3 Things Every Office Needs for a Winning Business, w/ Cross Campus CEO Ronen Olshansky

Ronen Olshansky knows a thing or two about awe-inspiring offices. That’s because Ronen is the co-founder and CEO of Cross Campus, a Los Angeles based on-demand workspace and business event venue that provides peak office experiences to a community of creative professionals. Each of the four Cross Campus locations is a highly designed, highly social experience where inspiration, productivity, and creativity thrive. Cross Campus is one of those places you have to see to believe, and if you live in Southern California, we highly recommend visiting one of their locations in Santa Monica, Downtown LA, Pasadena, or the South Bay. Featuring flex work spaces, a bar, and even meditations rooms, they often feel more like a high-end luxury hotel than a co-working space. We’re not the only ones who think CC is great - President Barack Obama chose the flagship Cross Campus Santa Monica location for his summit on LA’s Silicon Beach tech scene. In the interview, Ronen takes us through his upbringing and his decision to attend Yale at age 16, explains why he left Wall Street for tech in the early 2000s, as well as the lessons he learned running a bar on an island off the coast of Brazil - lessons that he still applies at Cross Campus to this day. Ronen also share the three things every office needs to create a thriving company culture, and why having a blast is the key to it all. Key Takeaways Ronen explains why it’s difficult for an entrepreneur to be successful without being obsessed with his or her idea, and why the real challenge is sustaining that intensity over the long haul. 3:24 Ronen takes us through his upbringing, including his trouble with authority, his undergrad experience at Yale, and his foray into Wall Street. 6:10 Ronen tells us why he left the financial industry to open a bar on Florianopolis island in Brazil, and how that experience informed the launch of Cross Campus many years down the line. 7:56 Ronen dives into his time as a carbon credit trader in Moscow. 12:05 Ronen explores the idea that Ivy leagues “handicap you,” and that while Yale was ultimately the right place for him, why elite universities might not be right for every aspiring entrepreneur. 17:00 Ronen explains why he sees himself in the hospitality business rather than commercial real estate space, and explores why some companies might better serve their employees by thinking about their own business this way. 19:10 Ronen dives into Cross Campus’ world class event curation, which has hosted everyone from Elon Musk to Tim Ferriss to President Barack Obama. 20:01 Ronen explains why we’re in the age of the Experience Economy, and why the only way to communicate a differentiator sometimes is to have someone experience your product for themselves. 21:05 Ronen tells us why Cross Campus DTLA installed a meditation room, and why it’s become the most requested feature for members at other locations. 26:24 Ronen walks through the three things every office space needs to support a productive culture, regardless of industry. 37:37 Ronen reveals the single best KPI for Cross Campus - and for any business. 41:37 As an angel investor, Ronen talks about the greatest indicator that a company is going to make it. 43:13 Ronen explains how to identify the A-players on your staff, and makes a case for only hiring them. 51:17 Links Cross Campus (visit them!) Ronen on LinkedIn Recommended Reading Peak by Chip Conley.   Special Offer for AO Listeners Save 25% off Your First Order at shop.SnackNation.com How legit is your snack game? It's a pretty important question. How you snack will determine how you eat, and snacking well is essential to experiencing an awesome life. Step up your snack game by visiting Shop.SnackNation.com. Use code AO25 for 25% off your entire order. Choose from a variety of today’s most innovative, delicious, and healthier snacks. You can even purchase just one unit at a time, rather than an entire box - or you can choose one of our curation boxes, where our SnackNation Snack Scientists do all the hard selection work for you. Check out Shop.SnackNation.com and use code AO25 to experience some snack magic and save 25% off your order.