BOSTON—Given its long-established tech and life sciences sectors, and its appeal to venture capital, it's hardly surprising that Boston is thriving as a launching pad for startups. And given its appeal to startups, it follows that the city is among the markets for the rapid expansion of Boulder, CO-based PivotDesk, which the company's Alex Newmann describes as “an office-sharing marketplace.” He'll talk about how the concept is a natural fit for Boston commercial real estate during a panel discussion on the office market at RealShare Boston, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9 at the State Room

Newmann, who joined PivotDesk in 2012 when the company was itself a startup and is now its VP of sales, sums up its mission: “We connect people who have the space, for whatever the reason, with startups that need space but either can't afford, can't find or don't really know what they want, so this is a good short-term solution” via an online platform.

At PivotDesk, which launched out of public beta in April 2013 and now has a presence in 29 markets across the US, “we like to say that real estate is static and business is dynamic. Landlords need to protect their investments, but at the same time they want to help these startup companies, which can be unstable. We've developed a solution where both sides can work together. That's what the office-sharing concept is about, and the executive suites and coworking spaces are fabulous solutions, but there needs to be a solution that addresses what comes after that before the startup feels comfortable taking a traditional lease.”

The company has built what Newmann likes to call “a staircase model. When a company gets started, it's two people sitting in a house” brainstorming ideas. “The next step is maybe a coffee shop, and those two people have gone to three, four or five, and they go to one of the coworking spaces,” such as WeWork. “Then we found a hole in the market: what happens when the company grows to six, eight, 10 or 15 people, not yet ready for a lease because they still don't know what their growth plans are?” One solution may lie in PivotDesk's concept of pairing "host" office tenants with extra space with startup "guests" that could use that space.

PivotDesk initially worked with technology startups, “but now it's going all over the map to finance, oil and gas and so on,” says Newmann. “These companies may say, 'I'm growing really fast, but how do I know how big I'm going to be? I just need a place where I can develop a culture, hire some employees to manage that culture and everybody can all work together in the same room.'”

Often in coworking spaces, a startup may find it doesn't need all of the amenities but is “kind of forced to have them," Newmann says. "And everybody wants to have a Monday morning meeting at 10:00 in the conference room, and there are only so many conference rooms. So where do these companies go when they need 12 or 18 months to really figure out how to get that next round of financing, or even their first round of financing, hire that next employee, get that next customer?

Since PivotDesk is not a brokerage, it doesn't compete with commercial brokers in the markets where it now operates. On the contrary, says Newmann: “We developed a product that coincides with PivotDesk called Cultivate. It works with commercial real estate brokers to leverage the PivotDesk system.”

He gives an illustration: “For any broker that did a deal, whether six months ago or five years ago, chances are the company took excess space.” Perhaps it was a case of “a perfect space in the perfect building with the perfect amenities, but it's 11,000 square feet and they only needed 10,000.” The broker can go to the tenant and then propose the PivotDesk format as a solution. “It's almost like an insurance policy,” and one that also allows the broker to avoid jeopardizing relationships and also to focus on the deals that make him or her the most money.