Inbound marketing company HubSpot has major buzz in Boston and around the globe. With 50 percent rise in 2013 revenues and an IPO underway, HubSpot’s business is getting even bigger. So is the staff that supports said growth: A total of 239 employees joined the HubSpot team in 2013 alone, taking the company’s Cambridge crew to nearly 600.
Attracting top talent is tough for nearly all young tech firms. But, from the looks of it, HubSpot seems to solved that equation, part of which involves having an inspiring culture and comfortable homebase, the latter of which just so happened to get a total makeover.
The company cheered up its local headquarters with a bit of redecorating recently. Rich wooden panels add warmth to a sleek entryway dubbed ‘Downtown Crossing,’ playing nicely off of HubSpot’s hallmark orange hue. The firm named the lobby after the local hood to give the sense that, much like the Boston proper locale, its a busy place for conversation and cross-pollination between people, regardless of their roles.
When employees want a taste of the nature, however, they don’t have to go far. The office features a number of themed nooks, one of which is wallpapered floor-to-ceiling in a woodsy New England scene. The aptly named “Camping Room” is complete with Adirondack chairs and a cozy spot for informal meetings, fueled by some swigs of HubSpot’s custom beer.
Perhaps the incorporated outdoorsy vibe is because HubSpot employees are so down-to-earth. After all, the company looks to hire folks with a little something they call HEART – or those who aspire to be Humble, Effective, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent. But more on that from HubSpot’s COO, JD Sherman, in the following Q&A below:
BostInno: Who is the typical Hubspot employee?
JD Sherman: The typical HubSpot employee reflects our Culture Code. We think “HubSpottiness” is defined by five characteristics – Humble, Effective, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent – or HEART for short. Even though HubSpot is now just under 700 employees, we still operate like a startup. We hire people who are passionate about transforming the world to be more inbound, and care more about the quality of work they do than titles or hierarchy.
What aspects of Hubspot’s office support its culture?
Hopefully all of it! Our Facilities Operations Manager, Ken Papa, views his job as creating an office space that reflects our unique culture and approach, and he’s really succeeded in delivering on that vision. A few specific examples that come to mind include:
Neighborhoods – We have a really interesting space in an older building, but one of the challenges with it is that it’s broken up into a bunch of smaller spaces. We turned that “bug” into a “feature,” and created neighborhoods in the office named after famous areas of Boston. Think Charlestown and Back Bay, etc. Each neighborhood has a team (or teams) working there on a common project or customer persona, and features more formal meeting rooms as well as informal gathering space. Then our new lobby is called “Downtown Crossing” to bring people from all of the areas together informally to work or chat.
No Offices –Every single person at HubSpot has a desk, but we are allergic to offices. Our entire executive team sits at open desks like everyone else. That setup reflects the transparency and collaboration we believe are core to our business and our mission.
The Kitchens – Some of the best ideas in HubSpot history have come from employees chatting informally in our common areas, so we really want to facilitate and encourage that. We have snacks to fuel people throughout the day, fountain sodas and water, and of course, the new custom HubSpot beer taps for HubSpot happy hours. We take our business seriously, but we never take ourselves too seriously, and the office reflects that.
The Face Wall – As you enter our new lobby, you’ll see a face wall of HubSpot employee photos. These people represent all of those who work on behalf of our 10,000 and more customers every day. They are an absolute cornerstone of our success.
The Conference Rooms – All of our conference rooms represent people who inspire us. Some of our first conference rooms include the Jobs conference room, for Steve Jobs, and the Garcia, after Jerry Garcia of CEO Brian Halligan’s favorite band Grateful Dead.
Recently we’ve also added in conference rooms for the entire 2013 World Champion Boston Red Sox team, some awesome customers, and influencers like Sheryl Sandberg. We are unreasonably picky about our peers at HubSpot, and our conference rooms reflect the greatness we aspire to every day.
When do Hubspotters hang out?
We have all-hands company meetings each quarter; spotlight meetings, where any employee at any level can ask questions of our executive team; Science Fairs, where our product team brings in food and presents the cool stuff they are working on; Champions Dinners, where employees from every division who did incredible things that quarter go to dinner with an exec; and a whole host of other less formal social gatherings.
For example, we did a breakfast event to raise money for employees running the Boston Marathon for charity, a party with Irish food for St. Patrick’s Day in honor of our Dublin team. We are also hosting a Cinco de Mayo party next week. The other day we had a board meeting and after it concluded, our board members, the management team, and a whole bunch of employees used the new space for an impromptu cocktail party — and that’s exactly what the new space is designed for.
There is definitely no shortage of social events around here!
