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DogVacay (photos taken by West Haddon Hall)
Answers from co-founder and CEO Aaron Hirschhorn
What were your considerations when pick an office space and designing its layout?
The most important thing for us when choosing a space was to all be together on one floor, which would give our office dogs lots of room to play without being a distraction. Additionally, our team has more than doubled in size each year, so we needed a spot with lots of room to grow. Our current space is 11,000 square feet, and in less than a year (since April 2014) we've almost filled it!
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
The No. 1 perk, of course, is bringing your pup into work each day! We have 25-plus employee dogs in the office each day, and we put them to work too. They're involved in regular photo shoots for our blog and social media content, like our Instagram.
We also have lunch catered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, provide a wide range of snacks and drinks for our employees, host regular happy hours, and work just a few minutes away from the beach.
How do you think office design affects work culture?
We want our office to be spacious and fun, allowing for creativity and collaboration. Having an open floor plan was important to us so that teams can easily communicate with each other, and we have two cozy couch areas for brainstorming, relaxing, and playing with pups when employees need a mental break.
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Gem
Answers from COO Ken Miller
What were your considerations when pick an office space and designing its layout?
Above all, we wanted a space that was fun to go to everyday. Start-up life can be pretty grueling in terms of hours and stress, so having a space that people really looked forward to going to each day was crucial. We also absolutely needed an open layout. Collaboration is key and we didn’t want the office to feel corporate or like a law firm. Additionally, our team takes an active role organizing local Bitcoin events and building the L.A. Bitcoin community, and we wanted to be able to host events at our office. It has already been a great venue for several L.A. Bitcoin and Bitcoin Developers L.A. meet-ups since we moved in last fall. We even had a local artist, Jules Muck, paint a custom mural of The Wizard of Oz (there’s a lot of hidden meaning in it relevant to our industry) and have a bank vault door that was an existing part of the office to remind us of the importance of what we’re doing.
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
We have a shuffleboard table in the center of the office, a stage with working microphone, an office “mom” who comes in and takes care of us and prepares fresh, healthy snacks, and a balcony that overlooks Abbot Kinney in Venice, which is one of the most exciting streets in L.A. There is no end to amazing coffee and dining options on our block, which makes it easy to set up meetings or take a quick productivity/caffeine break. We have even brought in a masseuse to make available to the team when the workload is especially heavy.
Again, it’s similar to why the space itself was important. We have highly dedicated people who are working long hours to ship product out the door and build a company that leaves a mark on the world. Our products — easy to use Bitcoin APIs that simplify Bitcoin security for developers — are incredibly hard to build, and our team does an incredible job. In return, we want to have a space and environment where people look forward to going, enjoy spending their days, and feel appreciated for all their hard work and contributions, and we’re pretty certain we’ve done that. Potential recruits come and visit the office and pretty quickly ask how soon they can start. If you want to learn more about what we do, check us out at https://gem.co or follow us at @gemhq.
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Answers from CTO Carl Trudel (riding the scooter in the second image above)
What were your considerations when pick an office space and designing its layout?
We picked the office location in order to give us the best access to employees. Encino is in the middle of the valley, providing an amazing commute of 15 to 30 minutes for people living in the valley or surrounding areas, and within 45 min of Pasadena, Downtown, Santa Monica or Thousand Oaks. Also, there are plenty of restaurants in the area to accommodate all tastes.
We are very proud of our office, which was designed to promote collaboration and teamwork. It’s a complete open concept with plenty of fully equipped conference rooms. The office is also surrounded by large windows that give everyone a great view of the valley and the nearby mountains.
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
Instantly strongly believes that offering a great working environment is important to fostering a positive and productive office culture. We also believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body helps employees give their best. We have a program called InstaFit that includes activities like twice-a-week fitness classes, cooking lessons, rock climbing, in-office massages and more. We also have a fully-stocked kitchen with drinks and snacks, and an amazing espresso machine. Our flexible approach to work hours also helps employees make time for personal or family commitments.
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JibJab
Answers from CEO Gregg Spiridellis
What were your considerations when picking an office space and designing its layout?
It was very important for us to find a big open space for the team to work. Offices are not a match for our open culture. It was also important that we had lots of meeting rooms for small breakout teams, as well as some large space we could dedicate to an in-house production studio. Last, and most important, we needed two floors so that we could fit a slide!
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
While we have coffee, fruit and snacks the main non-standard perk we offer is doing our employees laundry for them every week. This is important because it un-tethers employees from the washer/dryer on Sundays and lets them have a little bit more weekend time to enjoy!
How do you think office design affects work culture?
Office design is everything when it comes to establishing culture. We very much wanted to have a space that was open and polished but a little bit gritty as opposed to plush. The old warehouse was a far better shell for that than moving into a polished office building. The other thing we did in the office design was to make sure our values were ever-present. The main design elements in the main workspace are six 16x16 posters, each highlighting a company value.
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Lootsie
Answers from CEO Marc Mitchell
What were your considerations when pick an office space and designing its layout?
We've been around for over two years and have grown pretty fast, so this is our third office — and by far our favorite. We wanted a place where people feel comfortable working and having fun and as a startup we wanted an office that promoted openness and collaboration and could be modular to house our expanding team. We also wanted a space that was conducive to holding events, hackathons, or inviting the community in.
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
We have a good time as a team and we all spend a lot of time together — in and out of the office. We've done surfing trips, bowling outings, and a ton of other extracurricular activities. Of course we also have music playing in the office, a full-snack corner, ping-pong table, every gaming system under the sun the and the weekly lunches brought in. But the major perk for us is building a great product with great people and a ton of passion constantly emanating in the office. We're firm believers that if you want your team to stay and love to be there everyday, culture and passion will do that, not a gym membership.
How do you think office design affects work culture?
Office set-up can be a big piece of a stellar team culture. We've hired a lot of new folks in the past year and will be bringing on a many more in the coming year. We wanted our office to reflect an open and super-collaborative environment. People at all levels within the company sit together all day. Founders and VPs don't have their own offices or even desks. We don't work that way. People move where it’s best for them at that time. We have lounge areas to hang and private conference rooms when people need a little privacy for a call or just to unwind.
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OpenX
Answers from Chief Customer Officer Tish Whitcraft
What were your considerations when picking an office space and designing its layout?
Based on the modern office space design theory, OpenX’s 50,000-square-foot headquarters feature more than 300 workstations, 46 conference and team rooms, and a number of communal alcoves. The office design represents integration between modern design and the office’s geographic surroundings, incorporating wallpaper murals throughout the space of California’s Redwood Forest, abounding California coastline and the nearby San Gabriel Mountains. When the OpenX team began the interior design process, it didn’t simply focus on the aesthetics; it wanted to provide a unique work environment for employees where collaboration was intrinsic. The open floor plan of OpenX’s headquarters supports the company’s collaborative and high-energy community. You can often find CEO Tim Cadogan focused on championship play at the lounge’s ping-pong table. The completion of the interior improvements included constructing several unique interior walls made or recycled skateboards and faux rock climbing ropes.
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
The many perks of working at OpenX include endless snacks, drinks and coffee! In-office massages, weekly-chiropractic sessions, catered lunches three times a week, the ability to customize your desk (choose from a sitting desk or a ergonomic desk) and full access to a game room with the latest gaming consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, Wii), a pool table, a foosball table and ping-pong table. Employees also enjoy an outdoor patio that converts into a basketball court. You can regularly catch employees experimenting with new ways to travel around the office — OpenX is both skateboard and scooter friendly. At OpenX, we’re all about building a team and having a great time while doing it. Between hula-hoop contests, monthly mixers and game room tournaments, there’s never a dull moment in the office. And when an OpenX employee has to get down to business, the office is equipped with “quiet pods” for those looking for a silent space in which to focus.
When you think about it, an office is a home away from home for many people. It is important to OpenX that employees feel comfortable in their work environment and also inspired. The layout of our headquarters promotes collaboration, the design inspires the OpenX team to think beyond ordinary boundaries, and the overall space reflects the OpenX culture. If we can turn an ordinary wall into a Redwood Forest or a faux climbing wall, each member of the OpenX team can do anything they set their mind to.
How do you think office design affects work culture?
Office design can make or break the development of a company’s culture. At OpenX, we’ve invested extensive resources into creating a space that promotes collaboration, inspires innovation, and illuminates creativity. The OpenX headquarters in Pasadena represents our culture, values and investment in each OpenX employee’s satisfaction.
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Talenthouse
Answers from Chief Product Officer Daniel Lang
What were your considerations when picking an office space and designing its layout?
We really wanted a building with tall rooms and big open spaces that have lots of natural light. Additionally, it was also important that we have plenty of smaller private rooms that people can go to during the day when they need to focus on something or make phone calls. There's also a lot of great art on the walls from Talenthouse members which makes the whole place feel somewhat like a creative studio. Finally, we really love the neighborhood and spend a lot of time outside, walking around or doing meetings at coffee places around. West Hollywood is hip and vibrant with lots of artists and creative-minded people — the natural environment for us.
What are some of the perks of working in your office and why are these important to you?
We have all the perks that you would expect from a tech startup today — snacks, coffee, drinks, etc. As often as we can, we try to make our office a venue for intimate events with local artists, musicians, designers, photographers, and filmmakers.
Have a tip for us or want to share news about your company? Email us via [email protected].
