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How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

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Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#51

Post by tptacek »

pg wrote: post #26
_b8r0 wrote: post #5

> We decided to build instead of buy Meaning they decided to procrastinate instead of working on their product/service. > we instead chose to purchase solid core doors from Home Depot (~$40 each) Meaning they instead chose to spend more on something that wasn't designed to be a desk than an actual desk. From [1]: Ergonomically, door desks leave a lot to be desired. Keyboards were usually too high. Typing for hours co…

HN has gotten so nasty. I now find that when I click on "comments" I unconsciously brace myself to find this type of comment at the top of the thread.

You're not wrong, but can I admit that I had the same feelings the top commenter had? I'll happily tack on the other admission that those feelings probably had a lot to do with jealousy.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#52

Post by rdl »

swah wrote: post #48
rdl wrote: post #20

I've always done the t leg ikea galant desks (glass, preferably), with aeron chairs ($300 used, $600 new, IMO worth it), and now, ergotron monitor arms. Generic but totally functional.

What properties does a good table have?

Cheap, relatively stable, strong, flat on top, somewhat rounded edge so you don't hurt your wrists, maximum free span width underneath. Adjustable height. Wheels would be cool, but I haven't tried that.

The glass IKEA Galant desks do make it really difficult to mount monitor arms (you can't bolt through tempered glass, and pressure clamps are risky on glass), so I ended up putting two oak boards on the top and bottom in the back (1" thick, 8" wide, width of the table + 2"), and clamping stuff to those.

Glass is nice because it's really easy to clean. I believe in keeping the desk basically empty when not in use, with all monitors/etc. supported by arms. I do leave 2 keyboards, a mouse, and a magictrackpad on the desk itself, since I don't have a good way to mount them to anything.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#53

Post by _b8r0 »

tptacek wrote: post #51
pg wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN has gotten so nasty. I now find that when I click on "comments" I unconsciously brace myself to find this type of comment at the top of the thread.

You're not wrong, but can I admit that I had the same feelings the top commenter had? I'll happily tack on the other admission that those feelings probably had a lot to do with jealousy.

I tried to edit after I made the comment as I read it and thought it was a bit harsh, but sadly couldn't for some reason.

My point was that all of this takes time, and doesn't sound like something a lean and mean startup would do. Buying doors at $40 doesn't sound lean, the time spent instead of working on the product/service doesn't sound lean. There's an opportunity cost that should be factored in and they could've saved a load of money and time by buying the furniture second hand.

Having said all that, it's their business and not mine, and if taking time out to build these desks won't disrupt their schedules or revenue stream then it's up to them if they want to do it. Personally I'd never allow it anywhere I work, but time's much more important (and billable) in my industry so their mileage may vary.

Of course, they now have something tangible with their time that reminds them of the day they built their own desks. If there's value in that then more power to them.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#54

Post by swah »

rdl wrote: post #52
swah wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What properties does a good table have?

Cheap, relatively stable, strong, flat on top, somewhat rounded edge so you don't hurt your wrists, maximum free span width underneath. Adjustable height. Wheels would be cool, but I haven't tried that. The glass IKEA Galant desks do make it really difficult to mount monitor arms (you can't bolt through tempered glass, and pressure clamps are risky on glass), so I ended up putting two oak boards on the top and bottom…

My glass table always has fingerprints on it, which bugs me. Ground glass probably doesn't have that little problem.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#55

Post by roc »

_b8r0 wrote: post #21
roc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Meaning they decided to procrastinate instead of working on their product/service." If they were truly procrastinating, you've got a point. But that's hardly implicit in having spent time and energy on a desk. You can't work productively 24x7. You need downtime. And those desks, not to minimize the effort they did put into them, don't look like a huge time investment to me. As to the ergonomics, sure: ideally you…

Protip: Buy office furniture second hand, especially in a downward market. The resale value of office furniture is atrocious. There's plenty of office clearance companies all over the place that will sell you high quality office furniture at low low prices.

And how much of that office furniture that makes it to the clearance companies matches the ergonomic preferences for a computing desk?

To put it bluntly: I don't think I've ever seen an adjustable height desk with a raised stand for a monitor in an office environment. Consumer home-office furniture are lousy with those features. But for most office furniture, you're lucky if they buy a $10 wooden monitor stand or if the desk's adjust more than they need to allow for leveling.

You'd have to haunt the clearance company to actually score a good desk and I still doubt you'd be walking away with one for $40.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#56

Post by rdl »

swah wrote: post #54
rdl wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap, relatively stable, strong, flat on top, somewhat rounded edge so you don't hurt your wrists, maximum free span width underneath. Adjustable height. Wheels would be cool, but I haven't tried that. The glass IKEA Galant desks do make it really difficult to mount monitor arms (you can't bolt through tempered glass, and pressure clamps are risky on glass), so I ended up putting two oak boards on the top and bottom…

My glass table always has fingerprints on it, which bugs me. Ground glass probably doesn't have that little problem.

The greenish glass tables don't have that problem; the black ones do.

The other nice thing is that Logitech "darkfield" laser mice work fine on even clear glass tables, somehow.

Re: How we chose and furnished an office the Y Combinator way

#57

Post by rdl »

If it's not too rude to ask, what is your rent? I'm seeing $4.50-7 in Palo Alto for a range of spaces (it gets cheaper for huge space out of downtown); $1-2.50 for light industrial or office space in Mountain View, and $1.50-4 in SF.

I'd far prefer to be in Seattle (and love Pioneer Square), but I think I'm stuck down here.

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