of a founder who sold for millions but gained little due to equity splits.
• He explains how investors push for problem solving at scale but may ignore profitability.
• Bootstrapped founders working with remote team members often maintain freedom and control.

Final Reflections: Designing the Future of Work

• SaaS works like scavenger hunts or team games: recurring steps compound into big wins.
• Recurring revenue models allow even home offices and new hires to compete globally.
• Liam highlights simple discipline: skip TV, work evenings, and build momentum with your entire team.
• True success is about build community, foster meaningful connections, and trust your team to deliver.