How to Build Remote Culture - Ben Comstock

Ben Comstock believes that human connection is key to happiness. It inspired him to build a company dedicated to helping organizations foster community.

As the Founder & CEO of OfficeAccord, Ben has built an online community platform to keep employees informed, engaged and connected. And his timing couldn’t be better. 

The world of work has materially shifted and hybrid work is here to stay. Organizations, seeking to bridge the gap between physical (on-site) and digital employee experiences are increasingly looking to technologies for the solution. 

Ben and I have been friends for a couple of years. We originally met in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I was speaking at a conference. And in amongst all the chaos, we found time to connect in a hotel lobby. He shared his personal story, the journey of OfficeAccord, and I was hooked. 

Beyond our mutual business interests, we have shared values. We talk about the necessary alignment of his business and life. We talk about purpose. And we look to the future. 

Ben is one of those people where you start talking and before long an hour passes by. This was one of those chats and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ben Comstock

Ben Comstock is an entrepreneur with a passion for creating human connections.  Being adopted from India, raised in Iowa (USA) and having lived in Spain for 11-years has given him a unique perspective on interracial and intercultural relationships which helped him build his HR Tech company, OfficeAccord – a community experience platform. 

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Thinking Inside the Box

Constraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.

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Matt Burns

Matt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Guest 1: [00:00:00] What I have noticed is that organizations are accepting the fact that it will not go back to the way it used to be [00:00:10] 100% despite them trying to bring as many employees back. I think that. Many employees have already gotten that sweet taste of working from home. [00:00:20] And for many people that works for them and they prefer to,

[00:00:30] Hey everyone, 

Matt: [00:00:37] it's Matt here for another episode of thinking inside the [00:00:40] box, the show where each week we tackle the most complex issues related to work. And culture. If you're interested in checking out our other content, you can find us at bento, [00:00:50] hr.com or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. And this week's episode, we chat with Benjamin Comstock.

Now, Ben and I have been friends for a couple of years. We [00:01:00] actually originally met. Of all places in Copenhagen, Denmark, where we were both attending a conference, I was speaking and Ben was attending on behalf of his organization. [00:01:10] And in amongst all the chaos, we found time to connect in the hotel lobby and the chat was brief, but super impactful because we've stayed in touch ever [00:01:20] since.

And really our bond centers around a few key pieces that we have in common. First that we both believe that workplaces can [00:01:30] be so much better and that technology can be a solution to realize that. And secondly, we believe in living our purposes, uh, Ben is a [00:01:40] citizen of the world in the truest sense of the form.

And his story is one of the most unique that I've heard. And over the course of the 45 minutes of this [00:01:50] conversation, we get into that, his background, his experiences, what ultimately led him to living in of all places, Spain. And we talk a bit about his path through [00:02:00] entrepreneurship, which like a lot of us has been.

Dips and dunks along the way. We talk about the alignment of his business and his life, which is a [00:02:10] topic that has never been more important than it is today. And ultimately his thoughts on the future. Ben and I always seem to have very Epic conversations and [00:02:20] this one was no different and I hope you enjoy it.

So without further ado, Ben Comstock, Ben Comstock. How are you doing today, sir? Hey 

Guest 1: [00:02:27] Matt. I'm doing great. Thanks. How you [00:02:30] doing? I'm doing 

Matt: [00:02:30] really well. It's a, it's an interesting time. And, uh, as I was saying into off air, we always have great conversations and it goes as far back as Copenhagen [00:02:40] Denmark. And I'm sure we'll get to that story at some point over the course of the next 40 minutes or so, but, um, for those who don't know, Ben Comstock and your story, maybe in lightness a 

Guest 1: [00:02:49] little bit.

[00:02:50] Yeah. Uh, so I. It was born in Bombay India. I was an orphan. And when I was one year old, I was adopted by an American [00:03:00] family. And the family lived in, we live in Ohio at the time and that's actually where I didn't grow up and finished high school. I then moved to [00:03:10] North Carolina to study at the university of North Carolina at Charlotte.

And then. Shortly after that, I decided I had always wanted to live in [00:03:20] Europe and learn a new language. So I quit my job packed. Two suitcases, bought a one-way plane ticket to Madrid. I arrived not knowing the language or anyone [00:03:30] there. Um, but I wanted to go on this adventure. I. Knew, I didn't want to stay in the big cities.

So I went straight to the bus station. I saw this screen with all the destinations. [00:03:40] I saw Granada. I remember reading that in a book somewhere. I asked the guy to my right. Hey, is Granada in the South or the Sunshine's he said, see, so I hopped a one-way. [00:03:50] Bus ride down to Granada, fell in love with it, stayed there for almost eight years.

And, uh, then decided to start a company called office accord. [00:04:00] It's an employee experience platform, and that took me. Back to the States where we had our launch few years after that, [00:04:10] uh, I decided to move back to Spain where I have half the team in Barcelona and the others are, uh, in Salem, Oregon. So [00:04:20] kind of jump in three continents.

The story of my life 

Matt: [00:04:25] and weight. And it's, uh, it's quite a story, my friend. I mean, you, you know, you talk about the story about you being in the bus [00:04:30] stop and picking a location. I'm just curious. Have you always been somebody who's been that adventurous and that open to 

Guest 1: [00:04:36] taking risks? I would say. Been the person [00:04:40] who's probably not shy of naiveté.

So I guess where some people call it courage, I probably would call it just being very naive. But at the same time, I guess. Yeah. I, [00:04:50] I do like is I think that, uh, the things in life that scare us are the things we shouldn't sometimes move closer towards. Uh, I. [00:05:00] Did not know the language when I arrived in Spain.

I didn't know anyone. So yeah, that might've been scary to a lot of people, but for me it was an [00:05:10] opportunity to see what I 

Matt: [00:05:10] made of. And when did you find out, I mean, it sounds like you get personal 

Guest 1: [00:05:15] transformation. Yeah. I definitely found out that I, [00:05:20] I think the simplicity of. Life when I first arrived. Um, so I didn't have a job.

So it wasn't like I was living extravagantly. [00:05:30] Uh, that experience, I think, has given me the opportunity to see how little I can live on and still be happy. And [00:05:40] if I remember back to that time, I just remember those first few months. Being an amazing experience. I was in a new place. I don't know if you've ever been to Granada.

[00:05:50] I have not been to Granada. No. All right. Well, I ha I highly suggest it. Of course I'm biased, but I do believe it's the most beautiful city in Spain, but it has this massive [00:06:00] fortress called the Alumba there with the palace. Uh, and it's just breathtaking. So. Those that have been there, probably understand why it took my breath away and made me want to stay there for awhile.

I'd [00:06:10] never would have guessed. I wouldn't be there for eight years, but it was definitely the experience of my life. And I'd say that, that, again, going back to that concept of, of, of [00:06:20] living kind of a more simple life than what I was living in the United States, just really taught me that what matters to me and that kind of led into the philosophy that [00:06:30] sparked this idea for office accord.

I've always. I would value more human connections than I do things. And that is [00:06:40] the impetus to design a platform where employees of the same company can come together and create those human connections and meet [00:06:50] and connect in meaningful ways. So I would say that my experience in Granada was. The experience led to definitely what I do now [00:07:00] and dedicate my life 

Matt: [00:07:01] to and its interest because w you know, office accord is a technology platform.

And it's meant to, in a lot of ways, [00:07:10] bridge people together, who can't physically be in the same space. And at the same time, you've pursued with such passion, the [00:07:20] experiential journey, if you will. And I'm curious, how have your journeys specifically informed the technology? 

Guest 1: [00:07:28] I the best way I can explain that is just [00:07:30] explaining the origin of office accord.

And so I got this idea when I was working at my last employer in Granada, it was this massive company. We were over a [00:07:40] thousand people in one office building. And at the time morale was low. There was a huge turnover of employees. And when [00:07:50] I would ask these employees who were about to leave the company, Hey, what are you going to miss the most about working here?

Every single one of them had the same answer. [00:08:00] It wasn't the food in the break room. It wasn't the cool lounge chairs or the ping pong tables. It was the people. And that was impactful because it made me think, [00:08:10] well, if we can create better and stronger bonds between colleagues, how could that impact performance?

And retention, [00:08:20] which at the end of the day affects the company's bottom line. And that is really where my experience from being in an organization like that. Led me to [00:08:30] the creation of this product that I, I now sell to, uh, universities and, and, and companies alike. 

Matt: [00:08:36] You know, when we first met and for those who haven't heard our [00:08:40] story before you and I connected in Copenhagen Denmark, um, I was speaking at an HR tech conference in another beautiful city around the world, and I was [00:08:50] instantly drawn to your passion for what you did and.

You know, you have this really strong drive to connect people together and to bring [00:09:00] people all under the same roof, if you will. And if they can't do so in a physical context to do so digitally, I'm curious where that comes [00:09:10] from. 

Guest 1: [00:09:10] I have always been a people person. My, uh, so I was adopted, as I mentioned, and my parents are the nicest, kindest people you'll ever meet.

[00:09:20] Um, but. My mom would admit she's not the most outgoing person. And she said that ever since I was a little three-year-old I, the door bell would ring [00:09:30] and I'd run up to it and talk to whoever it was that was standing at the door. And she'd always look at my father and say, I don't know where he got that from, but it's not from us.

And so I think [00:09:40] that just innately, I've always been somebody who loves to. Meet new people, connect with them, see where there might be some points of overlap, worth exploring further. And [00:09:50] my grandfather told me once that you, nobody is useless, they can always teach you a lesson, whether that's good or bad.

And so I think my. Interest in connecting with [00:10:00] people is definitely played a massive role in, in this product that I ended up, uh, pursuing to, to build with my co-founder Michael. 

Matt: [00:10:08] And as you mentioned earlier, it's a [00:10:10] product that's found itself in a lot of universities around the world. And some of the bigger names you account a number of traditional Ivy league schools among your [00:10:20] clients.

Um, Tell me a bit about that experience. And why do you think the tool is such a great fit for that university type client? Yeah, 

Guest 1: [00:10:29] that's a great [00:10:30] question. I'll be honest with you. I never would have guessed that it would be that universities would have latched onto this idea so quickly. However, when you.

[00:10:40] Think deeper into the concept of community universities already have that innately built in to their, to, to who they are. Right. Or we are all tar [00:10:50] heels or we're all 49ers or we're all ducks, et cetera. So, uh, and of course I'm referring mainly to the universities in the United States that have that. Real [00:11:00] school, spirit and pride.

So the community's already there. What they needed was a digital place to bring that community together. And that's where [00:11:10] office accord comes in is to help bridge that gap, 

Matt: [00:11:12] which is makes sense, because this is a generation and, you know, students obviously have a greater degree of comfort and [00:11:20] attachment to technology as a mechanism of staying connected.

Uh, you mentioned as well that your organization is a global organization, that you have a team that's based in [00:11:30] Barcelona, but it's not only based in Barcelona. Um, I'm curious how you guys practice what you preach in terms of keeping your own team connected. Yeah. 

Guest 1: [00:11:37] W well, we are a smaller [00:11:40] organization, so we're not yet, uh, as big enough to where communication is, has hit a roadblock.

The nice things that we do do is we do like to have meetings together as a team. [00:11:50] We. Are all virtual. So we, everyone that we work with, I think really believes and understands the mission. [00:12:00] To help organizations create a great place to work, and they also recognize the need to be dependable for their colleagues.

And so the way that we're bringing [00:12:10] each other together, I think is just really in our, in our calls. We're again, we're not, uh, we're not yet big enough to go do the, you know, fly off to Hawaii together. But, uh, hopefully [00:12:20] that table will come, but the everyone does know who the other person is in the team and we've used our own product.

Within our team to [00:12:30] use as that platform for everyone to get to know each other, uh, see what interests they have and how they can [00:12:40] connect with each other. Despite it being very, very remote cross across the world, even right now, 

Matt: [00:12:44] Ben, if you're like a lot of tech founders that I know. The, uh, the product that you have [00:12:50] today probably looks a lot different than where it started from that over the course of time, you've evolved, leaked it.

And the fact that your organization uses it [00:13:00] in terms of its own internal practices, I'm sure has been the catalyst for a lot of. Tweaks and innovations over time. I'm curious, as you think back on the evolution of your product roadmap, [00:13:10] what are one or two of the, you know, changes or enhancements that you've made on the strength of your internal employee feedback and how they've actually been using the tool?

Guest 1: [00:13:19] Yeah, [00:13:20] uh, T to be honest with you actually, where the real value has come from. Using the tool internally, it's actually been defined a lot of bugs. So, um, us just being able to [00:13:30] release a new enhancement, if there's still some little bugs there, we're really quick to finding it because we're using the product ourselves.

So that's one really huge advantage. 

[00:13:40] Matt: [00:13:41] Hey everyone, it's Matt here. I hope you're enjoying the show before we continue. I wanted to give a quick shout out to one of our sponsors. Benji. [00:13:50] The future of work is today. And Matt Parsons and the team at Benji have figured out a really cool hands-on learning solution [00:14:00] that you need to be considering as you transition your organizational learning and team building and engagement online.

Now I spend several hours a day [00:14:10] myself on video platforms. So whether it's zoom or Skype or go to meeting, they're great. They allow me to interact with people and see them in all [00:14:20] parts of the world, though. If you're like me, once those calls go on a bit too long, I start to get a little bit. Distracted.

And it's not too long before I'm reaching for my smartphone [00:14:30] or opening up another tab on my laptop that doesn't happen with Benji. They have a catalog of interactive team exercises that makes it really easy [00:14:40] for organizations and individual consultants to develop engaging solutions at any scale. And I'll be honest, I've been so impressed with the tool myself, that we're [00:14:50] actually looking at using Benji to power our virtual workshops with client facing products.

So I'm actually working right now with Matt one-on-one to develop a journey mapping [00:15:00] exercise. So we can take clients through the employee experience and aluminate thousands of dollars and hours of inefficiencies that organizations tend to [00:15:10] have in their onboarding and hiring processes. It's a great tool.

And because you are a listener of the thinking inside the box podcast, you're going to get a special benefit as [00:15:20] well. I've talked to Matt. He wants to give as many people as possible access to this tool so they can make online learning more engaging. And you can do so as well by using the [00:15:30] discount code bento 20.

So if you log on to the Benji website, which is my benji.com and you're as impressed with the solution as I am, then [00:15:40] enter the code in Benji 20 and you'll receive 20% off your purchase. And with that being said, we'll return back to regular programming.

[00:15:50] Guest 1: [00:15:50] It comes to features. One of the features that I know we really have thought about was what was this concept of interests? So our tool at the beginning, when, [00:16:00] when an employee signs into the tool that it's going to get to know you, it's going to ask you a series of just a few questions so that it can start curating content based on your social profile, helping you, [00:16:10] helping to find people who be most interested in the things that you, that you might be interested in.

Because I think that, uh, when you join. Organization. It's great that you work with 400 people, [00:16:20] but I'm not interested in learning. And meeting every single person and I'm not going to, it's not plausible to think I'm going to become best friends with all of them, but, you know, I love to skateboard. Well, [00:16:30] are there any other skateboarders in this place or I love to go play golf, same thing.

And so this concept of interests actually came out of one of our own use of the tool, uh, [00:16:40] as well. 

Matt: [00:16:40] What about your clients? It's, you know, you have a group of people that. You know, stretches around the globe that you work with. And you've had relationships that have gone on many, many years, [00:16:50] you know, what's been the role of client feedback and evolving the product.

Guest 1: [00:16:53] Yeah. Client feedback is the number one. So that's being able to have an open dialogue with these, the clients we work with. And I [00:17:00] feel very blessed to have a one-on-one personal relationship with all of our clients that has given us a huge advantage in [00:17:10] building a tool. That fits the needs of their current environment.

So as an example, most recently with COVID, we decided to, um, [00:17:20] some of the more presentable features of our tool that would bring people together in a physical space, obviously as in the last year were no longer [00:17:30] useful. But what we did learn is how, where organizations are struggling and, and maintaining that culture and community.

And one of the [00:17:40] ideas or two of the ideas that choose me was a, uh, virtual break room. So a place where at any time, if you are done with your [00:17:50] conference calls, you're going to have a coffee. You can just jump into this virtual break room where anyone that's there can just have a quick chat. So it's kind of replicating that.

[00:18:00] In the office break room, but in a virtual space. Uh, and then the second thing that we also discovered was the woes that organizations have with remote [00:18:10] onboarding. So now that you're not sitting in a room with the other people who started in that organization, how can we mirror that in a digital [00:18:20] space?

And that was something that came out of our clients, our client feedback review meetings, where they said, Hey, we have never had to do this in remote [00:18:30] onboarding. Now we do. And we realized that we don't have the technology for it. So our mission is to help organizations create a great employee experience.

We believe that starts [00:18:40] even before day one. If you can give somebody access to an app that has everything they need to know about what. Uh, what's expected of them. What's going to [00:18:50] be those first few tasks that they need to complete. Here's a directory of all your colleagues. You can filter by interests.

You can start getting to know people [00:19:00] who, who have the same kind of interests and ideas as you. I think that all of that has been been client [00:19:10] driven. Given us a really good way for, to build the product in a way that is going to be useful for the, the clients we work with. And 

Matt: [00:19:18] as you think about [00:19:20] those challenges going forward, I think people can agree that we're going to, we're going to allow to live in a world where those expectations only increase over time.

You know, I still talk [00:19:30] to organizations that have this false sense of belief that we're going to go back to some. Replicated history that we once had. Um, I think the idea [00:19:40] of virtual onboarding is here to stay. I think the idea of having virtual break rooms is here to stay. We're going to move to a space where organizational cultures become [00:19:50] hybrid, where we blend the physical and the digital, and we need to create experiences for our colleagues and our teams and our customers that [00:20:00] seamlessly transitioned back and forth between the two and.

You know, it's tools like what you've built that allow us to do that and to create a proxy, if you will, for those types of [00:20:10] connections, I'm curious as you look into the future, Ben, what do you see the future looking like in terms of either your clients, officer cord, you know, the [00:20:20] future of work, if you will, a human, you pull out your crystal ball.

What are you seeing in terms of the next 12 

Guest 1: [00:20:24] months? Yeah. Well, the next 12 months, I definitely see the need for more. [00:20:30] Of that hybrid approach that you mentioned. So being able to tailor to the more remote employees, people will start coming back to the offices. In fact, some of the larger [00:20:40] organizations that we're working with because of the fact that they have a lease on these buildings, they have a lot of workers that have been put out of work [00:20:50] because these employees are no longer present.

Uh, getting back to a, uh, Physical workspace is actually really important to them. So [00:21:00] I, in my crystal ball, I wish it was clear to me. It's still a little unclear because of the lack of the efficacy of this vaccine. We'll see how that plays itself out. [00:21:10] But what I have noticed is that. Organizations are accepting the fact that it will not go back to the way it used to be 100% despite them trying to [00:21:20] bring as many employees back.

Uh, I think that many employees have already gotten that sweet taste of working from home and for many people that works for them and [00:21:30] they prefer to stay that way. So a tool like. Office accord was built to help bridge that gap for those that still want to be remote, but also, still want to feel connected to the organization [00:21:40] where I see this going, you know, Much further context.

I definitely think that the digital will be become more virtual reality. Uh, [00:21:50] I, I know that you're working, uh, as well now in, in this concept of potentially virtual reality onboarding or meetings, things like that. Uh, [00:22:00] one of our companies, uh, client or companies that we're speaking to at the moment, they also work in the same or similar space.

So I definitely think there's going to be a real big push. For [00:22:10] virtual reality or in being involved in the HR process. And so I'm keeping a very close eye on. The the pulse or a student Q might keep my hand on the [00:22:20] pulse of that concept to see where and if, and how that could be potentially integrated into office accord when the time is right.

Matt: [00:22:28] Yeah. Yeah. I think it's, I [00:22:30] think it's inevitable, to be honest, I think it was inevitable before. Um, the pandemic, but I think the pandemic accelerated it it's, you know, w whether we're talking about [00:22:40] collaboration tools or zoom, or, um, you know, email, phone, instant messaging, they are inherently two dimensional communication tools, [00:22:50] which have their purpose.

And they certainly are an important component of a broader communications portfolio. And for a lot of [00:23:00] organizations, a lot of their communications currency was traded in person. Because that added a degree of the third dimension, you know, I think about Ben, those proverbial water cooler chats. I think [00:23:10] about the hallway conversations, the meetings before the meetings, the meetings, after the meetings, the drinks on Friday, after standing in the coffee line, I think about how many decisions that I [00:23:20] made, how many relationships that I built, how much influence that I had to wield in those more informal contexts.

I look back and go. I don't know if I could have been as successful if I'd had [00:23:30] to do all of that with a two dimensional, linear communications tool. And because of that, I asked myself, well, if we, if we are in a world now, where [00:23:40] hybrid is the norm and. If we have a world now where it no longer becomes the default that people go into an office, either we're going to have [00:23:50] to exceptionally increase our ability to be more productive and more thoughtful and methodical with those two dimensional communication tools, which I think will occur, [00:24:00] or we have to pair them with complimentary.

Technologies that allow us to really leverage the conversations that [00:24:10] require a greater degree of intimacy. And, you know, I'm, as you know, Ben, I'm an HR professional by trade and you know, most of my experience was in transformational projects and transformational initiatives. [00:24:20] What I want to take a step back.

And I think 2020 for me, like a lot of people was a challenging year. Um, and obviously our business had to go through a pretty significant shift as well. One of [00:24:30] those shifts was a move into immersive technology, including virtual reality, and that culminated with the global HR summit in September of 2020, where we brought together close to a thousand [00:24:40] people, 300 of them in virtual reality, 60 speakers in virtual reality.

And I, at the time didn't say this, but I've been saying it a lot since which was. It was an opportunity for [00:24:50] us to do a couple things. One, it was an opportunity for us to have a focus group, essentially, and to bring together hundreds of business executives under the same virtual roof, [00:25:00] and to learn how they interact with each other, to learn how they co-exist in the same virtual space to learn where the tool could have application.

[00:25:10] And we take a step back, whether it's performance management or recruitment or training, they're really all communication. Tools. They're really all exercises and communication. You're transferring [00:25:20] knowledge. You're building relationships, it's communication at its core. And virtual reality is a tool that can be used to augment communication activities.

So [00:25:30] as we go forward, I think there's a place where when we help organizations identify the conversations that they believe require a greater degree of intimacy. [00:25:40] Virtual reality will be a preferable solution, not a solution for all, all of the opportunities, but for the ones where intimacy is there.

Guest 1: [00:25:48] Absolutely well, and Matt, you really nailed it [00:25:50] there because if you talk to any millennial or generation Z who are the future of work, they don't go to work like my grandfather, [00:26:00] uh, and his generation went to work. They don't go to work just to cut a paycheck at the end of the month. They. Go to work, to feel part of the community, whether that's going to [00:26:10] be presentable or virtual.

I think you're going to find a lot of interest in that space, uh, and that opportunity to [00:26:20] help those people who will be those young generations, who will be the leaders of the, of tomorrow, feel that connection to their organization. Uh, I think, uh, Greg's [00:26:30] now there's many examples of. Uh, of organizations who have really spent a lot of effort in enhance and creating those great places to work.

All of those winners of those [00:26:40] are really focused on the people because they believe the people are the ones who are gonna end up generating their, their, their brand, their brand and [00:26:50] their, their profitability, et cetera. So I don't think that there's any. Any doubt in my mind that we're going to have to move that direction.

Just like you mentioned earlier as well. Yeah, 

[00:27:00] Matt: [00:27:00] you're right. It's their extension of brand ambassadors. Um, it's an extension of profitability at the end of the day. There's a reason why we all came together [00:27:10] in an office setting. There's significant advantages to human beings, collaborating in the same space.

And when you move to a world where at least a [00:27:20] portion of your workforce will be remote, or at least intermittently remote, if you're hoping to realize the same. Production or the same [00:27:30] performance of those individuals and their aggregate. You're going to have to think through how you use digital communication tools.

So it doesn't surprise me to hear that your [00:27:40] organization has had a ton of success in this new landscape. I think it will continue to have a ton of success and I'm, I'm equally, um, bullish on the idea of. [00:27:50] Virtual reality, being a component to those broader strategies, because when you want to find the, when you [00:28:00] want to solve for geographic dispersion and cost and scalability and a tool that [00:28:10] creates a greater degree of intimacy, it's virtual reality today that that is the.

That is the tool. And, um, that, to me, when I think about the [00:28:20] broader economics around it, I think about the, the falling price of hardware, which are now in a lot of jurisdictions, you can get a VR for a couple hundred dollars. It's it gives you [00:28:30] the opportunity to really use the tool in a more intentional way.

I'll be honest with our organization. We've used it now for team meetings. We use it in our sales process. [00:28:40] We began using it with clients. Um, It becomes a very interesting tool when we want to create a differentiated experience. When most of our [00:28:50] competition, most of our colleagues in the space are still relying upon digital communications using zoom and you know, other types of vehicles, we can provide a [00:29:00] differentiated experience, introduce a prospective client into a completely new, new technology paradigm.

And at the same time, Really build that [00:29:10] relationship, which is where I think we kind of come full circle in our conversation. You know, when we want to build relationships and you want to build, you know, deep trusting [00:29:20] relationships you do. So through longevity, you do so through trust and you also do through do so through intimacy.

And the intimacy take the shape [00:29:30] in many different forms. And one of those forms is by coming together and having a shared experience that ultimately propels the relationship forward. 

[00:29:40] Guest 1: [00:29:40] Absolutely could not agree with you more on that. The experience I had going back to that, the birth of office accord, when I was standing in my break room [00:29:50] of my old employer, overhearing the conversations that were going on.

One group over here was talking about a weekend, [00:30:00] a snow trip up, excuse me, a ski trip in the mountains. Another group was talking about a bike that one of them was trying to sell. Another group was talking about [00:30:10] parenting issues, and I thought to myself, these are the true connections. That should be available to everybody, not just whoever has serendipitously walked into this break room at the right [00:30:20] time.

What if we could create those meaningful human connections in a digital space so that everybody can participate and, uh, you know, give their say, give advice, [00:30:30] ask questions. Uh, and so. The platform that we developed was, was really based on that concept of creating that intimacy. And I think that creating that intimacy also kind of [00:30:40] requires us to go a little bit further than just a, Hey, here's a, here's a company directory, you know, find people that matter.

I think we [00:30:50] need to go a step above that and kind of, uh, I guess I would say lazy proof it a little bit so that we can be the tool can proactively. Curate content based [00:31:00] on, again, that social profile that you've provided so that you can get to know the people that would be most likely to you'd be most likely to connect with [00:31:10] because the more we connect, the happier we are, the better we work and the longer we stay.

Right. 

Matt: [00:31:14] Good to hear through morbid. And I'm curious, you know, you and I built a relationship, a friendship over the last couple of [00:31:20] years, and I'd been keeping tabs on what you've been doing over the course of the last little while. And, um, checking in on what's going on in Spain, you know, what's the next year look like for you?

I mean, how are you going to move [00:31:30] forward in these trying times? And I'm just curious, what's on your roadmap. 

Guest 1: [00:31:33] Yeah. Well, I can tell you that we are doing this COVID since we did a pivot. [00:31:40] The end of last year to really focus on these new ideas from our clients to help them tackle this remote employee experience.

[00:31:50] I feel like we've been, uh, we have a really great road ahead of us. We have a lot of new clients coming on board. Uh, some are already coming on board now others will be coming [00:32:00] onboard a little later. And so I have a lot of. New work in the pipeline. Uh, we expect to grow, uh, [00:32:10] this year, uh, quite a bit due to these new enhancements that we've made.

So I, I have to be excited for the year ahead. Uh, it's gonna [00:32:20] require some. Some new hires and, and building out our team a little bit more. And the areas that we, uh, will make us the most successful. But I, I think we [00:32:30] really hit our, uh, the, the tough spot last year was, was when we really had to. Uh, how'd that gut check, which kind of converted itself into a, [00:32:40] into an opportunity inter 

Matt: [00:32:41] well, and isn't that the definition of entrepreneurship, like it's one, one obstacle after another and the [00:32:50] opportunity to keep pushing forward or to make a decision to do something different.

Is it early at the core of it. And, you know, I have every faith that [00:33:00] you and your organization will keep pushing forward because I think it's the right solution at the right time. And I think that just, you know, your approach and, you know, we've, we've shared them over the course of the last [00:33:10] 40 minutes, your approach to the world and how you've approached your life and your business and your career sets you up for success in a way that others may be [00:33:20] afraid to take that leap or afraid to keep pushing forward or.

Tie up too much of their self-worth and ego into their career. And, [00:33:30] you know, I is somebody who I've come to respect and appreciate is having a broader balanced looks at the world within a broader lens. You know, I'm super excited to see what happens for you and for office [00:33:40] accord, uh, in the coming months and 

Guest 1: [00:33:41] years.

Well, Hey Matt, thanks a lot. I really appreciate that. Yeah. It's been a pleasure to, uh, to stay in contact with you and, and I hope this, [00:33:50] uh, podcast might help inspire some of your listeners to dedicate them, those that they're passionate about. And, uh, I wish them the best of luck and you as well. Well, thank you so much, 

[00:34:00] Matt: [00:33:59] sir.

And I'll look forward to talking again real soon. 

Guest 1: [00:34:01] All right. Thanks, Matt. Have a good one.

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