A concept promoted by the Institute for the Future, Positive Platforms are described as follows: The design of “Positive Platforms” — platforms that not only maximize profits for their owners but also provide dignified and sustainable livelihoods for those who work on them, plus enrich society as a whole — is one of the most urgent tasks we are facing today. – “Design It … Read More
We closed our coworking space just over a year ago, but people are still asking about why we did. Peter (my partner) and I just didn’t want to keep running a space anymore. We’d been in the business 7+ years and had never managed to turn it into something that was really supporting us more than just getting by, and we … Read More
As opposed to the Space Owner’s Mindset… Space Owner’s Mindset success metrics: Revenue from renting out space. The space owner is only happy when things happen in their space. Everything that happens outside the space is either a marketing opportunity, competition, or irrelevant. The space owner is inclined toward xenophobia, concerned with how their community fits into the wider landscape only insofar … Read More
Consider reading the previous chapter, My first Meetup, or: How I made my first friends in NYC To be notified about the next chapter, subscribe here! After my life-changing initial experience, I’d resolved to attend every Jelly I could. I couldn’t make all of them, but I was there often enough to become a staple. I was also enamored with the five bedroom apartment, dubbed … Read More
Consider reading the previous chapter, My first day coworking: a moment that changed my life forever. For more stories, subscribe here! Around the same time I discovered Jelly, I also discovered a site called Meetup.com. As its name implies, Meetup lets people host local gatherings around a particular interest, so people who share that interest could find each other and connect. As … Read More
March of 2007, Long Island, NY, Age 22 I thought I’d invented something new. I was standing around the kitchen table at my parents’ home, where I’d just completed my quintessentially Millennial boomerang by calling it home again after college. We were brainstorming about the paradox of working from home versus working for someone else in an office. The idea … Read More
“I don’t need an exit strategy.” I remember thinking this when I got started building New Work City. I was so passionate, so committed, that I thought the very notion of walking away from this thing I was building was a betrayal. There were a lot of things I didn’t know about business when I got started. I certainly didn’t … Read More
This is part of a series on how to start a coworking space. If you haven’t done so already, read Part 1: The Commitment, and then Part 2: Seeding the Community. Then head back here! By now, you’ve got an active community of people who are committed to helping realize their shared dream of a home for their community. Now, you’ve … Read More
In the course of talking to some awesome coworking space owners from the US and Europe, I uncovered an interesting trend when it comes to what they wish they’d known when they got started. I was expecting logistical things. Technical things. Business things! But what I got was, almost universally, an emphasis on identity: “We’ve been open for 6 (!) years now … Read More
This is part of a series on how to start a coworking space. If you haven’t done so already, read How to Start a Coworking Space, Part 1: The Commitment. Then head back here! “People don’t buy coffee. They buy the smell of coffee.” I’m going to let you in on a crazy secret. It’s not really a secret, but in … Read More