Coffee, power outlets, a price that isn't ridiculous like the current co-working spaces in SF. Maybe some sort of programming quiz to keep out the weird "social media consultant" crowd. Also 24 hour access. Most (all?) coffee shops in SF close too early.
I used to work in a (government-funded) technology incubator, and have heard some of the discussions behind pricing spacing.
It makes no difference to the incubator whether space costs $50 a month, $200 a month, or $1,000 a month. We didn't go with $1,000 because that would make us price-uncompetitive with other feasible options in the region. We didn't go with $50 because we thought our core client group does not want to be bothered by people who think $200 is a lot of money.
Looking at the diversity among people working in San Fransisco, have you perhaps considered that the ridiculous price is designed to keep out the weird startup crowd? From the perspective of, say, a civil engineering consultant, an unemployed 21 year old in jeans and a T-shirt who has had three consecutive all-nighters since his last shower might not be the ideal coworking companion.
The co-working spaces in SF are for the weird startup crowd. It turns out most of them are for the weird social media consultant crowd, because that is who runs them and they tend to be cliquey. They aren't business incubator spaces.
I'm pretty familiar with the spaces and people who run them here. One of them has to charge a lot because the space is really expensive. Another one has to charge a lot because they have trouble keeping it full, which I attribute to poor location. At yet another one, the guy is obviously making a profit because he's in a super cheap building.
I don't think the pricing is ridiculous from the perspective of the people running the space. They have to pass costs on. However, the people renting the space aren't getting a good deal unless they love the community. You're just renting a desk, which is free at the library, or a few coffee refills at any of the myriad coffee shops in the city... and you probably live somewhere, so you could just work at home, etc...
Yeah, the prices are hard to justify. I don't have $300 or $400 to spend every month on top of rent money. All the co-working spaces I've visited here seem like nice places to work, each with its own individual culture and network, but the price tag is unfeasible for unfunded bootstrappers.
$300 isn't very much when you look at the loaded costs of setting up and running a coop. Offices are expensive.
And if not an office, I'm not sure how one would ever create a 24 hour coffee shop. A typical Starbucks lives off of customers who spend $100/mo and take up no room -- $5/latte by 20 working days and five minutes in and out. How would some coffee shop ever survive by charging three times as much for someone who takes up 100 times more time lounging around in chairs?
Someone occupying an otherwise empty chair has zero marginal cost. In fact to a restaurant, people at tables has a negative cost just before the busy period - would you pick an empty restaurant?
People in a starbucks at non-peak hours aren't a problem and may even attract other customers.
power from an outlet, higher electricity bills for cooling (more people, more heat) -- Hypothetically, this would be counteracted by people buying more drinks, but how much sugar can one consume, really?
Myself, I'd suggest some low calorie drinks people can drink to keep going.
Comments
Coffee, power outlets, a price that isn't ridiculous like the current co-working spaces in SF. Maybe some sort of programming quiz to keep out the weird "social media consultant" crowd. Also 24 hour access. Most (all?) coffee shops in SF close too early.
a price that isn't ridiculous
I used to work in a (government-funded) technology incubator, and have heard some of the discussions behind pricing spacing.
It makes no difference to the incubator whether space costs $50 a month, $200 a month, or $1,000 a month. We didn't go with $1,000 because that would make us price-uncompetitive with other feasible options in the region. We didn't go with $50 because we thought our core client group does not want to be bothered by people who think $200 is a lot of money.
Looking at the diversity among people working in San Fransisco, have you perhaps considered that the ridiculous price is designed to keep out the weird startup crowd? From the perspective of, say, a civil engineering consultant, an unemployed 21 year old in jeans and a T-shirt who has had three consecutive all-nighters since his last shower might not be the ideal coworking companion.
The co-working spaces in SF are for the weird startup crowd. It turns out most of them are for the weird social media consultant crowd, because that is who runs them and they tend to be cliquey. They aren't business incubator spaces.
I'm pretty familiar with the spaces and people who run them here. One of them has to charge a lot because the space is really expensive. Another one has to charge a lot because they have trouble keeping it full, which I attribute to poor location. At yet another one, the guy is obviously making a profit because he's in a super cheap building.
I don't think the pricing is ridiculous from the perspective of the people running the space. They have to pass costs on. However, the people renting the space aren't getting a good deal unless they love the community. You're just renting a desk, which is free at the library, or a few coffee refills at any of the myriad coffee shops in the city... and you probably live somewhere, so you could just work at home, etc...
Yeah, the prices are hard to justify. I don't have $300 or $400 to spend every month on top of rent money. All the co-working spaces I've visited here seem like nice places to work, each with its own individual culture and network, but the price tag is unfeasible for unfunded bootstrappers.
$300 isn't very much when you look at the loaded costs of setting up and running a coop. Offices are expensive.
And if not an office, I'm not sure how one would ever create a 24 hour coffee shop. A typical Starbucks lives off of customers who spend $100/mo and take up no room -- $5/latte by 20 working days and five minutes in and out. How would some coffee shop ever survive by charging three times as much for someone who takes up 100 times more time lounging around in chairs?
Someone occupying an otherwise empty chair has zero marginal cost. In fact to a restaurant, people at tables has a negative cost just before the busy period - would you pick an empty restaurant? People in a starbucks at non-peak hours aren't a problem and may even attract other customers.
power from an outlet, higher electricity bills for cooling (more people, more heat) -- Hypothetically, this would be counteracted by people buying more drinks, but how much sugar can one consume, really?
Myself, I'd suggest some low calorie drinks people can drink to keep going.