0 Boston Tech Firms Trumpet Amenities to Attract Top Talent

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

In the recruiting arena for tech jobs amenities is key. Nap rooms seem to be the latest amenity being added to the roster.

From the BBJ:

Cayan, a Boston-based payment technology company, has invested $8 million to renovate its offices at One Federal St. in Boston’s Financial District as well as the company’s office in the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast. CEO Henry Helgeson said the renovation was part of an effort to attract and retain top talent — particularly software engineers, which are in increasingly high demand in Boston’s uber-competitive tech world.

0 Boston’s Big Corporations Tap into Shared Startup Office Space

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Wil Catlin

WeWork South Station shared office space

Credit: BBJ

Why do Liberty Mutual, Silicon Valley Bank (Nasdaq: SIVB) and IBM (NYSE: IBM), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Constant Contact (Nasdaq: CTCT) take temporary office space form providers like Work Bar and WeWork? In short, management wants certain aspects of these business to think like a startup and not like a lumbering giant.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“It allows us to get (access) to new ideas and new talent,” said Sandeep Gupta, a vice president and head of innovation at Liberty Mutual. “You can do that pretty easily just rubbing shoulders in the hallway.”

Liberty Mutual’s entrance into WeWork this fall coincided with the launch of the Solaria team. The incubator has a broad mandate: developing new products and services with “transformational potential,” that may or may not have anything to do with insurance.

At the moment, the company has two offices in WeWork that can fit a combined 32 people. Right now, the rooms are home to about a dozen Liberty Mutual employees and members of two startups, end-of-life planning company Cake and drone maker Xactsense. Liberty Mutual offers the companies free space, as well as human resources and other types of support, while the startups offer advice and connections in two areas of keen interest to the insurer.

0 Leasing Office Space in Boston: Do you start with Google?

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Your business is growing and you’ve just secured your second round of funding; how do you search for your new office? Do you rely on a market expert or do you prefer to go at it alone?

A recent survey from RE:Tech › Insight notes “more than one-forth (25 percent) of early stage tech startups search commercial real estate broker. When beginning their online search, 90 percent of tech startups directly search for office space online without a broker in mind…the survey found that three quarters (75 percent) of tech startups don’t search for commercial real estate brokers.”

0 Northeastern Whiteboard Roams Boston for New Tech Ideas

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Northeastern

Where do good ideas come from? Innovators. Northeastern has a great idea; bring the white board to the street, yes on a truck that hits key destinations within our city.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“Northeastern University is launching a new master’s degree in innovation and is celebrating with a “whiteboard innovation challenge,” meant to identify innovators who might be good candidates for the degree. A total of four questions will be posed in two-week segments for the duration of the eight week contest. Participants will be asked to submit their innovative idea via a whiteboard drawing, taking a photo and posting it for consideration through the D’Amore-McKim Facebook application or on the mobile truck white board at one of the various locations.”

0 AtSite Lands Innovation District Office in Boston

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

The Innovation District continues to grow and has become a destination location for 1st timers opening offices in Boston. AtSite’s president and CEO says is all, “Boston’s Innovation hub is the perfect setting for our building performance solutions.”

The announcement from AtSite is featured on digitaljournal.com:

“The Boston location is in a neighborhood known for its creativity and collaboration and draws a steady stream of entrepreneurs. ‘WeWork’s biggest draw for AtSite is the emphasis on an innovative use of shared resources, in a forward leaning and collaborative way,’ said Lisa West, AtSite VP of Marketing. ‘We are really excited to be in Boston, and having our offices operated with an inspiring design aesthetic and a great location is a real win for us.'”

The full article can be found on digital journal, here.

0 Office space for the Modern Company

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker & Tradesman

What does creative space look like to up-and-coming startups? In short, it’s a collaborative environment with as much natural light as possible. Young companies need to provide an attractive work atmosphere for new hires, while offering something refreshing to their existing workforce.

For example, Tim Coburn, CEO of Boston startup Jebbit, in an article for Banker & Tradesman, wrote:

“Fostering collaboration: We really wanted something open and the tower of the Landmark building, where we are now located, offered 360 views of the city, big windows, bright light and open space – it was so different from everything else we looked at. It didn’t feel like a “classic office” and for us, that fit. Today we have orange bean bag chairs in the middle, for group meeting or conversation, and it’s wide open with a lot of desks around windows. White boards everywhere help us brainstorm on the spot.”

Tim Coburn’s article is published on Banker & Tradesman, here.

0 How Startups Pick their Hometowns

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Frequently when I meet with young companies their initial request is, what will it cost? My reply is usually is, “ If it was free and the perfect configuration, but in Western Massachusetts, would you take it?” The reply, “No.”

Companies that are in growth mode care about access to qualified potential employees. In the Boston market we see many companies prefer to be within the city core as opposed to be outside the city for that simple reason. The younger workforce doesn’t own or doesn’t want their commute to involve an automobile.

According to a research report on the Boston Business Journal, here’s are the three aspects that entrepreneurs say actually did sell them on their hometowns:

1. Population & talent

2. Livability

3. Strong area supply chains

The full BBJ article is available, here.