I wish there were more detail to some of these points. For example, "Have an office, not someone's living room." This sounds reasonable, but why? What is it, specifically, about having an office that makes it so important? What if what he really meant to say was, "Have a space where your team can work without distractions; an office is ideal, a living room is not, because roommates will be walking through, the casual atmosphere is too distracting, and phone calls will disrupt the atmosphere." Otherwise, someone could read this manual, then go ahead and fill an office with couches, video games and other distractions that make it just as bad as (or worse than) an apartment.
I agree. It would have been interesting if they would have explained
why they thought this.
Just before our exit, we ran our company from a condo. Here are some
pictures under 'Environment'[1]. One major upside for us working in
residential space was the cost. Electricity, rent/condo fees, parking,
and internet fees are all less expensive than commercial rates. As well
owning residential space is far less expensive than owning commercial
space.
