When we think about a tech company’s flagship operations in their home city, most of us would imagine a flashy headquarters in a monster of a skyscraper. This makes sense — having all of the operations in one place enables seamless integration of the functional areas and ensures that every team member is in the know about what is happening elsewhere in the company. It enables employees to communicate easily and share new ideas and solve problems organically, and fosters a generally inclusive culture where it is clear that everybody is working at the same place and aspiring to the same goals.
In the case of Snap Inc (the holding company behind the social media app Snapchat), however, the founders felt that a bit more creativity was in order. They acquired private houses up and down the USA’s west coast and, within these, set up separate offices and departments in complete isolation from one another. Evan Spiegel, cofounder and CEO of the company, is driven around California by a chauffeur to visit these locations individually when he needs to. No other tech company is known to be run in this fashion, and it is immediately obvious how this unorthodox office setup could cause the company problems. These dispersed offices make it difficult for the leadership to adequately monitor the operation of the functional areas.
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