One of the many blessings of working for a startup is how quickly your team can grow. Adding new members is exciting, especially when they make your team better, smarter, and more versatile. But it can also be a challenge for companies that start out in a small office space or co-work space: where do you put all of these new members?! Since I started at Seismic last July, I’ve witnessed firsthand the hilarity, chaos and challenges that come along with the rapid growth of a company.
At first, there were maybe 8-10 of us in the office above The Fours at any given time. It wasn’t jam-packed, but it was busy. Everyone had their own desk and a chair in the conference room for weekly all-hands meetings.
Fast forward to October, and we were housing around 15-20 people on a given day. People were sharing desk space, making phone calls from the hallways, and the conference room was standing room only. Whispers of a new, much bigger office began to circulate.
In January, thanks to a round of Series B funding and the need for more sales reps, our marketing team had to seek out a temporary workspace in order to make room for more team members. While not ideal, growing that fast became a point of pride for most of us, and was the glue that kept our sales and marketing teams together despite being physically separated. The light at the end of the tunnel was 239 Causeway, our soon-to-be new home.
For the next three months, although we were right down the street, it was tough to not see all members of the team each day. Writing an email to ask a quick question just isn’t the same as hopping over to someone’s desk, and planning team lunches was difficult because the headcount was changing every day. The record-breaking snow this winter didn’t help team communication and collaboration either; we worked from home when forced to, and we learned that cabin fever is a real thing.
The countdown to May 4th was on, and before we knew it the snow had melted and we were ready to move in. We’ve been in our new, awesome office just about a week, and even though it’s not the same little office above The Fours it’s great to have the sales and marketing teams under the same roof again. It almost feels like starting a new job, as there are a number of teammates that have never worked in the same office with others! There are plenty of perks that can’t be overlooked: everyone has their own desk, we have a beautiful new view, and the sheer size of the office is a foreshadowing to how big the company could potentially grow.
While the size and legitimacy of our office space has changed drastically, there are still plenty of reminders of the old space. Some posters, a dartboard, and the same heads-down, hardworking mentality have followed us from Canal Street to Causeway. This shiny new office is by no means an indication of success, but it feels like we’re well on our way.
