Requiring constant multitasking and planning, managing an inspiring workplace has several intricacies and moving parts. The time spent on managing these details takes away from managing your core business. Managed by Q reduces the workload when it comes to office management through its proprietary software that enables companies to design, build, staff, maintain, and manage workplaces through a single platform. The software serves as an operating system that handles a range of tasks like connecting office teams to workplace experts and vetted commercial service providers, staffing, and scheduling cleaning, maintenance, security, and even IT services. Well designed and maintained workplaces increase productivity, employee health and wellness, and improve attracting and retaining staff. Already deployed at companies like Casper, Staples, and Maxim, the Managed by Q platform reduces the cost of facilities services by up to 40% while saving employees 30% of time on office management.
AlleyWatch caught up with cofounder Dan Teran about his vision of creating the Amazon Web Services for the workplace, its future plans, the company’s latest round of funding, an extension to its C round, which brings its total funding raised to $97.4M across six rounds.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $25M as an extension of our Series C, bringing the overall total of the round to $55M. The investment was led by long-term capital partners RRE and GV, and included new investors such as DivCo West and Oxford Properties.
Tell us about the product or service that Managed by Q offers.
Managed by Q is the platform for workplace management. We help the world’s leading companies design, build, staff, and manage their workplaces. By connecting office operations teams to dedicated workplace experts and top commercial service providers, we enable companies to create inspiring offices and deliver a great workplace experience for their teams.
What inspired you to start Managed by Q?
When my cofounder and I originally founded Managed by Q we were captivated by the idea of creating an operating system for the world, which could run real-world operations with the reliability of software.
We wanted to create something like Amazon Web Services but for the services required to run an actual workplace. We got introductions to as many office managers as we could find and within about 6 weeks we went from prototype to launch with our first dozen customers.
We wanted to create something like Amazon Web Services but for the services required to run an actual workplace. We got introductions to as many office managers as we could find and within about 6 weeks we went from prototype to launch with our first dozen customers.
Which social media platform is the best platform for a workplace to be active on in order to give the public the best “inside view” of the company?
Instagram has transformed the way people consume content. Because they can consume so much in such a small amount of time, the public expects genuine, yet still high-quality, curated content. Video is the best way to do that, so Instagram Stories is the most effective way to share an authentic “inside view” in a way that scales and speaks to your company values and mission.
How is Managed by Q different?
Managed by Q is the only software platform that has been built specifically for workplace teams. Workplace teams sit at the intersection of internal employee requests and external vendor management, and they rely heavily on collaboration to get their jobs done. We’ve created technology to enable them to respond to employee needs, order office services, get quotes for projects, and manage all of their invoicing, reporting, and communication in a single place.
What market does Managed by Q target and how big is it?
Companies spend about $500B on office services in the US alone across categories like cleaning, maintenance, IT, security, staffing, and employee services. We aim to bring the entire market onto our platform, first in the US and then globally.
What’s your business model?
In addition to creating value for office managers, we also create value for commercial vendors. Today, Managed by Q makes money by charging a small transaction fee to our vendor partners. By connecting commercial vendors with qualified new business, providing them with software to manage their business, handling payment collections and processing we are helping them to operate more efficiently as well.
What was the funding process like?
We have been fortunate to have the long-time support of some amazing capital partners, like GV and RRE, who have continued to invest in the company. We were introduced to some new strategic partners like DivCo West and Oxford Properties who we were enthusiastic to welcome on board given their deep understanding of commercial real estate.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Any fundraising process creates a distraction from running the core business, so while this process was not particularly challenging it always takes longer than you want it to.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Investors get excited about our team, the business we’ve built to date, and the opportunity ahead. Our leadership team has decades of experience building multi-billion-dollar marketplace and enterprise software businesses, our business services thousands of amazing businesses with a global presence, and we are really just at the beginning of building out our platform to help every company run every workspace.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We acquired a French company called Hivy in 2017 that offers a best in class solution for workplace teams to manage employee requests and administrative tasks. It is beloved by some of the world’s leading workplace teams at companies like Artsy, Slack, Flexport, and Andela. Over the next 6 months, we are excited to fully integrate this functionality into the Q platform, to deliver a unified platform for workplace management with global availability.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Companies just raising capital now should either be thinking about how to get profitable without any additional capital, or what they need to prove to raise additional capital and aligning their strategy to those milestones. While I believe great companies will always be able to raise money, it’s impossible to ignore what is happening in the macro environment if you are running a startup today.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We believe that Managed by Q has the potential to be the global interface for the modern workplace, helping companies everywhere run their offices.
Over the next year, we plan to continue to invest in our workplace management platform, launch mobile applications for workplace professionals and their vendors, and continue to expand marketplace operations within North America.
Looking over the next 5 years we believe there is potential to bring new categories of products, services, and technology onto the Q platform and scale our marketplace globally.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Raoul’s – classic.
