Latest news with #BenLang
Entrepreneur
3 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
AI Startup Cursor Has a No-Shoes Policy in the Office
Stepping into Cursor's San Francisco office means stepping out of your shoes. Ben Lang, a Cursor employee who joined the $9.9 billion AI coding startup earlier this year, posted two pictures to X on Tuesday showing racks filled with shoes, plus sneakers and slip-ons strewn across the floor. The destination was not someone's home, but rather the Cursor office in San Francisco, which has a no-shoes policy. And while this might seem odd to the typical 9-to-5er, it's actually quite common in Silicon Valley. Related: This AI Startup Spent $0 on Marketing. Its Revenue Just Hit $200 Million in March. "I've only worked at startups that have a no-shoes in office policy," Lang posted, adding that he had worked at Notion, an AI workspace startup, in addition to Cursor. "Curious which other companies do this." Lang compiled what he called a "comprehensive" list of 26 startups with no-shoes policies, including Lovable, a company that helps users build websites and apps with AI, and reMarkable, a paper tablet startup. Andrew Hsu, co-founder of language-acquisition app Speak, chimed in on Lang's post on X, stating that Speak had "done this for years," even offering employees a stipend for slippers. Lang wrote on X that Cursor also provides slippers to wear around the San Francisco office and offers shoe covers as well. Speak's no-shoes policy began in 2019 because its first market was South Korea. The startup wanted to "pay homage to the traditional Asian culture of no shoes inside," a Speak spokesperson told Business Insider. Another reason why no-shoe policies are popular in Silicon Valley is that many startups begin in someone's home, where shoes aren't worn inside. According to a 2023 CBS News/YouGov survey, the majority of Americans (nearly two-in-three) take off their shoes when they are in their own homes. Related: The Fastest-Growing Startup Ever Just Surpassed $500 Million in Annual Revenue. Here's Why It Keeps Growing, According to Its CEO. Experts say taking off your shoes can leave unhealthy contaminants at the door, but that still doesn't mean you should be barefoot, which could lead to injury and infection. However, despite the drawbacks, the trend of not wearing shoes in the office has persisted for a number of years, beginning before the pandemic. BI reported in 2019 that companies like Notion and Gusto, a payroll platform, offered workers the perk of slipping off their shoes at the front door. One startup founder, Kyle Sherman of software platform Flowhub, went even further than no shoes by banning pants in the office as well (though shorts are mandatory). "We are no shoes and no pants culture," Sherman wrote in a post on X. "Shorts are required though."
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
AI startup Cursor has a no-shoes office policy. They're not the sole company doing it.
If you want to get your foot in the door at these startups, take your shoes off. In an X post on Tuesday, Ben Lang, an employee at coding tool startup Cursor, posted two pictures of shoes strewn all over the hardwood floors inside what looks more like the entrance of someone's apartment during a house party rather than the offices of a company valued at $9.9 billion. "Cursor office(s) in San Francisco," Lang wrote in the post. In another X post from Sunday, Lang said he's only worked at startups with a no-shoes policy and was curious if other companies had the same dress code. Lang later posted a list of 25 other "'no shoes' startup offices." Other startup leaders started to chime in. "We are no shoes and no pants culture," Kyle Sherman, founder of Flowhub, a cannabis software company based in Denver, commented. "Shorts are required though." Sherman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "We've done this for years," Andrew Hsu, cofounder of SF-based Speak, a language learning app, said. A spokesperson for Speak confirmed the no-shoes policy, adding that "employees get a slipper stipend when they join the team." "Speak's first market in 2019 was South Korea," a spokesperson for Speak said. "Our 'policy' pays homage to the traditional Asian culture of no shoes inside." Some X users found the policy off-putting, mainly fretting about potential odor issues. Others found it to be an attractive job perk. Lang assured skeptical minds that "shoe covers/splippers" are available at the entrance. Cursor CEO Michael Truell and a spokesperson for the startup did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside working business hours. A no-shoes policy is not a new trend in Silicon Valley. Business Insider wrote in 2019 that going shoeless had become the techie uniform, along with the hoodie, t-shirt, and jeans; the main reason being that some companyCEOs grew up in a no-shoes household. Then the pandemic hit in 2020, forcing a lot of tech workers to go remote. (Presumably, this meant a lot of them were also keeping their shoes off.) A 2023 CBS News/YouGov survey found that 63% of Americans don't wear shoes in their households. Now, more companies are starting to enforce return-to-office mandates. It's unclear if shoes will become increasingly optional.
