Office Space

Do you really need one?

Having grown up in an era when going to an office Monday through Friday was the norm, I initially thought securing office space was the immediate next step for any startup after landing its first round of funding. It seemed like the only way to foster community and, if I'm honest, to feel like a "real" entrepreneur (yes, that was my ego talking).

While I still believe face-to-face interactions are invaluable for understanding someone's personality, interests, and values, my experience—"helped" by the pandemic—has shifted my perspective. A physical office space isn't a necessity from day one. You can cultivate meaningful connections through regular all-hands and off-site meetings and by effectively using digital collaboration tools—something very few companies actually master. Ultimately, creating a sense of belonging rests primarily on the founders' shoulders.

So, here's my advice: don't rush to burn through your hard-earned investment capital on office space. Instead, focus on building a robust virtual communication infrastructure. Tools like Monday.com (I am a fan), Confluence, and the unavoidable Slack can help you collect, organize, and structure knowledge in a way that reflects your team's diverse personalities and strengths. Then, find inspiring venues to bring your team together periodically - be it bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly - whatever rhythm works best for your team. As your company reaches new milestones, grows and makes cash, you can then—and only then—revisit your setup.

During flyiin's first three years, I operated without a formal office. My original co-founder generously allowed me to use his other company's (very cool) space at no cost while our contract design and technical teams worked together virtually. When I finally secured our first (and only) round of funding, my new co-founder and I immediately went hunting for our own office. I had this misguided notion that having our own space would somehow legitimize us as a company. We ended up with an okay space which, frankly speaking, didn't add much value. And the coffee—we were subletting from a communication agency—was terrible.

Fast forward ten months to December 2019. Feeling optimistic (or naive might actually be a more appropriate term) about my ability to raise a Series A round and expand the team, I decided to take over the adjacent space and invest in furniture. Big mistake. When the pandemic hit, those investments and fixed costs became an irrelevant burden overnight. Sure, I had a nice 90sq m office all to myself during the following twelve months, but was it worth the €4,800 monthly burn? Absolutely not. And since I was still subletting from the same agency, the coffee remained terrible.

Looking back, I realize that at that stage of our development, the office space made little difference. What truly mattered was fostering transparent communication, creating safe spaces for idea exchange, organizing regular team face-to-face gatherings, and establishing a well-thought-through virtual communication infrastructure. These are the elements that build a strong company culture, regardless of where your team sits. Our ability to keep the team together even as our situation grew increasingly uncertain suggests we didn’t do too badly in this area.

Key Takeaway #19

After securing funding, resist splurging on office space. Instead, invest in robust virtual infrastructure and tools for effective remote collaboration. Organize regular in-person meetups to foster team spirit and culture and to collaborate on key design work.