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I'm not thinking of a building. Really, I'm thinking of the entire neighborhood, the Starr Historical District. Half of it's vacant. Most of it is breathtaki

by Vivtek 17y ago

I'm not thinking of a building. Really, I'm thinking of the entire neighborhood, the Starr Historical District. Half of it's vacant. Most of it is breathtaking if, like me, you have a thing for 19th-century brick, and can see past the run-down state and imagine what it should look like. What we have is quiet. Not absence-of-life quiet, but something more contemplative in nature. Earlham College, 150 years of Quaker history, an industrial history that is mostly gone now. If you ever just wanted the world to shut up for a year while you got your startup working, this would be that opportunity. That's how I see it. But you could put that anywhere. It's just that I know where the good houses are; I walk the dog past them every day and think, man, I could put five smart people in there. And I'd get to save another grand old house.

Kadin 17y ago
I think it's a great idea, but I think you need to be careful how you get it started. It's the sort of thing where success or failure are going to be totally determined by the people you can fill it with. If you get a good group of people who are all driven to do cool stuff, then I think you'll probably succeed and form a great community. However: a few bad apples could really ruin the whole bunch. I could see it falling apart messily with only a few dominant-personality types who decided it was just an opportunity to freeload. (Thinking of other group dynamics: throw in one bad person and suddenly everyone's leaving their dishes and trash everywhere because they've seen that it's OK to do it.) You might want to take some cues from the other end of the economic spectrum: farm-based communes. The ones that have survived (rather than crashing and burning just after inception, as many did back in the 60s and 70s) are the ones that have fairly high barriers to entry, small numbers, and well-defined rules that everyone is familiar with. Anyway, just because finding the right people is going to be key, I'd be wary of trying to start too big, too fast. I'd start small, and focus on building the community and hammering out how things ought to work, rather than on increasing your numbers or filling the space available. The worst thing that could happen would be to grow too fast and then have the whole thing implode when it becomes unmanageable. Anyway, sounds like a great idea though; I hope you make a go of it.
jlees 17y ago
I'm almost imagining Disneyland for Entrepreneurs here. It could be awesome. And getting guest speakers etc in, both local and not-so-local, is a great way to get a profile and beat the isolation.

by Vivtek 17y ago

Kadin 17y ago

I think it's a great idea, but I think you need to be careful how you get it started. It's the sort of thing where success or failure are going to be totally determined by the people you can fill it with. If you get a good group of people who are all driven to do cool stuff, then I think you'll probably succeed and form a great community. However: a few bad apples could really ruin the whole bunch. I could see it falling apart messily with only a few dominant-personality types who decided it was just an opportunity to freeload. (Thinking of other group dynamics: throw in one bad person and suddenly everyone's leaving their dishes and trash everywhere because they've seen that it's OK to do it.) You might want to take some cues from the other end of the economic spectrum: farm-based communes. The ones that have survived (rather than crashing and burning just after inception, as many did back in the 60s and 70s) are the ones that have fairly high barriers to entry, small numbers, and well-defined rules that everyone is familiar with. Anyway, just because finding the right people is going to be key, I'd be wary of trying to start too big, too fast. I'd start small, and focus on building the community and hammering out how things ought to work, rather than on increasing your numbers or filling the space available. The worst thing that could happen would be to grow too fast and then have the whole thing implode when it becomes unmanageable. Anyway, sounds like a great idea though; I hope you make a go of it.

jlees 17y ago

I'm almost imagining Disneyland for Entrepreneurs here. It could be awesome. And getting guest speakers etc in, both local and not-so-local, is a great way to get a profile and beat the isolation.