The humming of a laptop fan was the only sound in the small bedroom on a farm in East London, South Africa.
The farm was a world away from the famed innovation hub, Silicon Valley, but for a young Jadon Moerdyk, it was a launchpad.
Fast forward to today, and that persistent laptop humming has become the underlying rhythm of RemodelBoom, a multi-national performance marketing agency driving tens of millions in revenue for nearly 300 US home-improvement brands.
At 27, Moerdyk isn’t just selling home renovations; he’s selling a radical new blueprint for the modern company.
His success story is an indication of the future of work, distributed, system-driven, and ruthlessly focused on value over vanity.
The Foundation
Moerdyk’s origin story is not one of privilege or proximity to tech hubs.
“I grew up on a farm in East London, and to be honest, there wasn’t much going on,” he tells TechFinancials in an interview.
“It made me realise pretty quickly what kind of life I didn’t want.
“Once I got online and saw how big the world really was, I knew I couldn’t stay stuck in that small-town mindset.”
Unfazed by his remote location and financial constraints, Moerdyk flipped the script and used these disadvantages as his greatest motivation.
While others might have seen limitations, Moerdyk saw a training ground for resilience.
“There are definitely disadvantages to being a South African founder – the passport, lack of access to funding, and limited exposure to tech ecosystems.
“But those challenges force you to think differently.
“You become incredibly resourceful because you have to be.”
This early immersion in a “psychology of scarcity” became the foundation of his philosophy.
“When you don’t have access to capital or big-city networks, you rely on creativity, grit, and efficiency,” he says.
“That mindset became the foundation for how I built my business – lean, remote, and system-driven.
“Even today, that psychology of scarcity shapes how we operate: we don’t waste time or resources, and we focus on results over flash.”
The Engine Room: Remote-First as a Strategic Weapon
While many companies were forced to adopt remote work during the COVID pandemic, for RemodelBoom, it was the foundational strategy from day one.
“Building a remote-first company made sense from day one,” Moerdyk explains.
“When you’re starting out, office space and local salaries can kill you before you even begin.
“Going remote meant we could find great people anywhere – South Africa, the UK, the US, the Philippines – and pay fairly within each market.”
This approach bucked the trend of the traditional hiring pool, allowing Moerdyk to tap into a global talent market.
But it also demanded discipline.
The company invested heavily in building robust systems and transparent communication habits, turning potential chaos into a scalable structure.
“Hustle might get you started, but systems keep you alive,” he notes.
This model also forced Moerdyk to compete on a pure value proposition.
“At the end of the day, clients don’t care where you’re based; they care whether your product or service delivers better results,” he states.
RemodelBoom’s performance-based fee structure – charging clients only a percentage of the revenue they generate – is the ultimate expression of this belief.
RemodelBoom aligns its success entirely with its clients’, a powerful message in a world of upfront retainers.
The Mindset: Grit, Systems, and Leading Without a Badge
Moerdyk’s journey wasn’t an overnight success.
He recalls a seven-month grind with his first business, where he made no money, working from that small bedroom while slowly running out of cash.
“It was brutal,” he admits.
“But that period taught me that consistency eventually beats talent.
“If you stay in the game long enough, you’ll figure it out.”
That grit now defines his leadership style.
Building a team of over 30 people, many older than him, presented its own challenges.
“Leading people older than me felt awkward at first… You grow up being told to respect your elders, so it’s uncomfortable,” he shares.
“But leadership isn’t about age; it’s about vision and performance.
“My team doesn’t care how old I am as long as I create a clear direction, keep standards high, and build a culture where everyone wins together.”
The Impact: A New Map for Global Ambition
The most profound impact of Moerdyk’s work may not be in the revenue generated for his clients, but in the precedent he sets for aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere, particularly in South Africa.
“You don’t need to leave South Africa to start something great,” Moerdyk asserts.
His words make a powerful statement in a country with a significant brain drain.
“I built a global business from my laptop at home. The starting line can be anywhere,” Moerdyk says.
“The internet removed the excuses.”
His vision for the future is decisively decentralised.
“Our company proves that geography doesn’t define opportunity anymore,” Moerdyk says.
“Talent is global now.
“Our model proves you can build a U.S. company from anywhere — as long as you deliver exceptional results.”
As he prepares to move to Austin to be closer to the core of his market, his mission remains clear: to solidify RemodelBoom as the number-one performance-based agency in its field.
But the larger legacy is already taking shape.
Moerdyk’s story is a compelling argument that the future of work isn’t being written in a single tech hub.
The future of work can now be found in backrooms, garages, bedrooms, home offices, and farms across the globe.
Opportunities exist for those with the grit to build systems that simply work, and the vision to see that the world is now their office.
