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Ask HN: How would you start a new small office for a small team of developers?

by gusbremm on 10/7/19, 5:39 PM with 11 comments

If you had the opportunity to start and lead a small team of developers (5 devs) to work remotely as consultants but together in the same office, how would you do it?

Apart from good wages, which benefits would you use to attract the best developers in town to join your small team?

What kind of office appliances/toys/furniture would you invest on?

  • by carapace on 10/7/19, 5:44 PM

    Speaking as a dev, the single most exciting, motivating thing one could offer me (assuming a baseline of e.g. knowing what you're doing, having a compelling mission or product, etc.) is my own office with a door that closes.

    Other than that: ergonomics. Don't skimp on the chairs and keyboards. Big monitors are good but an aeron chair shows that you know what's up and give a damn. YMMV.

  • by ThrowawayR2 on 10/7/19, 6:21 PM

    A nap room or, if the name is not to your taste, call it a wellness room. Yeah, you might not need it but potential hires that get migraines, have newborns, have sleep disorders (increasingly common among devs these days) or just plain start feeling ill during the day do need it.

  • by probinso on 10/9/19, 6:22 PM

    Remote first! if you are starting a small op, and intend to interact with customers remotely, make the infrastructure prioritize the remote workflow. This significantly increases flexibility of employees; insures that problems in interacting with customers is first felt by you (not your customers)

  • by codingdave on 10/7/19, 10:47 PM

    The best developers are the ones who know how to set up their own best environment. Give them an office, a budget, and some time to build their own ideal space.

  • by dv_dt on 10/7/19, 11:04 PM

    Four day work week