Brian Chesky explains how Airbnb sought to make their offices a competitive advantage

“A really cool, interesting space can be a huge differentiator for hiring people. You’ll also spend more time in your office than you will at your home so it’s deeply important that people are comfortable and happy.”

I’ve heard similar views expressed by Keith Rabois who said the following in his How To Operate Lecture at Stanford:

“You must have your own office. I don’t believe ever in shared office space. Peter Thiel has said that ‘every good startup is a cult’ and it’s really hard to create a cult if you’re sharing space with people.”

Every company has scarce resources, so the right offices (and expenditure for those offices) will naturally be company-specific.

But rather than viewing your office as either a luxury or cost-saving opportunity, I’d suggest getting creative. You don’t have to spend a crazy amount of money to make your office a competitive advantage and a place that employees want to come into every day.

Full video: Greylock “Blitzscaling 18: Brian Chesky on Launching Airbnb and the Challenges of Scale” (Nov 2015)