How Letterboxd doubled their workforce and hired in the US with Deel

2011 年，紐西蘭科技創業家 Matthew Buchanan 和 Karl von Randow 萌生了一個想法：為影迷建立一個社交發現平台，用來為電影分類。「它就像是一本日記，您可以用列表製作工具記錄您觀看的電影，」Buchanan 解釋說，「您也能在社區中撰寫影評並與別人討論電影。」

The platform, Letterboxd, began in Auckland, New Zealand as a side project. It gained in popularity as the Covid-19 pandemic began changing the way people lived and worked, compounding the organic growth of an already highly engaged community.

Now, Letterboxd has over 8 million members and is the world’s leading social media film platform. So how did it internationally scale?

從 2020 年初迎來第一位全職員工開始，目前已有 12 名全職員工。有幾名員工駐紮在奧克蘭，但 Buchanan 意識到公司需要在美國僱用員工，以便有人守護重要市場。但美國各州勞動法之間的差異為 Letterboxd 的招募工作製造了難題。

“While we were very comfortable with hiring locally, we were apprehensive about the costs and legal responsibilities for compliance in the United States. We didn’t want to hire full-time HR people to figure out things like health benefits and filing tax returns with the IRS,” said Buchanan.

這時，Letterboxd 發現 Deel 是他們的理想夥伴。此後，該公司僱用了六名美國員工，員工人數翻了一番。

With US employees based from coast to coast, multiple time zones are covered so local employees can attend red carpet and press events in person. “We were concerned about all the compliance, but now we know we can trust Deel to manage the complexities of hiring in the US. It’s something we have to get 100% right, for our people and for our business,” said Buchanan.

In Buchanan’s view, one of Deel’s biggest advantages is how quickly it lets you onboard talent. Take Letterboxd’s head of support, Slim. A former superfan with his own podcast, he lives just outside Philadelphia. Buchanan noticed the show was actually converting listeners into paying subscribers. “He mentioned he’d love to work for us if the opportunity ever arose—and thanks to Deel, we could make that happen,” Buchanan says.