Hong Kong’s First Coworking Space – Boot.HK
Tagged: Coworking RSS
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John Erik
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John Erik
Coworking, Conjunctured, Startup District Q&A
Image via Wikipedia This Q&A was originally for KXAN when they covered Conjunctured last month. Some events and references have already past.
Q: What exactly is coworking? And can you tell me a little bit about its history?
A: Coworking is not a new concept; it’s essentially just people sitting next to each other and working. The new part is the community that’s built around that concept, and that using the word “coworking” suggests a feeling and an action.
Coworking as we now know it started in San Francisco about 4 years ago. Reaching critical mass around 2000, the number of independent workers (freelancers, web entrepreneurs) increased like crazy. Thus, more and more people were working alone -in their apartment or perhaps in coffee shops, but still alone.
Saying “I’m coworking” became a way for people to talk to each other at coffee shops. People such as Chris Messina, who co-founded Citizen Space in San Francisco, soon realized that a coffee shop or someone’s home was not going to cut it. And coworking spaces were born.
Q: How long have you been working towards this goal of creating a coworking space? When did you originally have the idea?
A: In Austin, the idea for a coworking came out of a “Jelly.” Jelly, a term coined by NYC coworker Amit Gupta in 2006, are weekly coworking sessions. Dusty Reagan (founder of Austin’s Jelly movement), David Walker, and Cesar Torres and I realized after a couple weeks of Jellying that this was something special, and that as independent business owners we could benefit from this type of environment everyday.
During SXSWi 2008 we solidified our decision to create a coworking space, as we were able to talk to so many other founders of coworking spaces.
Using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, we went about creating a list of people who liked the idea of having a coworking space in Austin. Over 200 people are on the list. From there, we asked those with the most serious interest to fill out a questionnaire. We asked question like: What part of town? How much would you want to pay? How soon do you need space? Do you want a permanent desk?
We’ve bootstrapped the coworking space from the very beginning. 50 people filled out this form. With that knowledge, we started the hunt for a space that would appeal to what our community told us they wanted. It turned out to be challenging, because there is such high demand for real estate on the East side right now. We knew if we were going to get a space we would need to have the ability act fast, meaning having the money to put down when we found the perfect location. 6 of the 50 stepped forward and paid our newly formed LLC 1-6 months of the future coworking space’s fees in advance, so that we would have the thousands of dollars necessary to make the deposit, first month’s rent, etc that is required when signing on a commercial lease.
Q: What are the unique benefits of a coworking space, both for individuals and the community at large?
A: There are obvious benefits from coworking, such as decreased cost of office space, opportunities for social interaction, and helping independent workers get out of their house and into a community.
A term that is getting around the coworking community, likely coined by Julie Gomoll of LaunchPad coworking, is accelerated serendipity. It’s about proximity. About critical mass. Coworking brings like-minded people together in a creative and tight-knit environment. All across the country, coworking spaces are beginning to be considered as incubators for startup companies and small businesses.
Q: Austin is obviously a hotbed of technology, but at the same time it seems like the landscape is changing, away from enterprise and chip companies, and towards developers, designers, and more consumer-oriented technologies and startups. Would you agree with the statement?
A: Absolutely. This change has been happening quietly on its own in Austin. I see the future of Conjunctured and my own long-term goals as embracing and extending this change. In fact, I think we are leading this change.
Q: Now that your space is more or less up and running, talk to me a little bit about the longer-terms goals and impacts.
A: My personal mission is to ensure that Austin is technologically progressive and competitive.
I foresee that the people who participate in Conjunctured will become leaders in the movement to change Austin into a progressive hub of technology, specifically with regards to developing web technologies such as cloud computing and the semantic web.
Unite
While amassing the support necessary to make Conjunctued happen, I realized there was a need to unite Austin’s tech community in more that just one way. Austin has several cutting edge startups. Startups that are working with leading edge technology or creating it themselves. Startups that are changing the way the world interacts with technology.
These companies thrive on being in the thick of it. Their success depends on it. They also need to be surrounded by other people who are taking a lead. Leadership breeds leadership.
It was as a result of conversations with the people at the helm of these startups that led to the idea that Austin could benefit from a Startup District. A physical district that exists within the city, a particular part of town where there is a concentration of startup companies. I have been in talks with the Economic Development Department of Austin and members of City Council regarding this.
In the mean time, we have been supporting local events, many of which are going to be held at Conjunctured, such as StartupCamp on August 2nd, led by Brandon Wiley, and an upcoming iPhone DevCamp, lead by Andrew Donoho.
Educate
Austin needs to know what’s going on in Austin. The Austinites I met at SXSW had no idea which startups were in Austin and what they were working on. They were only familiar with Silicon Valley startups because Silicon Valley has an online network of websites and blogs that disseminate news and information.
Having a stronger Austin presence at SXSW Interactive 2009 is big part of this initiative. I want the Austinites who attend SXSW to be armed with knowledge of Austin companies and what is going on in Austin.
Invest
This is not just about creating a fund.
This is about creating a culture that reinvest in the future. The ideal situation is, companies succeed (with funding or without) and then the people who profit from these companies reinvest in younger companies and people. This is the culture that has helped to keep the Silicon Valley flourishing.
I’m working to spread the message of what we are doing in Austin around the country. For early stage companies, web companies in particular, it’s not about the money. It’s about the community, it’s about connections, it’s about mentorship.
Q: I understand you have been out of Austin; what have you been up to?
A: Since the 13th, I’ve been visiting locales in NY and in Boston such as New Work City, Spark Space, NYC Resistor, and Y-Combinator, because these spaces have become such hotbeds for innovation – with dozens of companies formed and launched within the past couple of years. I want to have the best understanding possible of how communities have rallied together to foster a stronger environment and launchpad for these types of folks.
I’m learning as much as I can about what others are doing and what is working so I can bring the best of this knowledge back to Austin and we can integrate it into our scene. I’m visiting San Francisco in August.
Questions I’m answering include: what level and type of economic development have these concentrated communities spurred; how are coworking spaces laid out to best encourage collaboration, creativity, work and happiness; how does geographical location and proximity play a role; what types of funding sources (VC’s, Angels) surround these communities, and why; what are their tenants like in the coworking spaces, and what do they want.
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Damon Clinkscales
Nice article!
One idea I had while reading it is to take your Rolodex and start inviting Austin startups to demo at Conjunctured. Do this weekly at the same time each week. Open up Conjunctured to the public to come into these talks. This will serve multiples purposes.
1. It will shine a light on Austin companies and what they are doing, giving them press and also introducing them to potential hires or consultants.
2. It will widen the net of people who are interested in working at or at least learning more about Conjunctured.
3. It will help help establish Conjunctured as a hub for startup activity.
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Damon Clinkscales
Nice article!
One idea I had while reading it is to take your Rolodex and start inviting Austin startups to demo at Conjunctured. Do this weekly at the same time each week. Open up Conjunctured to the public to come into these talks. This will serve multiples purposes.
1. It will shine a light on Austin companies and what they are doing, giving them press and also introducing them to potential hires or consultants.
2. It will widen the net of people who are interested in working at or at least learning more about Conjunctured.
3. It will help help establish Conjunctured as a hub for startup activity.
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John Erik
Damon, that is a very very good idea. thanks so much for sharing that.
emailing the other guys now.
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John Erik
Damon, that is a very very good idea. thanks so much for sharing that.
emailing the other guys now.
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johnerik
thanks Charlie — i'm having trouble finding it. do you happen to know the direct URL?
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lavannamartin
I love Conjunctured. I am not techno-savy, or a “millenial”. These guys were instrumental in helping a complete n00b start a blog.
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John Erik
Omar Gallaga’s (@omarg) video on coworking in Austin – features Conjunctured! :)
This is a media extra from Omar’s story: Instant co-workers – Austin telecommuters soon will have places to go when camaraderie of the office is missing — That appeared on the cover of the Austin Statesman’s Life & Arts section Sunday.
John Erik
Austin Startup Community Vision – true alpha
…for Austin
- Austin has a Startup District. Blocks of startups flying their flags to the world – I want this to be an attraction when people come to Austin. Highest props to Dane Hurtubise for originally coming up with this one.
- The startup community in Austin knows each other. (Yeah.)
- When tech people come to Austin we twitter ‘em up and we welcome them as family. When they get they know wher to go and where they can stay. We love our community.
- AustinStartup.com has stuff to talk about non stop. Like the valley, people who run blogs about austin startups can live off just blogging. There is that much traffic; because people really care. right?! …this is how the community stays up-to-date with the people around them – people report on it.
- One of us hits a home run. I’m talkin Google. :)
- We have several kick ass coworking spaces – including one that is straight up free.
- (1 Year) We have a micro fund – 10-15 teams per year – 25K max. similar to ycom / techstars <— <3
- Oh, and we have people running the fund who know what they are doing — who are these people in Austin? Answer me that. …I know one I want on the team: Jared Slosberg. Sosa bothers would be nice. I could go on.
- there is a bar downtown that you can walk into at anytime and see some great startup people.
…for The University of Texas
- Coworking space for students, near campus -call it an incubator, call it a hatchery, i’ll call it coworking
- Official concentration in entrepreneurship available to all majors – similar to “business foundations”
- Grads and Undergrads know where to go if they have an idea or are interested in entrepreneurship -single place that embraces them, fosters them, understands them. COMEON!
conjunctured guys, john sibley butler, marc nathen, whurley, andrew hyde, Thomas Marriott … just so you know, i thought of all of you while writing this.
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Forms and verbiage, feel free to pass it on:
Conjunctured is opening a Coworking space in Austin. We’re following the lead of some of our friends in other cities: [http://www.indyhall.org/] [http://nwcny.com/]
We’re looking to plant this space in the heart of a “Startup District.” A place where all the startups in Austin live. Where we proudly fly our flags to world. The district is an attraction in Austin. If you think you might be interested in playing with us, let us know by filling out this fancy form, here:
http://tinyurl.com/68f89z
If you don’t need / want a space. But you’re interested in sponsoring this endeavor (great for social capital, exposure to potential recruits, and PR), you can let us know that, here:
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Julie Gomoll
I would *so* love for someone to figure out the microfund thing. Some of the problems with that:
* whether you’re investing 25K, 250K, or 2.5mil, you still have to jump through all sorts of legal and regulatory hoops. Half of the 25K gets sucked up getting all that set up.
* so you do a pool, right? 250K for 10 startups. But then the investor has to keep track of 10 companies – can’t really do that effectively.I’ve done several startups, but never gone the VC route. Back in the day, AV wouldn’t even touch a company who needed less than a million – too much work for not enough profit. The couple times I looked for investors in the 90s, I found the 250K I was looking for was *not enough* for anyone to be interested, even if I gave them a good sized chunk of my profitable business.
That said – I’d be all over doing my part to help someone figure it out. So many talented people need that small boost to get started – it would pay of in so many ways other than financial. Hard to get investors to think that way though.
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mattrepl
@Julie – By legal and regulatory hoops, do you mean incorporating and related tasks? That should be under $2k.
The quintessential (and only a few years old!) seed-funding group is YC, the members are startup veterans that have made their millions. Because the startup veterans relate to new founders, they decide who to invest in based on the {creativity, intelligence, potential} of a team. There’s a certain amount of trust given and the amount of investment is small enough that babysitting is not necessary.
Traditional VC folks are in the business of choosing investments from the analysis of numbers and many do not yet realize without early investment there will be no startups that can take a couple million and output a figure with more zeros attached.
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Julie Gomoll
I would *so* love for someone to figure out the microfund thing. Some of the problems with that:
* whether you're investing 25K, 250K, or 2.5mil, you still have to jump through all sorts of legal and regulatory hoops. Half of the 25K gets sucked up getting all that set up.
* so you do a pool, right? 250K for 10 startups. But then the investor has to keep track of 10 companies – can't really do that effectively.I've done several startups, but never gone the VC route. Back in the day, AV wouldn't even touch a company who needed less than a million – too much work for not enough profit. The couple times I looked for investors in the 90s, I found the 250K I was looking for was *not enough* for anyone to be interested, even if I gave them a good sized chunk of my profitable business.
That said – I'd be all over doing my part to help someone figure it out. So many talented people need that small boost to get started – it would pay of in so many ways other than financial. Hard to get investors to think that way though.
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Julie Gomoll
The hoops I’m referring to are the agreements that need to be set up for investors and partners. Incorporating is not a big deal, agreed. I’m referring to the nuts and bolts of the investment. Is it an equity deal or a loan instrument? How are funds distributed? Will there be additional rounds? How do you avoid too much eventual dilution? None of this is rocket science, but someone has to figure this stuff out. I have a hard time envisioning a company that can be set up with investors for just 2K.
I’d be happy if you proved me wrong, though! And I’d definitely like to hear more about YC.
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mattrepl
@Julie – By legal and regulatory hoops, do you mean incorporating and related tasks? That should be under $2k.
The quintessential (and only a few years old!) seed-funding group is YC, the members are startup veterans that have made their millions. Because the startup veterans relate to new founders, they decide who to invest in based on the {creativity, intelligence, potential} of a team. There's a certain amount of trust given and the amount of investment is small enough that babysitting is not necessary.
Traditional VC folks are in the business of choosing investments from the analysis of numbers and many do not yet realize without early investment there will be no startups that can take a couple million and output a figure with more zeros attached.
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Julie Gomoll
The hoops I'm referring to are the agreements that need to be set up for investors and partners. Incorporating is not a big deal, agreed. I'm referring to the nuts and bolts of the investment. Is it an equity deal or a loan instrument? How are funds distributed? Will there be additional rounds? How do you avoid too much eventual dilution? None of this is rocket science, but someone has to figure this stuff out. I have a hard time envisioning a company that can be set up with investors for just 2K.
I'd be happy if you proved me wrong, though! And I'd definitely like to hear more about YC.
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John Erik
@mattrepl sent this out over twitter the other day.. i think it’s a good starting place http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/04/can-the-y-combi.html
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John Erik
@mattrepl sent this out over twitter the other day.. i think it's a good starting place http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/04/can-the-y-com…
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mattrepl
@John Erik – Thanks for following up with that.
@Julie – I was referring to the cost for individuals to incorporate, open up a bank account, and get a couple hours of a lawyer’s time when I threw out the $2k figure.
Even the investment and operation points you mentioned can be streamlined by providing would-be founders with a agreement templates that allow them to fill in the blanks. With fewer choices, the more optimized (in both time and money) the process becomes.
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mattrepl
@John Erik – Thanks for following up with that.
@Julie – I was referring to the cost for individuals to incorporate, open up a bank account, and get a couple hours of a lawyer's time when I threw out the $2k figure.
Even the investment and operation points you mentioned can be streamlined by providing would-be founders with a agreement templates that allow them to fill in the blanks. With fewer choices, the more optimized (in both time and money) the process becomes.
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