What value have you received from coworking?
Hi all,
Career Software Engineer and first time founder here. I've spent the last 3 years of my career working remotely and developing software at a friend's startup. It was, as many of you can agree, a wonderful way to get things built quickly, without distractions, and on my own schedule. I even got to build v1 of my dream development desk which was always a huge nerd goal of mine. Now that I'm on my own trying to build my own business I'm rather abruptly finding that working from home has some big negatives for me as an introvert.
The part of the market that I'm trying to address is rather small and very "network-driven" — i.e. I need to talk to a lot of people in person or on the phone to test for feasibility, viability, etc. This is the most difficult thing I've had to do in a long time and I need to figure out how to overcome this paralyzing fear and anxiety. I've been thinking that a coworking space might be a great place to meet others like me (or like the IH crowd) and start getting better at networking, pitching, and gaining confidence. Even if the people I'd be networking with aren't in the market I'm targeting (motorsports technology), it seems like a good way to level up the social/entrepreneurial skills I've been neglecting for years.
I'd love to hear what kind of experience and thoughts the IH crowd has on the kind of value coworking provides and if it is worth it.
- Are the networking and speaker events that spaces like WeWork put on useful?
- What kinds of people do you typically encounter in these spaces on a regular basis?
- Is there any additional value from renting office space (instead of desk space) that isn't realized (or isn't a listed benefit/feature) until you start working there?
- Have you had any surprises with coworking places — good or bad?
- What do you look for that makes a coworking space stand out among the rest?
Cheers.
I've worked in co-working spaces for years (still do), and the type of space matters hugely. See if you can get a free trial day somewhere. Where I am now feels like home to me, I know the people very well, there are joint breakfasts and some events. It gives me the social surroundings that I don't have working by myself.
I would say that a co-working space might not be the best place if you are going to make lots of phone calls, unless they have booths or breakout areas that you can use.
Events are good but there are so many events everywhere that it's easier to just pick and choose the events you want to go to.
It may help with anxiety if you decide to talk to the people around you but it's also possible to work in silence and not speak to anyone :)
I have worked remotely since 2011.
In that period I've tried dozens of different coworking spaces, all around the world. I've come to the conclusion that although they may be good for some people, they're not good for me.
I am not an extrovert, but I'm not an introvert either. I enjoy talking to people and discussing stuff. However I simply don't enjoy coworking spaces and I came to the realization there was no reason for me to be spending hundreds of dollars a month just to sit next to people who never really seemed to actually be like me.
Ironically, my favorite out-of-home work environment is a coffee shop, which is exactly where I'm sitting right now. But it's very different. For a $5 coffee every few hours, I can pick the place which has the right vibe, the right white noise, the right sort of table, and usually I can get quite a bit done in an afternoon of focused work. Everything else happens at home (calls, more relaxed work, etc).
Coworking, to me, hasn't been very social. It's usually full of people trying to hawk their own tools and network for the sake of selling some SaaS or their dev services, rather than just being friendly, which is why I've gone the cafe route.
I am right there with you: working from home can be lonely. I don't want to do it forever, and although we have a small team right now we do plan to actually get an office space at some point in the future. I miss a watercooler and shooting rubber bands at each other.
You've nailed my worries right on the head. Do you think that the location and demographic of a space might have an impact on the type, quality, and volume of conversations? For example, a WeWork near a university might tend to skew towards an environment that has more focus on sharing and less on selling.
WeWork (and a lot of coworking spaces) is so expensive I doubt you would have many college folks there. Going into it I assumed that the cost involved would be a sort of "barrier to entry" which would cut out the wannabes. Turns out that's not really the case.
However I know a lot of people use coworking spaces every day and find them valuable, so it may just be me. It might work for you!