Startups often lease offices that are too big for their current needs but expect to fill with new employees as the company grows. But often, the newly minted CEOs later wish they could just rent out a few desks to help stop the burn rate and make the place look livelier to attract new talent.

On the other end of the start-up cycle, trying to find a place to take a micro-business from the living room to the boardroom is not a walk in the park, with rents running up from the $30s to $80s per foot for stylish spots, plus hefty security deposits to just walk in the door.

Enter PivotDesk. The online business-matching service was started by David Mandell in 2012 in Boulder, Co., to fill this niche.

David Mandell, founder, Pivot Desk.

New York, Boston and San Francisco followed in 2013 and today, the company has listings in about 20 markets.

The site currently hosts around 2,400 available desks in some of the city’s hottest hoods, including the Flatiron District and SoHo.

“Once you get funding and need to go from three to five to eight people, what you need is a place that matches your needs,” explained Mandell.

This may include a place to leave your computers overnight, get access to conference rooms, bring your dog and not be interrupted by evening events.

The online listings are typically put up by companies that have the funding to lease space for 30 to 40 people, but still do not have all those warm bodies.

“In the meantime, until you grow into that space, PivotDesk helps you mitigate that risk with other great companies,” Mandell said.

Potential “guests” can peruse the PivotDesk listings and fill out an application. “We do not vet the people,” Mandell said. “We are more like Match.com for businesses. We encourage both sides to get together and see the space and meet each other.”

Hosts offering the desks decide how much they will charge and those with furniture and Wi-Fi are typically spoken for the fastest. Some companies also require a background check or non-disclosure agreements.

The robust listings show the companies, sometimes their personnel and their social profiles, and how much they will charge.

Once the host company decides they like the applying company and wants to share the space, PivotDesk’s platform handles payments.

“We take a 30-day deposit via credit card or direct transfer, then we bill the guest and take a 10 percent fee and net the residual to the host company,” Mandell said. “The agreement renews every month until one of the sides says they have a new solution.” There is just a 30-day cancellation.

Mandell says they have only had a few problems with building owners. “Not to say some don’t want it to happen,” he added. “But we are very comfortable with brokers, tenants and landlords and we are drafting riders that get attached to the lease.”

He’s also seen companies funded because they were sharing space and companies that were able to get help with technical challenges.

“There were also several situations where the guests and host switched spaces,” Mandell said. “Real estate is static but business is dynamic, so we try to provide that flexibility so you can grow your business.”