[Coworking] Celebrate Coworking Day next Thursday!

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Hey friends,

Coworking turns 13 next Thursday. Celebrate with a Coworking Day event!

When coworking started in a wellness center in 2005, it wasn't a big deal
at first—founder Brad Neuberg reports that no one showed up for the first
two months. Still, he soldiered on, inspiring others to build the first
coworking spaces that look like the ones we see today, and giving
permission for anyone anywhere to use the word "coworking." That's why it's
a household word today!

To celebrate coworking's 13th anniversary on August 9, members and managers
of shared spaces around the world have a chance to celebrate the story
behind what makes coworking special—on a global scale, and on a local
scale—by hosting open gatherings in their spaces or elsewhere.

If you'd like to see examples of events happening in other cities and
organize your own, learn more and add an event here:

http://coworking.org/coworking-day/


Events already posted in Azumino-shi, Berlin, Cedar Park, Herrenberg,
Kansas City, Mumbai, Reutlingen, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and
Stuttgart!
Cheers,
Tony Bacigalupo

*---*
New Work Cities  • Coworking.org

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Re: [Coworking] Coworking Investors?

[Alex Linsker]

+1 to Alex Hillman's emails in this thread.

Also, often $15-$20K or $80K or whatever the full cost is for
buildouts/TI's/tenant improvements can be negotiated into "longer leases"
of 5+ years. The building owner keeps all the benefit of having their space
built out, and you tell them what you want them to do, then pay them
hundreds of thousands of dollars of rent for it over years. It's negotiable.

-Alex Linsker, Collective Agency, Portland Oregon

On Friday, August 3, 2018, Alex Hillman 
wrote:

> *"...if you need to multiply fast right?"*
>
> Fast growth isn't *need* in and of itself, it's a choice.
>
> Once you choose an investor, you DO need to grow. Not the other way
> around.
>
> And everything is a tradeoff. You may be able to grow faster, but at what
> cost to you? To your community? To your long term goals?
>
> Investor money comes with a certain expectation of growth, on a certain
> timeline. Your job becomes meeting *those* growth goals.
>
> Lots of businesses take investment and then run intro trouble because even
> though they're profitable and growing they aren't profitable *enough *to
> match the investor expectations. That's when they start making decisions to
> force that growth...and forcing growth essentially always comes with a
> cost.
>
> Again, this all comes down to control. I hate nothing more than giving up
> control over my decisions. Related: this is why I’m a great consultant and
> a terrible employee. But I digress.
>
> The only people I want to answer to are the people I create value for – in
> the case of Indy Hall, our community and our team – and to be able to make
> decisions that I believe are in the best long term interest of how we serve
> the community.
>
> With an investor, things are peachy if my decisions create value for our
> members and our investors. But if I’m in a situation where I have to decide
> between creating value for our members OR our investors…you had better
> believe I’m going to side with our members and that is going to make for a
> very uncomfortable conversation on the investor side.
>
> So I place a very high value on control over how I make decisions,
> especially after seeing how often people find themselves torn between the
> interest of their investors and the interest of their community. I actively
> avoid anything that clouds my long-term decision making abilities.
>
> Plus – if you ever do want that you want to grow to a scale where you want
> to have investors involved – leverage is magic fairy dust for business
> conversations. You’d better believe that it’s a lot easier to find
> investors who want to talk to you (and give you good terms) when you
> already have a thriving business. It’s way easier to strike a favorable
> deal when you don’t show up to the table hungry for a check.
>
> -Alex
>
>
> --
> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
> Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
> Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
> My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 11:13 AM 603 Co-Working <603...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey Alex, Hello from India.
>> I have been doing the exact same thing and it really helps. But I have no
>> experience with investors, at the end of the day the business can be scaled
>> by an Investors money if you need to multiply fast right?
>>
>> Sincere regards
>> Mr. K. G. Kataria
>>
>> On 03-Aug-2018, at 05:13, Ten Below  wrote:
>>
>> Alex,
>>
>> Wow. Your insight and pearls of wisdom could not have come at a better
>> time. Thank you!
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Richard
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 3:04 PM, Alex Hillman <
>> dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey Heather,
>>>
>>> Let's start by putting my bias out front: I'll do almost anything to
>>> avoid having an "investor" involved, because I place a very high value on
>>> control. And not because I'm a control freak...but because I've learned the
>>> value/importance of being able to make long term decisions in this
>>> business. Investors are essentially business partners that don't work on
>>> the business every day.
>>>
>>> With that in mind, I also view business partnerships like marriages - in
>>> fact, they're often *more* difficult to undo than a marriage. Bringing
>>> on an investor is like marrying for money. It happens, but it *usually*
>>> doesn't end well.
>>>
>>> I've been where you are, though. Nearly no cash. Banks didn't want to
>>> talk to me. Here's what we have done, and had a lot of success with:
>>>
>>> *1 - Membership drives. *Turn "early signups" into an event. Get your
>>> on-board members in the same room as your prospective members and make THAT
>>> the day that people sign up. Taking checks in person helps you avoid
>>> payment fees (which add up!) but also the collective energy of people
>>> signing up can be contagious. Make it a celebration.
>>>
>>> *2 - "IRL" crowdfunding. *The biggest mistake I see people make with
>>> crowdfunding is 

Re: [Coworking] Coworking Investors?

[Alex Hillman]

*"...if you need to multiply fast right?"*

Fast growth isn't *need* in and of itself, it's a choice.

Once you choose an investor, you DO need to grow. Not the other way around.

And everything is a tradeoff. You may be able to grow faster, but at what
cost to you? To your community? To your long term goals?

Investor money comes with a certain expectation of growth, on a certain
timeline. Your job becomes meeting *those* growth goals.

Lots of businesses take investment and then run intro trouble because even
though they're profitable and growing they aren't profitable *enough *to
match the investor expectations. That's when they start making decisions to
force that growth...and forcing growth essentially always comes with a
cost.

Again, this all comes down to control. I hate nothing more than giving up
control over my decisions. Related: this is why I’m a great consultant and
a terrible employee. But I digress.

The only people I want to answer to are the people I create value for – in
the case of Indy Hall, our community and our team – and to be able to make
decisions that I believe are in the best long term interest of how we serve
the community.

With an investor, things are peachy if my decisions create value for our
members and our investors. But if I’m in a situation where I have to decide
between creating value for our members OR our investors…you had better
believe I’m going to side with our members and that is going to make for a
very uncomfortable conversation on the investor side.

So I place a very high value on control over how I make decisions,
especially after seeing how often people find themselves torn between the
interest of their investors and the interest of their community. I actively
avoid anything that clouds my long-term decision making abilities.

Plus – if you ever do want that you want to grow to a scale where you want
to have investors involved – leverage is magic fairy dust for business
conversations. You’d better believe that it’s a lot easier to find
investors who want to talk to you (and give you good terms) when you
already have a thriving business. It’s way easier to strike a favorable
deal when you don’t show up to the table hungry for a check.

-Alex


--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten


On Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 11:13 AM 603 Co-Working <603...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Alex, Hello from India.
> I have been doing the exact same thing and it really helps. But I have no
> experience with investors, at the end of the day the business can be scaled
> by an Investors money if you need to multiply fast right?
>
> Sincere regards
> Mr. K. G. Kataria
>
> On 03-Aug-2018, at 05:13, Ten Below  wrote:
>
> Alex,
>
> Wow. Your insight and pearls of wisdom could not have come at a better
> time. Thank you!
>
> Sincerely,
> Richard
>
> On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 3:04 PM, Alex Hillman  > wrote:
>
>> Hey Heather,
>>
>> Let's start by putting my bias out front: I'll do almost anything to
>> avoid having an "investor" involved, because I place a very high value on
>> control. And not because I'm a control freak...but because I've learned the
>> value/importance of being able to make long term decisions in this
>> business. Investors are essentially business partners that don't work on
>> the business every day.
>>
>> With that in mind, I also view business partnerships like marriages - in
>> fact, they're often *more* difficult to undo than a marriage. Bringing
>> on an investor is like marrying for money. It happens, but it *usually*
>> doesn't end well.
>>
>> I've been where you are, though. Nearly no cash. Banks didn't want to
>> talk to me. Here's what we have done, and had a lot of success with:
>>
>> *1 - Membership drives. *Turn "early signups" into an event. Get your
>> on-board members in the same room as your prospective members and make THAT
>> the day that people sign up. Taking checks in person helps you avoid
>> payment fees (which add up!) but also the collective energy of people
>> signing up can be contagious. Make it a celebration.
>>
>> *2 - "IRL" crowdfunding. *The biggest mistake I see people make with
>> crowdfunding is getting caught up in the "crowd" and forgetting what each
>> individual is actually contributing towards, and why.
>>
>> Stuff like Indiegogo and such makes it easier for a wider audience to
>> discover a project but coworking spaces are generally hyperlocal efforts,
>> so the amount of work that goes into a typical crowdfund campaign (which is
>> a LOT) spreads that effort thin. One of the most important lessons I've
>> learned from all of the funding work I've done is that the more specific of
>> a "thing" you can offer people to contribute towards helping, the better.
>>
>> For examplebreak that $50k into its component parts. *"We need $5k
>> for chairs" *can turn into 

Re: [Coworking] Coworking Investors?

[603 Co-Working]

Hey Alex, Hello from India. 
I have been doing the exact same thing and it really helps. But I have no 
experience with investors, at the end of the day the business can be scaled by 
an Investors money if you need to multiply fast right? 

Sincere regards
Mr. K. G. Kataria

> On 03-Aug-2018, at 05:13, Ten Below  wrote:
> 
> Alex,
> 
> Wow. Your insight and pearls of wisdom could not have come at a better time. 
> Thank you!
> 
> Sincerely,
> Richard
> 
>> On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 3:04 PM, Alex Hillman  
>> wrote:
>> Hey Heather,
>> 
>> Let's start by putting my bias out front: I'll do almost anything to avoid 
>> having an "investor" involved, because I place a very high value on control. 
>> And not because I'm a control freak...but because I've learned the 
>> value/importance of being able to make long term decisions in this business. 
>> Investors are essentially business partners that don't work on the business 
>> every day. 
>> 
>> With that in mind, I also view business partnerships like marriages - in 
>> fact, they're often more difficult to undo than a marriage. Bringing on an 
>> investor is like marrying for money. It happens, but it usually doesn't end 
>> well. 
>> 
>> I've been where you are, though. Nearly no cash. Banks didn't want to talk 
>> to me. Here's what we have done, and had a lot of success with:
>> 
>> 1 - Membership drives. Turn "early signups" into an event. Get your on-board 
>> members in the same room as your prospective members and make THAT the day 
>> that people sign up. Taking checks in person helps you avoid payment fees 
>> (which add up!) but also the collective energy of people signing up can be 
>> contagious. Make it a celebration. 
>> 
>> 2 - "IRL" crowdfunding. The biggest mistake I see people make with 
>> crowdfunding is getting caught up in the "crowd" and forgetting what each 
>> individual is actually contributing towards, and why. 
>> 
>> Stuff like Indiegogo and such makes it easier for a wider audience to 
>> discover a project but coworking spaces are generally hyperlocal efforts, so 
>> the amount of work that goes into a typical crowdfund campaign (which is a 
>> LOT) spreads that effort thin. One of the most important lessons I've 
>> learned from all of the funding work I've done is that the more specific of 
>> a "thing" you can offer people to contribute towards helping, the better. 
>> 
>> For examplebreak that $50k into its component parts. "We need $5k for 
>> chairs" can turn into "become our official chair sponsor" for a local 
>> business who wants to contribute or, even better, "buy one chair and we'll 
>> dedicate it to you" and offer it to members, supporters, and other local 
>> businesses. 
>> 
>> 3 - Member loans. The first time we expanded we needed a similar ~$50,000. 
>> We shared exactly what we needed it for, and our current potential options 
>> for closing that shortfall. After the meeting, a member approached helping 
>> us - their business had been doing very well (largely in part because of our 
>> community) and they saw this as a way to give back. In fact, they really 
>> wanted to buy in as an investor. 
>> 
>> But again, even though I had a good relationship with this person, I had to 
>> ask myself if I wanted them to be my PARTNER if the money wasn't involved, 
>> and it wasn't a hell yes. 
>> 
>> So I said "what about a loan?" and he said yes. We put together terms where 
>> we had 12 months before we had to start paying back the loan. He gave me a 
>> rate that was better than I could get with a bank, and I had the flexibility 
>> down the road if needed. The only challenge we ran into with this deal was a 
>> sense of entitlement that came with one person loaning us such a large 
>> amount of money, he tried to occasionally hold it over our heads. It took a 
>> lot to keep that from affecting my decisions (and imagine if he was an 
>> actual PARTNER). 
>> 
>> The next time we needed an influx of cash, we went back to the community and 
>> said "before we go to other sources we're wondering if anybody would be 
>> willing/able to offer us a small loan? We're looking for a few people who 
>> can loan us $5k-10k each." This approach meant that no single person could 
>> hold the loan over our heads, and in a worst case scenario we could 
>> accelerate paying that person back if they did (so they had nothing left to 
>> hold over us). 
>> 
>> The best part about these smaller loans was that we were able to turn these 
>> into zero interest loans. They had the same "1 year before payback begins" 
>> term, but we also talked with each member about the actual interest they 
>> were going to earn at market rate on such a relatively small loan. We said 
>> "here's the dollar amount - but maybe there is something else that's 
>> similarly or more valuable to you than the interest?" and in every instance 
>> we were able to offer something with nearly no cost (membership credits, 
>> consulting/support, public gratitude, 

[Coworking] Virtual Co-working

[Ambreen K]

I find it difficult sometimes to stay productive as a remote worker so I 
started a Slack group for virtual co-working. We basically hop on video 
calls while we work on our own stuff. It helps us stay accountable and it's 
an easy and casual way to meet other like-minded people in the co-working 
community around the world. 

Sharing the link below for those that can benefit from a little boost of 
productivity

https://join.slack.com/t/coworkingto/shared_invite/enQtMzk0NTUzNDEyNDIwLWE0NmY1MDhlYjZjYWQ3M2ZlMzA5MWVhZmI4OTJkODJkZGFkOGUxYjFmODMyYzFiNmU2ZjJjMGQyMDQ3NDM5ZDE
 

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