- Cursor, an AI startup, enforces a no-shoes policy in its San Francisco office
- Employees work in socks or slippers to create a comfortable, stress-free environment
- The no-shoes trend is common in Silicon Valley startups and tech company cultures
San Francisco-based AI startup Cursor is making waves online after a California developer shared a photo of a room filled with shoes on the floor, highlighting the company's unique no-shoes office policy. The image, posted by Cupertino-based developer Andre Landgraf, showed several pairs of shoes scattered across the hardwood floor, prompting fellow techies to identify the space as Cursor's office.
Notably, employees and visitors are required to leave their shoes at the door, often working in socks or slippers. Management and staff suggest the practice fosters a comfortable, "home-like" environment that reduces stress and encourages long-term focus, particularly within Silicon Valley's demanding work culture.
"Funny that everyone in SF immediately knows which office this is," Andre Landgraf wrote.
See the post here:
Earlier, Ben Lang, a Cursor employee, posted similar pics, showcasing the relaxed vibe of the office. "I've only worked at startups that have a no-shoes-in-office policy," Ben Lang, an employee at startup Cursor, wrote in a post on X in August.
About Cursor
Cursor is an AI-driven integrated development environment (IDE) built to help developers write, edit, and understand code more efficiently. It's essentially a smart code editor that combines the familiarity of tools like Visual Studio Code with powerful AI capabilities that can generate code, suggest edits, and answer questions about a codebase based on natural-language instructions.
The company reached a $29.3 billion valuation after closing a $2.3 billion funding round in November 2025. Among its four founders (all MIT alumni) is Aman Sanger, who launched the company in 2022 alongside Michael Truell, Sualeh Asif, and Arvid Lunnemark.
No-Shoes Policy in Silicon Valley
It turns out a no-shoes policy isn't a new trend in Silicon Valley. As Business Insider reported in 2019, going barefoot had effectively become part of the unofficial tech "uniform," alongside hoodies, T-shirts, and jeans. One commonly cited reason was cultural influence -- several tech CEOs grew up in households where wearing shoes indoors wasn't the norm.
Even before the pandemic, barefoot offices were seen as a symbol of startup culture. For some founders, it reflected personal traditions. Spur CEO Sneha Sivakumar, who was raised in an Indian family in Singapore where shoes were routinely removed at home and in temples, has carried that practice into her workplace. Her AI startup provides Spur-branded slides for employees and guests at its Manhattan office.
Sivakumar told The New York Times that the policy helps create a "second home" atmosphere for her 10-member team and "disarms you in a positive way," making the environment feel more relaxed and less formal.
Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist who studies workplace culture, described the practice as part of "the pajama economy in action." As remote employees return to physical offices, many are bringing elements of their work-from-home habits with them. At the same time, Bloom noted, the trend aligns with Silicon Valley's intense work culture. If employees are spending 10 to 12 hours a day at work, wearing slippers in the office may simply feel practical.
The shoeless trend, however, appears to be most popular among younger workers and startups. Bloom suggested it may be less likely to gain traction in more traditional workplaces with a broader mix of employees.
For some companies, the reasoning is less cultural and more practical. Brooke Hopkins, founder of AI simulation startup Coval, told the San Francisco Standard that her team initially allowed shoes indoors. But rainy days quickly turned the office muddy and messy.
"We decided on shoeless because it kept everything cleaner and nicer," Hopkins said.
