Tech giant ServiceTitan crowns former Nestlé building with its logo, signaling sea change
When ServiceTitan co-founder Ara Mahdessian looked up on Sunday to see his company’s logo for the first time staring down on him from atop a 21-story office property at 800 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale, he said he was “overcome with emotion.”
The sign, which was recently installed on the west-facing side of the building, features the home-services software company’s name and a prominent Greek titan warrior wielding a wrench across 54 feet. It will be joined by a similar 45-foot sign facing east this week.
On Monday afternoon, the Glendale-born “unicorn” — valued at more than $1.65 billion — celebrated the symbolic value of the signs with a gathering of the company’s top brass, local officials and hundreds of local employees.
“What today’s really about is not ServiceTitan,” company co-founder Vahe Kuzoyan said. “It’s about this community, it’s about this city, this state and, ultimately, this country because nowhere else is this possible.”
When ServiceTitan announced last March it would take over 125,000 square feet at the office on Brand, becoming its anchor tenant, it sent positive shockwaves through the city. About two years prior, Nestlé announced it would move its headquarters out of the same property — taking roughly 1,200 jobs with it. Now, the Glendale office employs about 700 to 800 people, and is slated to expand, according to company officials.
“I used to know every single person. Now I don’t know who half of the people here are,” said Dul Kubir, who became the company’s 137th employee almost four years ago. He recently joined an engineering team.
Sarah Pugliaresi, who handles software quality assurance, said she’s also seen the company grow over the 2½ years she’s been there, in terms of both head count and the products the company offers.
“Today is very special because it represents sort of another step in all the hard work that we have done to build this company out over the course of its history,” Pugliaresi said.
Glendale natives Mahdessian and Kuzoyan, sons of a contractor and a plumber, respectively, met during college and went on to build the software suite designed to be used by electricians, plumbers, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning-repair technicians and other home-service providers. The company’s financial success signaled it had keyed into a large, untapped market.
Soon, drivers going in either direction on the 134 Freeway will see the company’s name, said David Burt, the company’s chief financial officer.
At night, the signs will be illuminated a bright white with LEDs.
“We’re not done yet,” Kuzoyan said. “Our team is committed to taking this much further than the sign.”