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I have the next billion-dollar business idea, an " Airbnb for coworking spaces". Convert your existing house to a co-working space. Looked at Wework, already pa
by sharadov 7y ago
I have the next billion-dollar business idea, an " Airbnb for coworking spaces". Convert your existing house to a co-working space. Looked at Wework, already pay too much for rent in the Bay area. I work from home, and would not mind the company. Got good coffee and great beer as well!
- cutenewt 7y agoHow much would you be willing to rent "a desk" each month?
- ChainOfFools 7y agoThis is actually a pretty good idea, I'd expect AirBnB doesn't attempt something along these lines in the next couple years.
- dpau 7y agomind blown. although i think you should focus on car garages and backyard sheds for that authentic start-up experience. for extra, clients can have their garage pre stocked with technical-looking equipment and stray wires hanging everywhere.
- sharadov 7y agoI thought at some point why not convert the garage, that way they're not bothering me. Would have cost me 10K tops to put an AC, nice flooring in the garage.
- sixhobbits 7y agoYeah I had this idea too. I stayed with some people in a fancy apartment in Zurich for a week a while back. They all left to work and I worked from their home. It was the best office I'd ever had, and was empty during work hours all week. I reckon 60% or more of city apartments are similar - seems very inefficient.
- jedberg 7y agoYeah, come work at home with me! Then my children can bother you too. :)
- pawelk 7y agoName it AirB2B and go get your initial founding round!
- weworkfromhome 7y agoThis suggestion is made every time there's a thread about WeWork and it's just not viable. There are startups in this space already and the reality is always borne out: it's simply not worthwhile to rent out space in your home to an individual. You can get a monthly membership to WeWork for <$400 in most locations, and there's lots of no-brand co-working spaces that charge less than half of that. If you can pay $200/month to have 24/7 access to a space with amenities and flexibility... why would you pay someone $10 to sit in their apartment for 7 hours until they come home and you awkwardly shuffle out so they can make their dinner? And who is going to rent their apartment out for $10/day with all the liability that comes along with it? All the pain of Airbnb, <10% of the earnings. Every one of the startups in this space either disappears, or pivots their focus to larger spaces designed for meetings, events or shoots. For example there's https://breather.com https://breather.com in the US and https://www.vrumi.com https://www.vrumi.com in the UK. The cheapest space on vrumi is far more expensive than WeWork.
- a13n 7y agoTo be fair the number of people who are able and willing to pay even $200/mo for co-working space is MUCH smaller than the number of people who are able and willing to pay $10/mo. Plenty of people would prefer to pay $10 to sit in someone's apartment for 7 hours, just like every day millions of people pay $5 to sit in a cafe for a couple hours. This becomes more obvious when you leave the rich tech bubble of SF.
- weworkfromhome 7y agoI’m not clear on the numbers you’re thinking about: is that $10 per month or $10 per day? The former is impossible (that’s... 1/300th of what Airbnb-ing would earn) and the latter is equivalent to the cost of a formal co-working space. As the existing startups have proven, there’s no market for individuals renting houses to work from, the economics don’t work. A day pass at WeWork is cheaper than every listing on Vrumi.
- sharadov 7y agoI looked at Vrumi and the cost is ridiculous! $20/day/person tops, I go to Hacker Dojo in the Bay area and it's a decent place with good wifi, nothing fancy and its about that much.
- jeremyjh 7y agoThat works great for apartments zoned as commercial or mixed-use. I don't think that is common.
- rowathay 7y agoBut this company would disrupt! Things like zoning laws aren’t cool, so we’ll move fast and break them!
- sharadov 7y agoRaise enough money to hire lobbyists!
- jagannathtech 7y agokeep up with the times.. pay them in equity
- nikanj 7y agoAs Uber and AirBnB have demonstrated, caring about laws is so last millennium. As long as you get big enough, fast enough, the cities will probably bend and change things to accommodate you.
- dpods 7y agoWhile there are a few companies that are actually trying to build this idea with renting out homes by the hour, at Out Of Office[0] we're working on a similar concept of a more general marketplace for coworking spaces. We've scouted hundreds of locations in San Francisco, both free and bookable, that you can search for in our app. You can find coffee shops, hotel lobbies, public spaces, or book private desks, and conference rooms throughout the city. [0] https://outofoffice.app https://outofoffice.app
- simonebrunozzi 7y agoInteresting. Can you drop me an email at $myHNusername @ gmail? I would need to discuss a couple of things with you. Thanks!
- dpods 7y agoSure, just sent you an email.
- xenospn 7y agoThat coffee cup about to fall is giving me serious anxiety.
- koolhead17 7y agoNice Concept. Good Luck. :)
- cmos 7y agoTo take it a step further, if the house owner works outside home during the day it could be mutually beneficial if you throw in taking a few breaks to walk the dog to make it an even trade. It's always better for pets to have people around all day.