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I am aware of a co working space/incubator with a number of sites in Australia making bulk $$ on selling information on the startups in residence to other firms
by robbiep 7y ago
I am aware of a co working space/incubator with a number of sites in Australia making bulk $$ on selling information on the startups in residence to other firms.
The case that was described to me: a travel company paying around $100k pa for intelligence on travel related startups in residence- they use the data to determine rate of growth and strategic threats so they can either compete, ignore or make an offer to these new businesses.
If we work isn’t monetising their business intelligence then they would be leaving a lot on the table
- olefoo 7y agoWere that not disclosed to potential tenants, that could rapidly turn into a liability; from a PR standpoint but also from the fiduciary responsibility your landlord can't use their position to appropriate confidential information about your business and whore it out to all and sundry.
- underwater 7y agoWhy wouldn't you call them out (anonymously)? That sounds highly unethical.
- robbiep 7y agoIt wasn’t my co working space/I wasn’t working there and I suspect it would have been buried in the t&cs. I was in wework in sydney at the time and re read our t&cs, my reading was that they could probably do the same but it wasn’t explicit, and if they were they were being sloppy about it (ie they knew my headcount because we had to get passes each time, but there wasn’t a strong program of engagement to find out what each business did, just get on with your work). This other space I reference actually had people in regular contact with the businesses habiting the space, in order to connect with industry, government grants and other programs etc, so it actually bridged the space a bit more between a coworking space and incubator (without being any specific program)