Look at the markets they sell to. 37Signals needs to remain professional and appear competent, because they routinely buck established business "truths" and this draws attention.
I wouldn't listen to a person telling me they have a better way of conducting business from inside a green tent. Sorry, I'd think they were an immature kid...
...which is exactly why Zappos' approach works. They distribute a hip, cool product to people based on other businesses' reputation. The only thing they need to do is ship something once the right way to convince a retail customer they are competent enough to take a pair of shoes (or whatever) from point A to point B.
People have very different expectations with regards to the deliverables of the companies. The office space simply flows from that.
I wouldn't listen to a person telling me they have a better way of conducting business from inside a green tent. Sorry, I'd think they were an immature kid...
...which is exactly why Zappos' approach works. They distribute a hip, cool product to people based on other businesses' reputation. The only thing they need to do is ship something once the right way to convince a retail customer they are competent enough to take a pair of shoes (or whatever) from point A to point B.
People have very different expectations with regards to the deliverables of the companies. The office space simply flows from that.