The private tech company that Wall Street engineers keep flocking to

Tech giants like Google and Facebook have had quite a bit of success luring engineers away from big Wall Street banks. So too has a smaller, lesser-known tech company originally launched out of dorm room that’s now a mainstay atop a number of employee rankings lists. Web hosting platform Squarespace employs at least three dozen engineers in New York who previously worked at the five big Wall Street investment banks.

Founded by CEO Anthony Casalena in 2003 out of his University of Maryland dorm, Squarespace has brought on more than a dozen engineers who are Goldman Sachs alums, including four in the last year and two who were hired just this month: Mohamad Al-Aliwi and Rohan Rayarikar. Both began as interns at Goldman in 2014 and spent their entire careers with the bank until moving on to Squarespace’s West Village office in March. Roughly another dozen have either worked or interned at J.P. Morgan.

The company, which lets users create custom websites and e-commerce platforms, was ranked as the most attractive New York-based employer by tech workers in 2017 and 2018, beating out firms like Vimeo, Kickstarter and Etsy, according to Hired’s annual survey. It was also named one of the 50 best places to work for parents by Fortune in 2017, among other accolades. Squarespace is known for its flexible working options, free daily catered lunches and ultra-modern headquarters, including a roof deck that allows employees to meet or work while looking out over all of Manhattan.

But perhaps more than anything, Squarespace should be known for its rapid growth. Casalena was its sole engineer until 2007, when he moved to New York and began hiring. In 2017, the company had around 550 employees in Manhattan and across its satellite offices in Portland, Oregon and Dublin, Ireland, according to Fortune. That number has ballooned up to 886 currently. (The company keeps an updated tally on its website).

Squarespace tweeted just yesterday that it’s “hiring fast,” with 50-plus open roles across product, engineering, creative and marketing. It appears that having engineering experience at a large investment bank won’t hurt, especially if Goldman Sachs or J.P. Morgan is on your resume.

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