"Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed,” Pei said in the email, telling employees who are worried about flexibility that “this is a company for grown ups.”
Sounds like he actually means it's a company for exploitable young people and socopathic assholes. Grown-ups have other responsibilities and don't want work to commandeer their whole lives.
"This company is for grown ups. Now sit over there where I can check on you constantly and do what I tell you like a child that can't be trusted alone."
The actual sentence, according to a Verge website comment, was: "This is a company for grown ups, so if you need to be out of office to deal with some issues, we trust you to make the right decision." If true, this doesn't reflect well on Verge journalism.
The real problem is that Nothing brings.... nothing to the table. Oh look, another startup making another Android phone in a sea of companies making Android phones, with yet another skin.