Office Space: Ustream’s building linked to history of Web video
Video-streaming company Ustream carries on a relatively long tech tradition in its South of Market space.
In its “ancient history,” the building at 410 Townsend St. held a wholesaling operation for entrepreneurs in dishware and jewelry manufacturing, said David Gibbons, Ustream’s vice president of marketing.
But in the last 20 to 25 years, the building and its neighborhood turned into a gathering spot for tech companies, including Macromedia, which invented Flash. “Because we’re a video company, we’re often streaming using Flash technology,” said Gibbons. “It’s kind of an interesting tie-in that here we are, with a business that’s somewhat dependent upon Flash, even though we support other formats too, in the building where Macromedia was based.”
Other former tenants include Eventbrite, Zendesk and Yammer. Ustream currently counts TechCrunch, Engadget and Adobe as neighbors. The streaming service hosted 75 million broadcast sessions in 2014, everything from weddings to PBS specials, attracting 1.4 billion views in total.
Ustream tried to maintain the building’s historic look while designing its space. The ceiling is high with wood rafters, and many walls have exposed brick. The office has an open layout, with meeting rooms lining three walls.
Behind the reception desk during our visit, a screen showed a livestream from the International Space Station. Screens throughout the office showed other live events.
The company has its own studio, used to stream webinars and information sessions at least twice a month. Nearby, two Ustream monitors kept an eye on content to make sure nothing inappropriate or pirated was being streamed over the service.
Meeting rooms are named after regions and cities around the world. Near the reception area, the Harajuku room references a neighborhood in Tokyo, where Ustream’s Asian subsidiary is located. A room with a Budapest, Hungary, theme pays tribute to the engineering team’s location.
One room is called Tahrir Square, where Ustream was used to livestream the Egyptian revolution. The Tahrir Square room also nods to other big moments from the company’s history, including the “Climate Reality Project” with former Vice President Al Gore, and the Decorah Eagles. The eagle family, in Decorah, Iowa, attracts millions of viewers when its eggs hatch. The Wall Street room is used by the finance team for meetings and secure storage. The Bloomsbury room has a British flag, wallpaper that looks like a bookshelf and a life-size cardboard cutout of Austin Powers.
Ustream’s kitchen is stocked with cereal, snacks, beer and frozen food, like Eggo waffles and Amy’s meals. Next to the kitchen, there’s a play area with a pingpong table, PlayStation 4 and two massage chairs looking out at the city. Huge windows, giving a wide view of SoMa, are covered in blackout shades to minimize glare on computers. A shared rooftop deck offers views of Potrero Hill, Mission Bay, AT&T Park and the Bay Bridge.
Gibbons said the short distance from the Caltrain terminal has helped attract talent. “I think of all the locations in SoMa, this is one of the best from the point of view of getting that reach to employees who otherwise might not consider coming to work in the city,” he said.