This June, sales software startup Drift expanded an already-large office onto an additional floor. After installing a central staircase and designing a previously barren level, the company now boasts a 60,000-sq.-ft. home in a historic Back Bay building.
Drift is clearly in its "hypergrowth" phase, ballooning in size right in front of its founders’ eyes. The startup employs 350 people today—almost three times the number it did this time last year. So the office expansion was warranted.
Despite having plenty of space, Drift founders Elias Torres and David Cancel do not have their own desks or private offices.
“They want to ensure they are working on the business versus in the business,” said Lacey Berrian, Drift's senior manager of public relations. “Elias doesn’t even have a computer, and he is our CTO.”
Books on every subject crowd select shelves and coffee tables in the space. The four-year-old company also runs a program that buys employees one book of their choice per month.
“It’s one of our core values,” Berrien said. “Always learning, always building.”
Two murals in the office brandish quotes from prominent investor Charlie Munger and Spanx founder Sara Blakely. Their portraits are overlaid with miniature versions of the Drift logo and graphics of trendy hats and sunglasses.
Each meeting space and conference room adorns the name of an influential artist, businessperson or public figure employees can learn from—think Andy Warhol, Oprah, Stephen Hawking and Jeff Bezos.
The Drift founders are particularly worldly. Torres immigrated to the U.S. from Nicaragua, while Cancel grew up in Queens, N.Y. Their influence is clear in the artistic elements of the space: Floor-to-ceiling graffiti art by Percy Fortini Wright paints the seventh-floor elevator bank. An entire wall in the podcast studio is dedicated to framed modern and street art pieces. A custom surfboard depicting a psychedelic ocean scene—complete with a hammerhead shark—hangs on a far side wall.
Of course, the space houses elements that have become standard in tech offices, including standing desks, cozy collaboration areas and a massive meeting space for company-wide gatherings.
“[The office] has personality, but it gives everyone what they need,” said employee brand manager Kaitlyn Martins. “You’ll see music playing in marketing and a more quiet space in the engineering and production department.”
Before moving into the current space in May 2018, Drift rented out a space from Wayfair in Copley Square. Today, the startup operates offices in Seattle and San Francisco with Boston as its central hub.
Berrien said Drift hopes to move into a 100,000-sq.-ft. space in the next two to three years. Regardless, the company plans to stay in the same area of Beantown.
“We believe in Boston,” said Berrien. “Our founders love this city. Just being situated in the heart of the city was—and is—really important to us.”
