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, for a fixed fee that has nothing to do with what you end up signing.
No commission, from anyone
We take nothing from landlords. Nothing from managed office operators. Nothing from anyone whose interest might sit even slightly against yours. It is the only structure under which our advice is worth paying for — and it is why we will regularly recommend you take a smaller space, a shorter term, or no deal at all.
Model
Fixed fee
Agreed in writing before work starts. No percentage of rent. No success fee. No commission from either side.
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.