Surprise Ride founders Donna (L) and Rosy Khalife.
Bright colors and a wealth of games, books and activity sets make the office of D.C. startup Surprise Ride feel a bit like a kindergarten run by a really popular teacher who happens to really like orange and turquoise. It also looks a lot like the interior of one of Surprise Ride's boxes of activities, snacks and games that it sends to subscribers.
Since it launched in 2013, founders (and sisters) Donna and Rosy Khalife have shipped out more than 40,000 of those boxes, and as their subscriber list grows, they and their team are plenty busy planning the next month's theme and activities from the office, located just north of Farragut Square.
"We get emails sometimes from people traveling to D.C. who want to visit the office," Donna said. "I'm not really sure what they expect it to be like."
Surprise Ride—which you may remember from a 2013 appearance on ABC's Shark Tank—didn't design its office for tours like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. But there's plenty to keep kids (and adults) entertained, like a miniature children's library and an entire wall of art supplies, although theoretically that's just to be used in putting together the packages to be shipped out.
The two cofounders sometimes bounce ideas off each other while playing ping pong on a converted desk in their shared office.
Take a look inside Surprise Ride's playhouse office.
