Whenever I visit a founder at their office, I always ask for a tour. Naturally, the entrepreneur perks up, eager to show off their environment. So much time, energy, and thought go into building a cool, collaborative office that there’s a sense of pride and joy in sharing it with others. Beyond the basics—like how they organize the floor plan, conference rooms, breakout areas, and kitchens—I’m also on the lookout for ideas to bring back to our own office.

For example, many years ago, I visited another startup’s office and noticed a giant TV mounted on the wall right by the front door. It displayed a scoreboard of their most important goals, color-coded red, yellow, green, and super green based on their progress. This was visible to everyone—employees and guests alike—making it clear where the company stood on its key metrics. Inspired, I immediately implemented this at our office, installing a massive TV in the lobby connected to a Mac Mini. It displayed a Google Sheet that automatically updated with red, yellow, green, and super green indicators based on our metrics.

Today, depending on the startup, the office often serves as more of a way station, with employees splitting their time between a couple of days in the office and a couple of days working from home. While office usage has changed since pre-COVID, it still plays an important role for most companies. My recommendation for entrepreneurs is to always ask for a tour when visiting another entrepreneur’s office and to look for ideas they can adapt for their own environment. Constantly tinkering and improving across everything is one of the great joys of being a founder.