Season 1 - Episode 2 : Office Space and Startup Culture
Office space is an important part of any business. It's how you attract new hires, it helps you create a company culture, and oh yeah, it's where your team is going to come up with your next big breakthrough. The pandemic has dramatically changed the office concept, but in this episode we're going to talk about how to create an in-person office experience that your team will love.
Background Story
Dave here! Initially Chris and I couldn’t have cared less where we worked. As far as we were concerned, we’d work in a cave (as long as it had WiFi). But we quickly learned that that wasn’t going to cut it if we wanted to have any staff. We bounced around from office incubators, to coworking spaces, to our own space and learned a ton along the way. We had to teach ourselves that the physical space you’re in really matters to your culture and is a huge part of creating a happy and productive team. In this episode, we went deep on what each startup office space offered us.
Outline
Business Incubators: cheap, vibeless office space.
Co-Working Space: Work can actually be fun.
Your Own Office: The promised land.
Busted Myth
Myth: Office space doesn’t matter anymore. Wrong. A cool office, even if you’re not in every day will make your business better off.
Learnings
Topic 1: Finding cheap office space somewhere.
Pros: Sets a no-nonsense tone for your team where waste is avoided at all cost. Typically also very inexpensive.
Cons: No vibe, tough to attract and retain employees.
Topic 2: Coworking spaces.
Pros: Looks good, offers services like coffee and snacks that you don't need to manage. Helps create a great company culture. Part of a bigger community of other startups which makes it helpful for staff to make friends. Monthly price tag too, so it’s an easy exit.
Cons: Can be more expensive per employee. Other companies can also ruin the vibe. And technically speaking the space can kick you out since it's a short term agreement.
Topic 3: Buy/Build your own office.
Pros: You can design it from scratch to exactly what you want (Starbucks with an office behind it was our motivation). Amazing to create a culture.
Cons: Expensive - but you can probably get a commercial mortgage (which can be a path to personal wealth). Still, you need to have enough staff to make it work. And it’s tough to find a place that you can actually buy - most commercial space is owned by big landlords who only want to rent it to you.
Summary
Going through multiple spaces helped us understand what we wanted in an office and that it needed to match our vibe.
Investing in the space is an investment in your employees and their wellbeing. It’s absolutely worth it.