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In 2023, the same question kept landing in Abdurrahman's inbox.
Do you know anyone good in Sri Lanka?
It came from people he knew in Australia, the UK and the US. People who had tried to hire at home and run out of options. The honest answer was yes. Lots of people.
The short version
For readers who want the facts first:
- Teams Squared began in 2023 as a string of personal introductions between friends abroad and talented people in Sri Lanka.
- After months of conversations with partners and lawyers, we focused on legal, where firms and legal talent had the same problem from opposite ends.
- We started in Australia, then opened in the UK and the US, and have worked with clients in New Zealand, Canada and Singapore along the way.
- Today there are 130 of us, and we're ISO 27001 certified.
- Our goal is 5,000 people in three years.
The question that kept coming
Sri Lanka had just been through years of crisis. The rupee had lost much of its value and prices had climbed. Some of the sharpest people we knew were struggling to make ends meet.
Meanwhile, the people asking for introductions were stuck on the other side of the same problem. They had roles to fill and no one local to fill them.
Two sides of the same story
Amresh was living the other side of it. Working remotely from Sri Lanka for a US software company, he was handling transactions he wouldn't ordinarily have had access to locally. He kept wondering why more people weren't doing the same: looking beyond the island for what their careers could be.
At the time, Abdurrahman was co-founder and COO of a leading digital media company in South Asia, and ready for something new. Amresh was starting to feel the same, and wondering where everything he'd learned might take him next.
Between us, we had the question, the answer, and a hunch that the two belonged together.
Why we landed on legal
So we started making introductions. Any role, any industry. Then one kind of request started to stand out: legal.
We spent months inside that problem, talking to partners and to lawyers, and found the same gap from both ends.
Firms, in Australia especially, couldn't find good people, and struggled to keep them when they did. Lawyers in emerging markets had the mirror image. The interesting work didn't pay. The work that paid wasn't interesting.
That became the business. Interesting work for people who'd been locked out of it. Good people for firms who'd been priced out of them.
We started in Australia, then the UK, then the US, with clients in New Zealand, Canada and Singapore along the way.
What we got wrong, and what clients taught us
We got plenty wrong. What we're proudest of is what happened when clients told us.
- Every team member now works on a dedicated device.
- We built our own cybersecurity team.
- We built our own learning and development team, and our own learning platform.
- We're now ISO 27001 certified.
We didn't start with any of it. All of it came from someone telling us what they needed. If you're a law firm weighing up remote talent, that's worth knowing about us: we change when you tell us something isn't good enough.
Why 5,000
Today there are 130 of us. In three years, we want there to be 5,000.
That number isn't about size. It's 5,000 people whose careers no longer stop at their country's border, and a lot of firms who no longer have to fight over the same small local pool.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity hasn't been. We'd like to help change that.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Teams Squared and why?
Abdurrahman and Amresh started Teams Squared after friends and contacts in Australia, the UK and the US kept asking for introductions to skilled people in Sri Lanka. Amresh's own experience working remotely for a US company showed how much a career could change when it wasn't tied to one country's job market.
Why did Teams Squared focus on legal work?
Among all the roles we were asked about, legal requests stood out. After months of talking to partners and lawyers, we found firms that couldn't find or keep good people, and lawyers in emerging markets for whom interesting work didn't pay and paying work wasn't interesting. We built the business around closing that gap.
Where does Teams Squared work?
We started with clients in Australia, then the UK and the US. We have also worked with clients in New Zealand, Canada and Singapore.
Is Teams Squared ISO 27001 certified?
Yes. Alongside certification, we run our own cybersecurity team, give every team member a dedicated device, and run our own learning and development team and learning platform. These came from client feedback about what they needed.
How big is the Teams Squared team?
There are 130 of us today. We want to reach 5,000 people in three years.
We’re building a legal ecosystem where borders don’t limit potential.
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