You know here at nibletz.com, the voice of startups “everywhere else” we love writing about startups. What we love even more is when we can write about startups who in some way or another, are a resource for other startups. Such is the case with Houston startup TheSquareFoot.

Now on the surface you may think that TheSquareFoot is just another commercial leasing site, but it’s ten times more than that. When your startup grows out of that co-working space, incubator, or graduates from that accelerator, the last place you want to move is back into your parents basement. Truth be told, unless you undergo a major round of financing (and hopefully you will) companies like CBRE may be useless to you. Only a company the size of AirBnB needs 8 bajillion square feet. Having owned a medium to small sized business I know that large commercial realtors don’t take the time to talk to small businesses. The problem is there is plenty of small business real estate available for rent in just about everytown USA.

That’s where Thesquarefoot.com comes in handy.

TheSquareFoot is a startup themselves. They recently had a brainstorming session with Startup America Partnership CEO Scott

TheSquareFoot Team (photo: Startup America Partnership)

Case, we know how those sessions go and in that time with Case the team at TheSuareFoot was able to work on their value offering. They told the Startup America Partnership: “Our meeting with Scott Case at DEMO was extremely helpful in crystallizing our value offering. In addition, the Startup America network has been great as well as the webinars.”

Being that they are a startup themselves they built TheSquareFoot with all kinds of possible tenant scenarios in mind, from a company looking for huge warehouse space, to a team of two looking for 300 square feet. You can find that all at TheSquareFoot.com

Once you’ve found the perfect spot on the site then TheSquareFoot hooks you up with the resources that you need to actually move in and start using your new space.

We got a chance to talk with Aron Susman, co-founder of TheSquareFoot in the interview below:

What is TheSquareFoot?

TheSquareFoot is an online platform that makes commercial real estate leasing easier for prospective tenants.  Prospects can search and manage available listings in their area, connect directly with landlords and tenant brokers, and ultimately choose from a gallery of service and product providers to help get their new space furnished, wired up, and running.  A one stop shop for commercial real estate leasing that gets their business ready for business.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Jonathan Wasserstrum – Jonathan is a recent graduate of Columbia Business School. Prior to business school, Jonathan worked in the International Capital Group at Jones Lang LaSalle where he advised foreign and domestic clients on more than $3 billion worth of transactions globally. Jonathan has a BA in Economics from Emory University.

Justin Lee – From 2006 to 2011, served as project manager at Oakmont Group, Inc., a diversified Houston Real Estate development firm. Justin began his career in commercial real estate as a leasing representative for Boxer Property Management, located in Houston. Justin graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 with dual B.A. degrees in Political Science and History and is a licensed real estate salesman in Texas.

Aron Susman – Most recently a Vice President with MDTech, a healthcare technology company. Aron oversaw the company’s financial, accounting, and business development efforts. Aron began his career in the International Mergers & Acquisitions group at Deloitte in Houston. He graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a masters degree in accounting and holds a CPA license.

Where are you based?

Justin and Aron are in Houston, Texas while Jonathan resides in New York City.

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

The start up scene in Houston is quickly growing, but it still pretty nascent.  New York’s start up scene speaks for itself….

How did you come up with the idea for TheSquareFoot?

Aron, a commercial real estate leasing layman, was charged with finding office space at his previous company and when he looked online for some educational content and current availability and pricing, he couldn’t find any websites that helped.  He called Justin, who had a background in office leasing, and Justin educated him on what he needed to look for and what some of his general options were.  He then called Jonathan, also with a background in real estate, and Jonathan gave Aron almost the verbatim answer that Justin did.  At this point, the 3 of us collectively said “there has to be a better way!”

What problem does TheSquareFoot solve?

Small to medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs lack the commercial real estate knowledge and connections necessary to become informed consumers before they commit to a commercial lease.  Tenant brokers will not typically service prospective tenants who don’t require a significant amount of space, so there is a wide information gap within the niche, which is often stuck aimlessly driving around town calling signs on buildings or relying on craigslist.  Once they find space, they often aren’t sure where to go for things like office furniture, IT help, artwork, web design, and other service and product providers who help get a new space furnished and wired up.  TheSquareFoot offers prospective tenants a “one-stop-shop” where they can seamlessly search and manage available listings within their search criteria, connect directly with landlords and brokers, and then find all of the available services they need to get their business ready for business.

What’s your secret sauce?

Our world class search functionality to go along with our tenant leasopedia, and first class customer service are what set us apart in the market.

What’s one dilemma you’ve encountered in the startup process?

Our platform connects two markets together: prospective tenants looking for space and the providers of the space.  Understanding and learning how to market to both sides was and has been a very big challenge.

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

Learning the value of a minimum viable product. It can be very tempting to allow feature creep and perfection to steamroll a product release. It can be counter-intuitive, but releasing a product before it is perfect was a challenge for our team, but have learned from our experience. Our development and feature set have benefited greatly by getting something out as quickly as possible and letting the market test the product, so we can iterate on it.

What’s the first thing you would do for TheSquareFoot with a one million dollar investment?

Hire more developers and designers to speed up the iteration process of the product. We would also be able to test more paid marketing techniques.

What’s next for TheSquareFoot?

Rolling out to Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas.

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