For local edtech startup Full Measure Education, the Dupont area just didn't have the right vibes.
The company, which makes communications software, aims to digitally transform schools by taking things like program applications and campus appointments online through media like Instagram instead of bulletin boards.
Founded five years ago, Full Measure for a long time shared a space with Social Radar near Dupont Circle in D.C. When Social Radar was acquired by MapQuest, Full Measure had the opportunity to move out of its stuffy digs and find something more closely aligned to its young startup mentality.
Its two dozen employees were working in the old office until Friday, Jan. 11. They left for the weekend and returned to a new headquarters on Monday, 2.5 miles away in the newly developed Uline Arena.
“We had to get there," said Ben Hills, head of product at Full Measure. "It’s more startup-y and less suit-and-tie lobbyist-y.”
The office suite at 1140 Third St. NE isn’t any bigger, but it feels infinitely more spacious. It's an open-office layout with a few conference rooms, but nobody has offices. The building is a little less congested as well; the startup went from a 12-story office building with dozens of tenants to having eight fellow tenants in this building.
Sales and client-facing staff have desks running down one half of the space, and the product design occupies the other side, leaving a middle area for collaborative work and a lunch spot.
“We wanted to design the office in a way to have both the collaboration of a developer overhearing a cold call with sales rep, but that being productive, and also kinds of space for the more serious, intimate work,” Hills said.
The historical building itself goes way back, including hosting the first Beatles concert in the U.S., Hills said, and still has its original brick walls. The location helps, too.
"We love the Union Market area," Hills said. "We’re trying to get locked into what’s happening by doing company lunches and happy hours. It’s a young team and we need to build culture."
Hills said 2019 will be “the year of Full Measure,” as it makes a marketing push to add to its 60 institutional clients – three times what it had one year ago.
Check out photos of the new Full Measure Education headquarters below.
