Many of us want to work alongside others — just not all the time. The coworking startup Radious thinks it has the answer.

• Radious lets homeowners rent out their houses to companies that want collaborative workspaces.
• The startup tends to operate in suburban areas to be close to where workers live.
• Now it's expanding into the Bay Area to tap into the area's startups and remote workforce.

Amina Moreau thinks the debate over getting workers back to the office often misses the point.

Moreau is CEO and cofounder of Radious, a startup that lets you rent out your house as a coworking space. She thinks many people want to work alongside others — just not all of the time.

The idea that some of us want to be near others gets lost in fierce fights over RTO mandates. Some CEOs say they'll hand out raises or better assignments to workers who show up at the office. Others are demanding workers badge in most days. At the same time, workers are "loud quitting," while others are plain quitting over RTO.

Moreau thinks counting days in the office is an oversimplification. Not all workers want to sign on every day while sitting on their couch in PJs and not all top execs want their employees to shuffle to their cubicles Monday through Friday.

"If you actually look under the hood, there's a lot more alignment than people realize," she said.

That's why the Portland, Oregon, company, which also operates in Milwaukee, focuses on renting out homes — often in suburbs. People who want to get out of the house but don't want a long commute to the office can still go somewhere. Companies can rent Radious homes, too, to bring their workers together somewhere other than an office but that's still private.

Expanding to the home of WFH

Now, Radious is taking its approach to the Bay Area, Moreau told Insider. The company is starting off with about three dozen properties from Marin County in the north down through Santa Cruz.

Homeowners, especially in pricey markets like Northern California, can benefit from the extra cash that comes from renting a house out for the day, Moreau said.

She said the company's Bay Area move makes sense because it's home to so many startups. And those companies often rely on a mix of at-home and in-person work, she said.

"No startup is really signing a lease right now. They're all doing some combination of remote work with occasional in-person togetherness," Moreau said. And the Bay Area is "where startups go to be born." Plus, there are a lot of remote workers there.

And many of those remote workers want IRL connection but don't necessarily want to head into an office. As proof, Moreau points to the success of Radious's coworking pop-up days, called Rad Workdays. When they occur, people can sign up to work for a day from one of the homes Radious lists. It might be an opportunity to network or to just get work done where others are doing the same.

Having workspaces in the suburbs can make it easier for people who want contact with others without a long commute, Moreau said.

"People just codon't want to drive — even if it's 10 or 15 minutes," she said. "We've been conditioned to just walk into the next room."

The houses in the Radious network are often unique as well. The company's rental pool in its various cities includes tiny homes, mansions, a 1970s Airstream, and even a yurt.

For people thinking of going to a pop-up workday, a sense of FOMO can build, Moreau said: There's a risk that people who don't sign up will be put on a wait list.

"There's a lot of power in that versus saying, 'Thou shalt commute long distances to be in a drab office that you don't really want to go to,'" Moreau said. "This is not a typical corporate experience. It's not a white box and we're not luring them with the cliché kombucha on tap and pizza party."