Built by someone who has sat on every side of the table.
A lawyer, and a real estate developer. Groundwork exists because that combination is rare, and the gap it fills is expensive to fall into.
I've worked on lease agreements from the landlord's side, the managed office provider's side, and the client's side. Along the way I saw founders sign office deals they didn't fully understand — not because they weren't smart, but because nobody explained the fine print and its implications.
Most people advising them were either brokers who didn't think about the legal risk, or lawyers who'd never actually negotiated a lease from the other side of the table. I'd done both. The gap was hard to unsee.
What that means in practice
Having drafted lock-in and deposit clauses from a landlord's side, I know exactly where the ambiguity is built to work in their favour. Having sat on a managed office provider's side planning out a floor, I know how a "fits 30" seat count actually gets calculated — and how tight or loose that math really is. Having negotiated from a founder's side, I know which of these are worth fighting for and which are not.
That is the entire premise of Groundwork: bring all three vantage points to one table, on your side of it — and be straight about how we are paid for doing it.
How we are paid
Two ways, and you are told which applies before you engage us.
On a managed office, the operator pays us a commission when the deal completes. That placement costs you nothing. On lease negotiation, space diligence and incorporation, you pay us a fixed fee agreed in writing beforehand — no percentage of rent, no success fee tied to you signing something.
Saying that plainly matters. You are about to sign an agreement worth lakhs on advice from a stranger; the least you are owed is knowing where that stranger's money comes from. Where a managed office is the wrong answer for your headcount or your term, I will tell you so — including when it is the option I would earn on.
How we are paid
Two ways
Managed offices: commission from the operator, no cost to you. Lease, diligence and incorporation: a fixed fee from you, agreed in writing before work starts. You are told which applies upfront.
Coverage
Bengaluru
Office space and company setup for businesses moving into or expanding within the city.
Where the work has been
Three vantage points, one table.
- Landlord side
- Drafting lease agreements, lock-in and escalation clauses, deposit terms — the paper written to favour whoever holds it.
- Managed office side
- Planning floor layouts, running seat-count math, structuring agreements built for volume and standardised turnover.
- Occupier side
- Negotiating for founders and small companies — the side that usually reads the paper last and understands it least.
Talk to us
If you're setting up in Bengaluru, start with a conversation.
Free, twenty minutes, no obligation. Bring whatever you've already been sent.