Startups all over the Boston area are scrambling to find office space that meets their standards and budget. Except weight loss app Lose It!.
Snuggled up in the Seaport, the startup has miraculously secured one of the best views of the harbor in the city. Seriously. Like we would move in there if it was an option.
Since its start in 2008, the consumer health app has been quietly gathering serious momentum. But it’s making a point of staying lean. “We’re closing on nearly 20 million users. We’re not closing on even 20 employees,” Kevin McCoy, Lose It!’s SVP of business development told BostInno.
Still, Lose It!’s handful of employees are living large. An entire side of the company’s perfect, petite office is glass, overlooking the water. On nice days, people can venture outside onto the balcony and scoop up a spot on a bench to take their phone calls and lunches in the open air.
Upon joining Lose It!, employees are gifted a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, an optional treat to help them block out the chatter of coworkers … or the crunch of fresh veggies. Let me explain. The self-proclaimed highly competitive (yet friendly) crew often has caloric challenges – via the Lose It! app, of course! – going on among each other. I’m told that once, during a meeting with consultant, the company’s chief executive Charles Teague even pulled out a big bag of baby carrots to nosh on just to get an extra edge over the others.
Another one of Lose It!’s employees creates cardio and weight training programs for his fellow coworkers, and all offices are named after football teams. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that being in a fit-first mindset is a prerequisite to joining the company. The startup knows how to let loose, too. When I paid a visit, Lose It! was hosting a wine tasting – complete with wine pong – with Boston startup Drync. The team is regularly seen at neighboring restaurant Del Friscos, where many of the wait staff knows Lose It! members’ names.
Most importantly, though, Lose It! looks for people who are “focused” and “overly humble” in their day-to-day work. Which makes sense, because how else would we have never heard about their awesome office?
