SEPTEMBER 2015 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \
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Founders Only
• Founders are likely working
out of the home, a shared space
in an incubator or co-working
facility, or renting a space within
another office.
Early Crew
• The early crew often is leverag-
ing a combination of revenue and
further investment dollars to fuel
its mission. Once a small band of
early founders, this group is trans-
forming into a company that faces
key growth issues. Here, planning for
flexibility, expressing cultural identity,
and creating a warm, “second home”
office space become a focus.
• Behaviors also begin to shift at this
stage. For instance, Meetings, which used
to be handled by just talking out loud
to adjacent colleagues, are now planned
events.
Full Team
• For the first time, companies in this phase may have the
opportunity to hire a formal designer to assist with space
planning. As one founder stated, “ … now in our fourth office,
we finally had time and space to plan.” The expertise of an
interior designer and architect team delivers much value to
address to the burgeoning departments distinct functional
needs and the increasing contribution of cultural decision
makers.
Great Expansion
• Those serendipitous interactions that happen when ev-
eryone knows each other occur less and less. “When you’re 10,
20, 50 people, you can get away with being a little ragtag. But
now we’re bringing in potential investors, experienced lead-
ers, young, creative employees, and the space needs to work
seamlessly and look sexy and put together,” said a flash sale
retailer’s facilities director.
• There is an awareness on the tangible returns on invest-
ment for the environment, just as state-of-the-art laptops and
smartphones deliver a return to the business in terms of out-
put. However, sticker shock is no less evident: “We’ll toss a $600
iPhone on the table at a bar, but we’ll skimp on the chair we
sit in for eight hours,” observed a venture capitalist.
Regardless of stage, the environment is critical in several ar-
eas: encouraging productivity, stability, collaboration, culture
and identity, comfort, and the acquisition/retention of talent.
So, how do startups future-proof their environments in a
business climate that may jump from four founders to 20 em-
ployees in one year and explode to a team of 75 a year later?
The Future-Proofing Checklist: Best Practices
For Primary Workspaces
• Plan for more desks than the current head count to ac-
commodate short-term growth and keep productivity high
during personnel additions.
• Test tighter floor plan scenarios and be transparent to an-
ticipate future density.
• Create variety in an open plan space with vertical bound-
aries like bookshelves or other storage moments to create
semi-privacy, provide aesthetic height changes and lessen
noise transference.
At Shared, Activity Spaces
• Provide a variety of choice in furnishings at an optimal
quantitative mix of collaboration, conference and private
space as needed.
• Use multiple individual table desks to create a conference
table. When in a space crunch, these conference tables can be
pulled apart for desks for employees, which likely takes tem-
porary precedence over meeting space.
Overall Office Space
• Create areas where employees and burgeoning depart-
ments can express themselves while complementing com-
mon areas with “company moments.”
• Balance the functional aspects of office furniture with an
eclectic identity
• Don’t shortchange personal storage in light of a paperless
mantra.
Future Proofing: An Investment in Productivity
While each startup has its own unique path to growth and
glory, future-proofing around known office environment
challenges helps energetic organizations navigate the busi-
ness of their business with less drag and more velocity on
their path to greatness.
Through research, Knoll explores the connection between
workspace design and human behavior, health and perfor-
mance, and the quality of the user experience. We share and
apply what we learn to inform product development and
help our customers shape their work environments. To learn
more about this topic or other research resources Knoll can
provide, visit
Sources:
1. Colorado Startup Report, Knoll and BuiltInColorado, 2013
2. Future-Proofing the Startup Office, © 2013 Knoll, Inc.
3. The Workplace Net.Work, © 2015 Knoll, Inc.
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Moving Forward
Co-working spaces serve as an opportunity for like-minded creative thinkers
to come together, creating an environment that’s inspiring and stimulating.
