Cool dude. Happy to help, this thread has made my morning :) I love that you've done your homework. Surprisingly rare.
Just stay the course and don't get distracted by the stupid shit like fancy furniture and funding - down that path, you start serving investors and onlookers instead of your community and what they need to thrive. You're in the people business, not the space/desk business. Make sure your business model, as it evolves, is decoupled from square footage and you're golden. :) -Alex ------------------ *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 10:42 AM, Daron Jenkins <djenk...@scenepr.com> wrote: > Thanks Alex. I think I reached out to you about this last year since > you've written the book (literally!) on this and I really value what you > have to say! Big fan man..thanks!! > > I'll keep you updated as we get more done. I am challenging myself and > partner to do more (though we're already so ingrained in the landscape) > community connection, but now we're trying to really build connections with > other connectors and other influencers who can help spread the word and > build the following. We were at SXSW and got a great mention by Mashable as > one of the startups to watch...but plenty of startups get that moniker and > fail so we aren't resting on pats on the back cause we haven't done > anything yet. > > :) > > > > On Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 10:28:59 AM UTC-4, Alex Hillman wrote: >> >> Doesn't sound dumb at all! >> >> It's an excellent idea to look for ways to get people together BEFORE you >> even start seeking space. People will say "oh a coworking space that sounds >> great" but a very small % of them will actually show up. And if you can't >> get them to show up BEFORE you have a dedicated space...having the overhead >> of a space isn't gonna magically make that easier. >> >> You're totally on the right track here Daron. This is great. >> >> Start getting that community involved with seeking space too. Go out and >> pound pavement together (or in small teams) to find stuff that isn't in MLS >> listings. It can be fun and the people who pitch in will feel WAY more >> connected to the space once you do have it. >> >> From there, you can figure out how much you need to get this off the >> ground, and look at various ways to pull that money together. Turn to your >> community for help as early and often as possible. If you've built a >> community up until this point and you're approaching things as you're >> describing them here, you're off to a GREAT start. >> >> Oh man I'm excited to see what you do here. Please keep this list posted! >> >> -Alex >> >> >> On Wednesday, September 30, 2015, Daron Jenkins <djen...@scenepr.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Well..that's exactly what I thought. I have a massive community having >>> been powering the indie film community in NYC for more than 12 years. >>> >>> So I assume you're talking about getting a number of pre founding >>> members signed up...we are working on assembling an content incubator pre >>> launch as a way to engage with the community pre launch and also a way to >>> gather service providers that early adopters can take advantage of in >>> advance of the physical space. >>> >>> Sound dumb? >>> On Sep 30, 2015 10:13 AM, "Alex Hillman" <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Hidden option C: you find a community in need, or start building your >>>> own. :) >>>> >>>> Without people, you're opening an empty room. Not only does that mean >>>> eating costs for a while, it means that people are less likely to want to >>>> join because it's an empty room and if they wanted an empty room they could >>>> stay home or work from any other isolating location. >>>> >>>> Not to mention that if you're considering crowdfunding, you've gotta >>>> have a crowd to start with :) >>>> >>>> NYC is particularly difficult with high rents and an already huge and >>>> growing set of Coworking options. Who do you think isn't being served that >>>> needs YOUR Coworking space, wherever it ends up being? >>>> >>>> -Alex >>>> >>>> P.s. This is probably my most popular blog post, and it talks more >>>> about this quandary. You're FAR from alone in asking! >>>> http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/09/how-to-fund-your-coworking-space/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Wednesday, September 30, 2015, Daron Jenkins <djenk...@scenepr.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Ok..so I have never looked at real estate (outside of renting an >>>>> apartment) so I have what possibly could be a dumb question. >>>>> >>>>> We're looking at real estate currently for a coworking space in >>>>> NYC...Do you find the space/location first or do you find/raise the money >>>>> first? Kind of a chicken or the egg question. >>>>> >>>>> My thoughts when I originally came up with this idea was to look at >>>>> spaces that fit our need first to get an idea of how much $$$ we're >>>>> needing >>>>> to raise and to get an idea of what the sq footage looked like, THEN, >>>>> raise >>>>> the funding (crowdfunding, private raise, sponsors, etc.). >>>>> >>>>> Thoughts? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>>> --- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> ------------------ >>>> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* >>>> Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com >>>> Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>>> Google Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/coworking/yIaVj6HDluM/unsubscribe. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>>> coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> ------------------ >> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* >> Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com >> Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast >> >> -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
