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What does an ultra-minimal tech startup office look like?

Visited this place again

This is what I am thinking about as I design my ultra-minimalist highly-frugal tech startup work space.  Feel free to disagree.

  1. One room and one table + chair per person.
  2. Bring a laptop. No need for multiple monitors, that’s just high tech indulgence.
  3. No land line.  Use your cell phone or get a Google Voice number if you want to filter “business” from your personal life.
  4. As little space as possible.  10×10 should be enough for 1 person, 10×20 enough for 2, etc.
  5. No printer or fax machine (walk to the nearest copy shop when you absolutely need to).
  6. No Internet (if there’s wireless available). Otherwise, go with the cheapest Internet service possible that doesn’t require a land line.  It doesn’t need to be fast (especially in my case where I’m developing mobile apps that need to be tested on slower networks).
  7. No commute.  Make it as close to work as possible so you can walk or take public transit and save on a car.
  8. No espresso machine (a walk for coffee is a good thing).
  9. Okay, a mini-fridge (for lunch and maybe a beer or two).
  10. Have a CSA deliver fruit and veggies to your office every week or two for snacks.
  11. No foosball, ping pong, video games, etc.
  12. No chef.
  13. No conference room (step out of the office when you take a phone call if you’re not alone, go to a bar for meetings).
  14. Art on the walls and a big window beats a television.
  15. Share your bathroom with others.
  16. Go on walks to break up the day.
  17. Use your iPhone for music.
  18. Have an extra chair or small couch for guests and power naps.

What do you think?

This entry was posted by Buster on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 am. It is filed under Frugalification. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “What does an ultra-minimal tech startup office look like?”

  1. “Make it as close to HOME as possible”;
    not entirely sure about the “borrowing” internet as a business strategy.

  2. I like that. As close to home without the feeling of being able to do everything else you would do at home to distract you.

    As for borrowing internet… why not? We borrow utilities, plumbing, lighting, share entryways and hallways. If it’s a matter of security, that’s easy enough to compensate for. But there’s no reason to have your own section of the internet merely for the sake of it.

    That said, it’s not going to work at the Vain building. I’m gonna probably set up my own Speakeasy account and see if any other tenants want to share and pitch in.

  3. Ooh, I need to have that second monitor for docs, todos, logs or whatev. A junky old CRT would fit the bill, though the LCD’s are getting pretty cheap these days.

  4. brady forrest says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 7:20 am

    I suggest getting a 3G card so that you can take your laptop outside with you on sunny days. I use mine a lot — especially when traveling. I doubt that it will cost much more than a monthly fixed internet connection.
    You’ll really appreciate it when you have to travel.
    If you have a Mac you can still broadcast wifi in the case of guests.

  5. I love it, but those fruits & veggies are gonna rot real fast if you only have a mini-fridge. Consider having the CSA delivered to your house, and bring in what you need for that day (or couple of days)?

    Also, I second the dual monitor requirement – it really does add productivity for a very low fixed cost.

  6. I’ve been experimenting with removal of the second monitor. Ditching the monitor is surprisingly good for maintaining (or regaining) focus. However, at certain points in the project, the extra screen becomes useful – particularly AB testing, but in general whenever you don’t need to focus as closely on a single thing, like learning a new technology. Basically “you’ll know when the time is right” to plug it in – it’s when you’ve said to yourself, at least twice, “gosh it would be nice to have an extra monitor”. :)

  7. Definitely stick with the laptop, but a second display (24″ LCD – $199) is essential for my productivity. I don’t use it simultaneously with the laptop display, but as a bigger replacement.

    I would tend to also use an ergonomic keyboard. It’s really easy to dock a laptop with these.

  8. I think the plan is excellent, but will no doubt change with time. I like the focus on healthy distraction (walks for coffee, art not tv, etc).

    For the kind of work I do I would need a dedicated internet connection (web services are pretty important here), and a second monitor (code in one, browser in the other).

    Fun stuff!

  9. @ben – I work a few blocks from my house (where spud.com delivers), and plan on only bringing to work whatever I plan on eating that day.

    @everyone about the 2nd display – I use Spaces (on Mac) like crazy, and find that that is a much simpler way to keep your workspace clean. I’ve got 6 spaces, each with a very specific work/play function. How is a 2nd monitor better than this?

  10. I don’t know if it’s a matter of better. I like be able to make subtle css changes on one screen and see them quickly in the other. Spaces could work ok for this, but I think I’d miss the other screen. Probably just a matter of habit though. I tend to use spaces for non-work vs work. For instance, you’re in space #2 inside Safari. Work is over in space 1 with textmate on the right and firefox on the left.

  11. I would very much like to know more about how you use Spaces. For example, how do you organize your spaces? Do you have only one Safari, or one for code and one for documentation? Etc.

  12. I have 6 spaces arranged in a 2×3 configuration. Top left is Firefox, iChat, Tweetie. Top right is iTunes and Things (to-do list). Middle left is either Transmit and Terminal, or Xcode, depending on if I’m doing web or iPhone app development. Middle right is Photoshop or Interface Builder.
    Bottom left is Xcode documentation and other reference pdfs. Bottom right is used for anything else that doesn’t fit in the rest of the spaces.

    It all works really well for me.

  13. About the “No Fax Machine”: There’s Skype plug-ins that allow you to send a fax for just a few cents.

    I use “PamFax” and have since retired my fax-modem card.

    Great blog this one of yours, best of lucks with your iPhone apps.

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