Kimber Lockhart is Director of Engineering at Box, where she leads the web application engineering team that builds most new features on Box.
Launched in 2011, Kimber was responsible for #newbox, a major redesign and rebuild of the Box user experience which marked a turning point in the company’s transition to the enterprise market. She’s especially interested in Box’s virality and usability, dreaming up, testing and implementing countless improvements over the last three years.
Prior to Box, Kimber was co-founder and CEO of cloud computing startup Increo Solutions, funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson. At Increo, she led the creation of Backboard, a web-based service that allows users to share and review documents in a secure space. Increo was later acquired by Box, in 2009. Keep reading to find out more from Kimber about Box!
If you could describe the essence of Box’s culture in one word, what would that be?
Collaboration. Not only do we build enterprise content collaboration software, our culture really values collaboration: its embedded in the way we work. For example, it’s not unusual to see a few Boxers at a whiteboard talking through a tough code issue or a bunch of designers huddled around a single monitor given feedback. We work hard to maintain this culture, we do not hire people — even experts — that cannot work as a team.
Describe your favorite part of the office.
Probably a duo of rainbow-hued armchairs right next to my team’s workspace. I like to settle in with a project (my favorite is pulling data to solve a problem), a coffee and a couple of hours of time.
How would you describe the best day you ever had at Box?
At a recent offsite, I took all forty members of my team through an exercise to think about our ideal team, product and company at the end of 2013. Even though a number of team members were brand new employees, there were some fantastic suggestions. Most importantly, it was extremely rewarding to see the entire team come together to think about how we can do what we do even better.
Describe your workspace—what does your immediate work area look like?
I have the standard Box standing/sitting desk (though I haven’t quite gotten the standing desk thing down, I still sit when I need to work on anything important). Behind my desk, there’s a stash of supplies for important events — bean bag unicorns for new employees’ graduation from our training period, photo frames for the results of our hack days, and, of course, Kardboard Kimber.
Kardboard Kimber is a larger-than-life-size cutout of me, a holiday gift from the team in 2010. I’ve tried to get rid of her on multiple occasions, but the team just won’t let it happen.
How would you describe the quintessential Box employee?
Enthusiastic and multitalented. Most Boxers are modest, but if you dig deep enough, you learn that one is a former world-famous juggler, and another played professional football (soccer) in Europe, and another was the world-champion baton twirler a few years back. On a stroll through the office, you might encounter a few published authors, at least two trapeze artists, and more than our fair share of stand-up comedians. Boxers are known to apply this same enthusiasm and dedication to their Box roles, and I think that’s a key reason for our success thus far.
Describe one unique/goofy/crazy/weird/quirky thing your team does for a little fun.
We celebrate Boxiversaries. On each team members one year anniversary of being a Box employee, we bring champagne to their desk. After the obligatory speech, the entire team gets together to toast their accomplishments over the last year. At the two year and three year Boxiversaries, the celebration gets a little crazier and the speeches sillier.
If there was one thing you could describe to an outsider to make them feel like a Box insider, what would that be?
Imagine walking down for lunch amongst 600 of your colleagues, selecting your choices from our delicious catering, and crowding into every possible space to sit or stand. On the stage is a hilarious MC, who spends time making up interesting facts about new hires or staging pie-eating contests. After some fun, he turns the microphone over to Aaron Levie (our CEO) for a competitive or product strategy overview or perhaps to Dylan Smith (our CFO). Before heading back to work, it’s likely someone has been honored for spectacular work (or at least for spectacular pie-eating)!