First day at work

I can still remember it to this day. 

It was the Fall of 2016, and I was summoned to the office of the Industry Dive (parent of CFO) empire for my job interview. It didn’t feel like much of an empire at that time; in fact, it was as startup-y as you could imagine. “HQ” was the second floor of an old building in Chinatown, Washington DC. The office space sat above an infamous, if anatomically-specific, bar and grill. There was a faint aroma of cooking oil. 

The interior of the elevator resembled the faux-wood paneling of a Woodie and opened up to a small lounge area with a sofa pointing directly at the elevator door. The person sitting there gave me a casual nod before returning to his laptop. 

I softly said, “Umm, I’m looking for Wendy?” My greeter turned his head slightly to his right. This made sense because there was literally nowhere else to actually go in the tiny space.  

Rows of desks, or “pods,” were crowded with journalists and salespeople. There was only one conference room – that’s where all meetings were held, and where our founders held court. And all-hands company meetings? Everyone just kind of turned around to face the same general vicinity. 

It was tiny, it was dingy, it was crowded, it was noisy … it was everything.

It is why many of us seek out startup opportunities. But as our CEO Sean Griffey would tell us in leadership meetings, “We can’t stay here.” He meant it both literally and figuratively. As much as we loved the experience of starting something of consequence in our little hovel of an office, we had to have the courage to leave at least a portion of it behind — including the office space — or else we would never get to become the better, future version of ourselves.

Our office space became a proxy for our growth and ambition.

We soon upgraded our office space to better accommodate our plans for growth, and as Industry Drive made acquisitions and grew organically, the company added offices in the U.S. and internationally.

But now, in a different world of work, reporter Adam Zaki asked this question: “Are large investments in office spaces worth it anymore?”

With CFOs already facing long-term inflation impact, higher cost of capital, and a wavering economy, the physical office can become a crucial decision point for a rapidly growing organization. Do you continue to use office space as a proxy for growth? And does it still offer a similar culturally defining space for your people? 

“Life gets crazy,” Joe Camberato, CEO of National Business Capital said. “Having a place where your team can come to work and escape what’s going on in the world is a benefit that I don’t think gets talked about enough. Add in a family atmosphere where everyone has your back, and it only becomes that much more powerful, personally and professionally.” 

I wouldn’t trade in that early office experience for anything. But CFOs who are looking to grow their companies must ask the question — if you’re going to invest in people and culture, how much capital goes to the physical space where people congregate? Or is total headcount destined to simply become a cell in a spreadsheet?