If and when the pandemic does end, ootBox’s future is particularly intriguing still, as many companies are re-thinking their work models and needs for large offices.

The company’s concept of using old shipping containers as workspaces shifted to use cases that Friedman and Zofan never could have imagined in 2019.

Turns out the vision for ootBox was prophetic, if not in the exact way we’ve all wanted an escape pod during lockdown. He thought, ‘well, everybody needs a place like that sometimes.’” He would use it, and let his neighbors use it, too. With all that nervous energy, he built what he came to call his escape pod in his backyard. He and his wife were also taking care of their first baby, so couldn't have important conversations with a newborn crying in the background. “He was in the process of selling his last startup and had an open floor plan office, so he couldn't have the conversations about the sale at work. “The idea for ootBox was created by Robbie Friedman, my co-founder,” Zofan says. Zofan’s ootBox, Olds’ Muggin Coffeehouse, and Egger’s BIOMILQ couldn’t be more different as companies, but all three founders faced the herculean challenge of starting a new business during a pandemic. But don’t tell that to Allison Zofan, Ken Olds, or Michelle Egger.

Co founder dropbox