Archives for February 2013

The Garage

In July 1995, Jeff Bezos sold a few books from a site called Amazon.com out of his garage in Washington. A few years before, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak constructed the Apple I out of the carport at young Steve’s house. Garages, and their stories, have business clout. Disney, Google, Harley Davidson, HP, Lotus, and Mattel had humble roots, and a host of other tech startups have, at one point or another, called the garage their home.

The garage has always been a place of tinkering, of thinking, building, creating, and discovering. Last year, at TEDxMileHigh, the ‘entrepreneurs garage‘ in the Exhibit’s Lounge symbolized and showcased creative businesses and the people that began their tinkering in the comfort of their sheet-metal walls. It’s creative. It’s a low-risk escape. The garage costs only electricity and what you pay for mortgage or rent, and nothing more.

The Transformation

In the last few years, many early-stage startups have taken to coworking spaces that can fill a similar niche as garages—low overhead, flexibility, creativity—but they also serve to provide entrepreneurs with something else: a community. The community fills a psychological need that a garage alone cannot; that is, other people in states of eustress starting companies in a business environment that is at once scary and exciting. In a coworking space, an individual (or small group of individuals) instantly has access not just to copiers and fast internet, but to meaningful relationships with people going through much the same process as themselves. The community can provide necessary commiseration, useful contacts, new skills and insights, and lasting friendship. The benefits, both tangible and intangible, are helping to create a network of coworking spaces and communities across the country (and globe) that are re-inventing the traditional office cubicle.

This is not brand new. There have been many articles published on the subject in the last couple of years, but coworking doesn’t appear to be a fad, although some spaces have ultimately failed.  Global growth has been 100% per year for five years. There’s even an event happening shortly in Austin called the CGUC (Global Coworking Unconference Conference) that seeks to identify the big ideas, and challenges, coming out of the coworking spaces of the world.

In Denver

Startup-haven Boulder aside (and its fantastic network of spaces), Denver has become a hotspot of its own for coworking. If the coworking environment works for you or your business, you’re in the market for a new space, or are interested in learning more, here’s what’s happening in the metro Denver area:

Creative Density

Locale: Uptown

Members include: Ideavist, With Good Cause, Vector Defector

Shift Workspace

Locale: Alamo Placita (just west of Cherry Creek)

Members include: Waffle Brothers, One Reach, Banyan Real Estate, Pomfreet

The Desk

Locale: Capitol Hill

Members include: Unlisted

Green Spaces

Locale: River Art North District (RiNo-near 5 points)

Members include: Edge of 7, OneSeed Expeditions, Denver Voice

Thrive

Locale: Lower Downtown (LoDo)

Members include: Stack Exchange, The Social Route

Galvanize

Locale: Golden Triangle

Members include: Slice of Lime, Active Junky, Forkly, Uber, Dabble, Med Passage

Battery 621

Locale: Lincoln Park

Members include: Something Independent, Spyder, Public Works, Icelantic, Drumbeat, BWBacon

Uncubed

Locale: Lower Downtown (LoDo)

Members include: Unlisted

The Hive Cooperative

Locale: Lower Highlands (LoHi)

Members include: Unlisted

The Creative Farm

 Locale: 6 Locations including Capital Hill, LoHi, and LoDo.

Members include: Unlisted

 D90 Network (in progress)

 Locale: Five points

Members set to include: 27 international development organizations including iDE, 1010 Project, Engineers without Borders, Nokero, Mountain 2 Mountain

The Innovative Alliance

Locale: Lincoln Park

Members include: Americorps, TSC Global, Nuba Water Project

Did we miss any?

Do you work at a coworking space? If so, what are your thoughts?  If not, why?  

The Garage

In July 1995, Jeff Bezos sold a few books from a site called Amazon.com out of his garage in Washington. A few years before, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak constructed the Apple I out of the carport at young Steve’s house. Garages, and their stories, have business clout. Disney, Google, Harley Davidson, HP, Lotus, and Mattel had humble roots, and a host of other tech startups have, at one point or another, called the garage their home.

The garage has always been a place of tinkering, of thinking, building, creating, and discovering. Last year, at TEDxMileHigh, the ‘entrepreneurs garage‘ in the Exhibit’s Lounge symbolized and showcased creative businesses and the people that began their tinkering in the comfort of their sheet-metal walls. It’s creative. It’s a low-risk escape. The garage costs only electricity and what you pay for mortgage or rent, and nothing more.

The Transformation

In the last few years, many early-stage startups have taken to coworking spaces that can fill a similar niche as garages—low overhead, flexibility, creativity—but they also serve to provide entrepreneurs with something else: a community. The community fills a psychological need that a garage alone cannot; that is, other people in states of eustress starting companies in a business environment that is at once scary and exciting. In a coworking space, an individual (or small group of individuals) instantly has access not just to copiers and fast internet, but to meaningful relationships with people going through much the same process as themselves. The community can provide necessary commiseration, useful contacts, new skills and insights, and lasting friendship. The benefits, both tangible and intangible, are helping to create a network of coworking spaces and communities across the country (and globe) that are re-inventing the traditional office cubicle.

This is not brand new. There have been many articles published on the subject in the last couple of years, but coworking doesn’t appear to be a fad, although some spaces have ultimately failed.  Global growth has been 100% per year for five years. There’s even an event happening shortly in Austin called the CGUC (Global Coworking Unconference Conference) that seeks to identify the big ideas, and challenges, coming out of the coworking spaces of the world.

In Denver

Startup-haven Boulder aside (and its fantastic network of spaces), Denver has become a hotspot of its own for coworking. If the coworking environment works for you or your business, you’re in the market for a new space, or are interested in learning more, here’s what’s happening in the metro Denver area:

Creative Density

Locale: Uptown

Members include: Ideavist, With Good Cause, Vector Defector

Shift Workspace

Locale: Alamo Placita (just west of Cherry Creek)

Members include: Waffle Brothers, One Reach, Banyan Real Estate, Pomfreet

The Desk

Locale: Capitol Hill

Members include: Unlisted

Green Spaces

Locale: River Art North District (RiNo-near 5 points)

Members include: Edge of 7, OneSeed Expeditions, Denver Voice

Thrive

Locale: Lower Downtown (LoDo)

Members include: Stack Exchange, The Social Route

Galvanize

Locale: Golden Triangle

Members include: Slice of Lime, Active Junky, Forkly, Uber, Dabble, Med Passage

Battery 621

Locale: Lincoln Park

Members include: Something Independent, Spyder, Public Works, Icelantic, Drumbeat, BWBacon

Uncubed

Locale: Lower Downtown (LoDo)

Members include: Unlisted

The Hive Cooperative

Locale: Lower Highlands (LoHi)

Members include: Unlisted

The Creative Farm

 Locale: 6 Locations including Capital Hill, LoHi, and LoDo.

Members include: Unlisted

 D90 Network (in progress)

 Locale: Five points

Members set to include: 27 international development organizations including iDE, 1010 Project, Engineers without Borders, Nokero, Mountain 2 Mountain

The Innovative Alliance

Locale: Lincoln Park

Members include: Americorps, TSC Global, Nuba Water Project

Did we miss any?

Do you work at a coworking space? If so, what are your thoughts?  If not, why?