SurveyMonkey‘s 400 employees have settled into the company’s new San Mateo headquarters after calling Palo Alto home for years. Its new office at Bay Meadows is larger than it’s old one, although it is currently subleasing half of the 200,000 square feet to other companies (Ten-X and Zuora).
The provider of cloud-based survey and data tools has embraced its commitment to Curiousity and event managed to get the street outside named Curiosity Way.
“It’s a branding moment and it helps underscore our mission to power the curious if you go to our website and look up our address, or search for SurveyMonkey on Google Maps,” the company’s COO and CFO, Tim Maly, said in an interview recently. “It’s printed on business cards and employees or visitors to our building, when they walk by, see the street sign.”
With nearly 50% of employees taking the train to work, the Bay Meadows location on Caltrain was critical – especially for being able to recruit talent.
“This was one of the few, or really the only, large developments that was adjacent to a Caltrain stop,” he said. “It’s also right in the center of the Bay Area, so it gives us maximum recruiting range.”
Another bonus? Value. “This is a new development … and is certainly less developed than downtown Palo Alto,” Maly said. “It’s a less mature market, so it was higher risk, but it is priced accordingly.”
Lastly, Maly cited the ability to influence and participate in the creation of community and environment given the development at large as a benefit over more established locations.
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