Why was it hard to buy desks? Herman Miller is top of the line, but even today at any big box office supply store you can find ~5 ft desk for ~$150. And there's always IKEA for even less.
At Ikea in Portland I spent $35 for the largest top and 4x$4 legs.
So just $51 for a nice looking dependable desk.
Hollow core doors are around $30 at HD, and probably larger than that top.
Ikea is crap. If you want a lasting desk, hit up a used office furnishing place in your town. For 50 bucks you can have a classic or modern desk with delivery to boot.
Yep, a few hours searching garage sales will usually find one too, though transport can then be an issue. Either way, if you're a startup, between garage sales, use furniture stores, and craigslist you can spend a day or so scouring the area and probably find a dozen desks. If you need to, rent a Uhaul for $100 for transport. Sure, nothing will match, but if you're a cash-poor startup trying to get a round of VC, fancy offices shouldn't really be a focus.
50% of the people in these startups are so backward that they have never even been in a furniture store or apparently can’t buy used desks for next to nothing. The other 50% seem to be cultivating faux “look how frugal/hard working we are” sentiment.