The space that TechStars uses in 1871 is separated from the main area, in an enclosed office area. Doors can be shut and distraction is pretty effectively minimized. It works pretty well, from my experience.
Also, yeah... The food court is good! But that Duncan Donuts and Arby's certainly is my downfall... ha
I used to be in both the Union Sq and Chelsea TechSpace offices. They're definitely pricey, and the Union Sq space was anything but quiet. The Chelsea spot was more quiet, but mainly due to it just not being as full. Nevermind the guy in the space next to us that refused to use anything but speakerphone when speaking on the phone. The internet was a little flaky, and they didn't even have redundancy built in (I believe they do now though).
The best areas of TS was the 10th floor in the Union Sq. building. Much bigger rooms that could fit 15+ employees but had a much more enclosed 'private office' feel to them.
It's a great working space. I spent some time working there as a Seedcamp startup. There's no OTT Microsoft influence, and the ground floor is really just a cafe (tad pricey) with lots of MS products on display.
I spent a couple of days working in the Rackspace "castle". It felt much the same as the average Silicon Valley office building (which are typically constructed with big open floors populated by cubes). Except it has a slide and a food court..
I can't believe I hadn't thought of that -- I always thought the big "public cafeteria, come join us for lunch" thing on the ground floor was just space-banking and showing off, and using it as a recruiting tool. Zoning makes a lot more sense (I remember PA whining at Facebook for using that building over on Hamilton for the customer service offices, the one with the nice frosted glass Facebook text on the retail windowfront...)
It was almost. I used to work in MPK17 for Sun. There were some cubicles here and there but it was mostly offices from what I recall. It was a far cry from the open air cafeteria style seating when I interviewed there later in 2017 for Facebook.
It was the same at the Santa Clara Sun campus even after the Oracle acquisition (referred to by some as “Snoracle”). Mostly offices and some cubicles here and there.
When we were searching for space this was our preferred choice. We wanted a large single floor space with offices on the perimeter. Each office would have a glass wall to see the open space. This way, as you said, people can see what is going on. Searching for office space is hard, so we ended up where we are and made the best of it. We still get the offices on the perimeter and the glass wall, but separated by multiple floors. Maybe we just put Dropcams everywhere so people can see when lunch is ready :)
Slightly incorrect! The offices there vary in size from one person to up to a dozen. A lot of offices in various sections of the ring accommodate 2 persons.
Yes there is a big glass/sliding door but from what I have seen when closing the door it is quite soundproof (unlike some small conference room). And they provide inside each section different zone with huge whiteboard and sofa/chairs to help facilitate brainstorming/discussion, even each area has its own Apple TV to project on a huge screen through AirPlay.
So overall it is quite good from what I was able to see for the few hours I was there. Folks working there like it.
doesn't strike me like a nice office. looks like a co-working space for startups. add more people and it will look like a hackathon than a company workspace.
Had a chance to stop by the space yesterday (construction is winding down) but the office is gorgeous: full professional kitchen, amazing sunlight with large windows, hardwood floors, high ceilings, etc. Maybe the "ideal" place for smart hackers and founders to work together.
Another plus: it's literally a up the street from Stand Burger, where we usually hold out Hackers & Founders meetup.
I've seen pictures of that building before, and I like it a lot.
I know you mean living space rather than office space. It just doesn't seem an urgent problem. I think we've succeeded in making happy hours non-lame this batch, now that Garry Tan has taken over as social director. It may be that is the best way to bring founders together outside YC.
Also, yeah... The food court is good! But that Duncan Donuts and Arby's certainly is my downfall... ha
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