What moving to a new office taught us about our culture

This was the day we wanted to happen but also feared. We were finally leaving our dear garage behind and moving to a ‘grown-up’ office. MessageBird is an ambitious startup: we want to grow, go bigger. But we knew that ambition can never come at the cost of our values and culture.

It was just a garage with the simplest door you could picture. It featured leaking rooftops and broken pipes. Restrooms were scarce. Hot summer days — no matter how rare — were unbearable. But we made it work, because to us, it was home.

We knocked out walls, extended to our neighbors, and even rented an extra space two blocks down the street. It wasn’t perfect but those exact flaws made it so special. They strengthened the spirit of building something together, through thick and thin. And yet, we were growing so fast that I often worried where to fit an extra desk. The writing was on the wall: to continue growing, we needed to hire more talent and our current office was getting in the way of our dreams.

But where does the kitchen go?

The search for the ideal space in Amsterdam was long. Most places were dark, small, and with divided offices. As beautiful as working at the city canals may sound, we were focused on finding the perfect fit that would allow us to continue working according to our values and culture.

We wanted to remain connected and close together. So, an open space became requirement number one. It was important for us that every department could stay in touch with each other and, perhaps even more so, that we could preserve our large kitchen.

Many years ago, we made the transition from the traditional Dutch sandwich lunch to freshly cooked meals prepared by our own office chef. The scent of fresh food that filled the office in the morning became a familiar daily feature.

We knew that moving to a bigger space and a new location meant the kitchen would need to remain the central point. This is where everyone comes together to share their daily stories and it was important to keep that social forum, where people from finance mingle with engineers, where sales talks to product development.

Where’s home?

The light at the end of the tunnel came about 18 months after our decision to move: a bright, open space of over a thousand square meters. It was perfectly unpolished, with a similar atmosphere to our old office. Funny enough, it was a former garage. Far from corporate, but still saying ‘grown-up’, it was the right amount of raw. We wanted to sign it right there, but our fortune had caught up with us: at the pace we were growing, with more and more new onboards every month, we would outgrow this place quickly.

It was back to square one. It would take another half-year before we would find our new space by the river. It was still under construction, giving us the edgy look and feel we were going for. Large open spaces with wide windows overlooking the city and the river. Plus, we could get several floors, ensuring a hiccup-free continuous growth.

By the time we had signed the lease the sun and spring weather had arrived in Amsterdam. We decided to rent a boat to sail down the canals with the entire team and show off the new location. There, around the corner, surrounded by water, the building revealed itself. As the sunlight reflected on the glass we could not help but feel amazed. Had we really reached this far? Could we have grown so much and so well that we were able to afford a ‘proper’ office like this one?

We’re moving!

The next challenge was to get the place ready to accommodate 160 people in just six weeks. Construction work in the Netherlands comes to a halt in August, so we had to move fast if we wanted to do it before the end of summer.

The beautiful sunny days had morphed to an excruciating heatwave. While we enjoyed the daily ice creams, we simply couldn’t function in our air conditioning-less garage. At one point, we had no other choice than to send the team home. As the hot weather continued, our productivity plummeted. It was time to go.

On the morning of Monday August 6th, the first day of the nationwide, month-long construction holiday, we landed in our new nest. Right there in the center of the space our chef was already chopping and boiling. The table football had found a perfect spot by the window where it wouldn’t disturb those in the meeting rooms. There were no more stickers on bathroom doors saying ‘Don’t Get Shit Done in here’. Coats could remain in the cloakroom and keys in our pockets if we wanted to walk to a colleague’s desk. We are together again in one space; in an office that reflects our ambitions, growth, and culture.

Home is wherever I’m with you.

It’s been two months since the move. The team feels more motivated than ever. Everyone is happy to come to the office without having to worry whether there will be a desk left for them to work at or whether the weather will impose an additional challenge. If anything, the new place has made us stronger. The old garage we moved into seven years ago with a handful of people was the beginning — the foundation; this is our future.

Our rooftops don’t only boast stunning views of Amsterdam and provide the perfect spot to crack open a Friday beer, they’ve also become a place to sport. MessageBird is a high-performance company: we work hard, we get shit done, we raise the bar. But we also love what we do and play as hard as we work. Our office is part of our way of life. Our office is not just a place, a location, or a building. It’s a spirit that we cultivate, promote, and value. It goes beyond distances and continents. Whether in Amsterdam, Singapore, or San Francisco, we now know one thing for sure: home is wherever we’re together. It only needs a large kitchen.

We’re hiring! Check out our jobs page and see if we have an opening in one of our global bird nests just for you.