4 ms·

I'd be interested to hear about those experiences running the tech co-working space.

mv4 9y ago
We had a relatively small footprint: 4 offices (2..3 desks each), a conference room + projector, 10 dedicated desks, plus some shared space for up to 10 more people. I wanted to focus on tech startups, so we also had a small datacenter on premises, VPN, and everything was wired with subnets etc. I also made accelerator deals with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon so we could award cloud credits to those who needed it. Additionally, we got some lawyers to provide legal advice to members for free. We wanted to provide a good environment for building and launching an MVP (and beyond) [1]. What actually happened: * we did attract a few startups, and we helped them launch * many people were so early in the process, they had no use for cloud credits (or on-site infrastructure) * we did a series of free events (with pizza and beer), and those attracted a lot of people - but did not convert to memberships * we were hoping to get some interest and support from the state (CT) at least in terms of visibility and potential grants for members - but that didn't happen, as the State only wanted to invest in their official incubator in Stamford (which they sank a lot of money into, and ended up evicting the people who ran it [2]) * most trials didn't convert * several more coworking spaces opened in the area, so people began hopping around * attracted a few dreamers, who were constantly in pitching mode - and had no desire to actually sit down and build something (also usually the ones with money problems) Overall, this was a great learning experience. [1] a writeup someone did in on us back in 2013: https://www.smallbizdaily.com/so-youre-thinking-of-starting-a-small-business-incubato/ https://www.smallbizdaily.com/so-youre-thinking-of-starting-... [2] the State-funded "competitor": https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Old-Town-Hall-agency-to-evict-Stamford-Innovation-9963706.php https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Old-Town-Hall...

mv4 9y ago

We had a relatively small footprint: 4 offices (2..3 desks each), a conference room + projector, 10 dedicated desks, plus some shared space for up to 10 more people. I wanted to focus on tech startups, so we also had a small datacenter on premises, VPN, and everything was wired with subnets etc. I also made accelerator deals with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon so we could award cloud credits to those who needed it. Additionally, we got some lawyers to provide legal advice to members for free. We wanted to provide a good environment for building and launching an MVP (and beyond) [1]. What actually happened: * we did attract a few startups, and we helped them launch * many people were so early in the process, they had no use for cloud credits (or on-site infrastructure) * we did a series of free events (with pizza and beer), and those attracted a lot of people - but did not convert to memberships * we were hoping to get some interest and support from the state (CT) at least in terms of visibility and potential grants for members - but that didn't happen, as the State only wanted to invest in their official incubator in Stamford (which they sank a lot of money into, and ended up evicting the people who ran it [2]) * most trials didn't convert * several more coworking spaces opened in the area, so people began hopping around * attracted a few dreamers, who were constantly in pitching mode - and had no desire to actually sit down and build something (also usually the ones with money problems) Overall, this was a great learning experience. [1] a writeup someone did in on us back in 2013: https://www.smallbizdaily.com/so-youre-thinking-of-starting-a-small-business-incubato/ https://www.smallbizdaily.com/so-youre-thinking-of-starting-... [2] the State-funded "competitor": https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Old-Town-Hall-agency-to-evict-Stamford-Innovation-9963706.php https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Old-Town-Hall...