Technology start-ups have a lot of stereotypes to live up to. There is the perception of the younger workforce, of a place where every day is dress down Friday and you can work from wherever takes your fancy, as long as you can get an internet connection.
However not all tech firms conform to the stereotypes and there is still serious work to be done.
Twitter, the social network that has turned updating your friends, family and random internet strangers with news – important or not – in less than 140 characters into an art, may not be considered a start-up by the majority of people. It has been around since 2006 and has only surged in popularity in more recent times – in Ireland, at around the start of the property/bank collapse – but Stephen McIntyre, Twitter Ireland’s MD, says it’s still early days for the company in Europe.
"What I think Twitter has in common with a company like Google is [that] it's product focused, innovation focused, it's high growth," he says. "The biggest thing that makes it the most enjoyable job I've had is that it's early stage in Europe. When you get in at this early stage, you just have a chance to have an impact that doesn't necessarily exist in excellent companies elsewhere that are bigger."
At Career Zoo in the Convention Centre last year, McIntyre told attendees they still had the chance to get in at an early stage with the company, and be among the first 50 employees at Twitter Dublin.
That figure has now grown to around 100. The company is on its third office since setting up in Ireland, having outgrown the previous two buildings. These days, it’s located in the Academy on Pearse Street, in bright, airy offices formerly occupied by Popcap.
The move is strategically timed for Twitter, as it is planning to double in size in Dublin, adding 100 jobs before the end 2014. Those vacancies are attracting a good deal of interest, despite the fact that it doesn’t quite meet the start-up stereotype. There are no on-site gyms, for example, or pet policies – not even a bird is allowed in the Twitter offices – and staff generally work at their desks instead of on beanbags around the office.
On a Monday afternoon, it was a hive of activity, with staff busy at their desks chasing calls, while others held meetings in the company’s canteen, or hosted a webinar.
The office is open plan. Not even top level managers have their own office. Instead, work spaces are collaborative, with meeting rooms of all sizes available for those who need more privacy from time to time.
“Some of the culture here has a local flavour, and some is built from the culture in San Francisco,” says McIntyre. “The culture in SF is very much an informal one, and that’s an element we’ve tried to recreate here, while also adding our own dimension.”
That local dimension can be seen even in the staff canteen, where cups have the hash tags #tae and #caife.
Twitter hasn’t escaped all the trappings you’d expect from a Silicon Valley tech company. The meeting rooms, for example, are creatively named, with birds the obvious choice. Walking around the office gives you an education in exotic wildlife.
And they refer to goals as “gulls”. But that’s to be expected from a company that has Larry the Bird as its logo.
There’s more. The company supplies food for employees free of charge, with a catered canteen open for breakfast and lunch. Mini fridges dotted around the place contain free drinks. There’s little reason to leave the office.
There is even the obligatory foosball table and table tennis for those who need a break, not forgetting a games console or two. "There was a mini movement for a pool table," says McIntyre.
Coming together
He explains that all these fringe benefits are ways for the different teams at Twitter to come together.
“Lunchtime and breakfast is an important thing. People sitting down and having breakfast before they start work, or dropping in to have lunch here is an important mixing element,” he says. “The way we have it up there, there does tend to be a lot of mixing between functions and floors, with people who wouldn’t normally work together.”
A wall in one of the communal areas has been given over to messages from visitors to Twitter, all on notes shaped like Larry the Bird, bringing another personal touch.
The company has a varied team at its European headquarters in Dublin. Although about half of the workforce is from Ireland, people from around 20 countries work in the office, from backgrounds as varied as technology firms to the Garda.
McIntyre says that, despite the diverse backgrounds, the team has blended well.
“If you hire the right people, who not only have the right technical competence but also the right attitude and the right behaviours, then you build the single biggest piece in company culture. It’s not about foosball tables and ping pong tables, it’s about operating in a really high-growth, high-paced environment, working really hard and doing it collaboratively.”
Senior account executive Katie Doyle jumped ship from eBay in 2012, a decision she said was motivated partly by the ability to make an impact in a smaller company.
“I really liked the platform, and how it allowed brands and people to have an unfiltered voice,” she says. “But one of the main things was the culture. From the first time I was interviewed, I found the culture was different to other companies; their values were similar to mine. One of the core values is ‘passion and personality matter’; I felt [that] in the interview that really shone through.”
One of those personal passions is an arts festival, No Place Like Dome, that Doyle organises in her free time, using Twitter and Facebook, which has the backing of her colleagues. It's that support that has shone through in her work environment.
“Recognition, regardless of what position you’re doing, is quite important in terms of how healthy people feel in terms of their work environment,” she says. “You have your day to day job, but then you would have a certain amount of time to spend on other projects that you would work on with different teams.”
Jordan McDonnell took a slightly less conventional route to Twitter. He came to Twitter’s attention after he created an online CV that went viral, with more than 200,000 views.
He was approached by the firm and now works as part of the UK and Ireland’s sales team.
“Companies were looking for a specific type of person for these roles. I guess I didn’t really fit, with my background in finance and accounting: I didn’t fit 100 per cent so I needed to show that I was the right candidate. I had no real expectations of where it was going to go.”
The CV was picked up by Business Insider, leading to a number of job offers before Twitter came calling.
“The reason I chose it was because I wanted to work somewhere I felt valued,” he says. “I identify with the product, it’s something I use all the time and I can see the mechanics from the inside. It’s a platform that allows people to have a voice.”
Keeping the personal feel of a smaller office is obviously going to be a challenge for Twitter as it doubles in size. However, McIntyre is confident that the company can achieve it.
"When you're only 20 people, it's easy. When you get to 100 or 200, you have to pay a bit of attention to it. But it's still possible," he says. "We have bi-weekly meetings here of the whole group. Any new people who join stand up and introduce themselves. On the day a new person starts in the office, we send out an email to the whole office. Small things like that are practical things you can do to replicate the feeling you get when you're only 20 people."
Different perspective
For Twitter's EMEA director of public policy, Sinead McSweeney, the jump to the private sector was a little less pronounced than one might have thought.
“It’s a change but it’s still at the heart of policy and government, and legislative issues. It’s just looking at the same issues from a different perspective,” she says.
“It’s a very different sector [she previously worked in communications for both the PSNI and the Garda, as well as working in the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Justice], it’s unusual to be among the oldest in the organisation instead of among the youngest, which was where I had spent the first half of my career; that’s more of a personal adjustment than professional. But I like to think everyone here is going to keep me young for at least 10 years.”
An aspect that has remained the same is the unpredictability, with the average week’s tasks changing significantly from Monday to Friday.
One thing that is important to Twitter Dublin is that it establishes its own identity, despite its close ties with San Francisco and the adoption of some of its corporate culture.
“We’re not trying to replicate San Francisco. The DNA of Twitter is in San Francisco and it’s important to recognise that. But we’re also building a European operation here, and building a European headquarters in Dublin. I think it’s about knowing what elements to keep common,” McIntyre says.
“We’re at a different stage of our growth and a totally different stage. You have to appreciate it at every stage as you go along. This is something I think we’ll look back on and say it was a magic time.”
