Verity Sylvester ’19

Verity Sylvester ’19 started her career in retail leasing and came to Columbia Business School to further develop her real estate career. While in school, she was inspired by the diverse backgrounds and experiences of her peers and decided to pursue an internship at a startup.

Through her roommate, Sylvester landed an internship at a furniture startup, Bureau, and within weeks, she was working around the clock. She had become passionate about the company.

In 2018, the company evolved into Branch and shifted to selling office furniture. Sylvester joined as a co-founder, along with Greg Hayes and Sib Mahapatra. The company saw early success and had just signed its first seven-figure deal when the pandemic struck and offices emptied. With demand for office furniture plummeting, Branch had to pivot, and quickly, in order to survive. The company’s inventive solutions landed Sylvester a spot on the most recent Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Read on for how the company has reimagined its products to cater to the work-from-home era and thoughts about what the future of work might look like.