New D.C. digs for a fast-growing tech startup wouldn't be possible without plenty of money circulating around public policy – and Quorum has seized that opportunity.
Quorum’s platform allows public affairs professionals to track legislation, mobilize grassroots support and manage stakeholders. The software startup launched from a Harvard University dorm room in 2015, but knew the nation's capital was its destination.
Co-founders Alex Wirth and Jonathan Marks graduated that year and won a George Washington University business plan competition to land some coworking space on I Street, where they and three developers launched the startup's state legislature and grassroots advocacy product.
Without any significant venture capital investment, the bootstrapped team started to grow rapidly, pushing Quorum to a Carr Workspaces coworking office in D.C. in 2016. If you wanted to take a call, you needed to sit in the hallway, and you had to be creative when looking for a quiet place to work on team projects. That summer it had 30 employees, including interns, leading to an even tighter office.
The business team split locations from the engineering squad and worked out of several row houses and coworkings spots in the area. Though the whole team got together for occasional dinners at the home offices, communications lead Kevin King said, they knew things could be better.
Without raising capital and growing to 50 employees – with plans to add 20 more in summer 2017 – the Quorum team finally came back together under one roof last July in Farragut Square.
Once again, exponential business growth filled that location up quickly, so this summer, just a year in, the startup moved again as it approaches 70 employees. It's taken up residence on 19th Street NW in an office five times larger than its previous digs, with a full kitchen with private dining area, three open lounges, over 12,000 square feet of workspace and even room to scatter around potted plants.
In a nod to former abodes, Quorum's conference rooms tell the story of its fast-paced four years: Each of the 12 is named after a street that at some point served as its headquarters.
Check out Quorum's new spacious digs:
