Have I shared with you my plan for 2013?
I want to establish a business incubator/accelerator/co-working space here in Tauranga.
Tauranga’s first co-working space starts this week in the Priority One building, hooray! I’ll be doing my best to help them succeed.
But that is only the beginning. Imagine there was one business incubator, one accelerator and 3 co-working spaces here in Tauranga. That’s my vision.
But one step at a time. The first step for me on this journey is research.
Research into what has worked well and what hasn’t.
I don’t want to re-invent the wheel. I want to learn from the mistakes of the past. I want to learn from the best.
First up is Grind in New York.
8 quick facts about Grind co-working space in New York:
- Open plan floor + hot desks + lockers + bookable meeting rooms
- Free, high quality coffee
- “Frictionless” membership and entry into the building
- A “wall of awesome” that celebrates and showcases successes that Grind members have had
- Existing members invite new members
- Furniture chosen for its sustainability and low-environmental impact
- Coming soon: “the agora. In the future we’ll be rolling out tools that encourage Grindists to tap into the skills of other Grindists.”
- Cost: US$500/month membership (of US$35/day)
Lessons for me:
- A very cool name. A combination of “the daily grind” in an ironic sense + a reference to coffee that black liquid that wakes us up and we meet over
- It’s simple/spartan and uncluttered: A big open plan floor with desks, office chairs and couches. But…
- It doesn’t feel like a temporary place with a short lease. It feels permanent. I thought I could start with a cheap 12 month lease somewhere but now I’m thinking that might be a mistake
More co-working spaces for me to check out
- RocketSpace in San Francisco, USA
- The Hive in Denver, USA
- Soda Inc in Hamilton, New Zealand (read how my Oct 2012 visit went)
- Bizdojo in K Rd, Auckland, New Zealand (read how my Jan 2013 visit went)
- Generator in Britomart, Auckland, New Zealand (read how my Jan 2013 visit went)
- The Kitchen in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand (read how my Jan 2013 visit went)
- Loft 503 in Britomart, Auckland, New Zealand (read how my Jan 2013 visit went)
Want to Help?
- I’ve started a list of people who share my vision and want to help. Want to join this list? Say so in the comments below
Hi Sheldon. The Accelerator Gazette http://www.acceleratorgazette.com is a good source for what’s going on in the incubator/accelerator field throughout the world. Good luck with your research.
regards,
Bob Rushby editor-in-chief
Looks excellent, thanks for that Bob!
Hi Sheldon,
So good that you’re leading the charge to make TGA the Silicon Bay of NZ, I definitely share that vision! Here are some links to some of the spaces Ive done some research on… enjoy!
http://workatthespot.com/
http://theironyard.com/
http://www.beanworkplaycafe.com/
http://weld.co/
http://strongboxwest.com/
http://sunshineny.com/
http://ignitionalley.com/
http://www.3rdward.com/
http://roamatlanta.com/about/
http://151locust.com/
http://dannex.org/
http://workbar.com/
Give me a shout when you want to discuss!
Cheers.
Jo
Hooray! Thanks for this Jo!
Hi Sheldon,
Great idea! Once you are up and running you can use http://www.sharedspace.co.nz to promote the space. We are getting a lot of enquiry for this kind of space in Tauranga.
Regards,
Matt
Hi Matt, just came across your website last week actually, thanks.
That is great news for Tauranga.
Anyone interested in researching coworking spaces shouldn’t overlook Berlin, which is perhaps the startup capital of Europe. I have worked in many of the ones on this list and can vouch for them:
http://venturevillage.eu/berlins-10-best-coworking-spaces
They are generally cheaper than NZ and places like Betahaus and Agora emphasize social connectivity which is essential for a young (or even old) business.
Wow, some of those look amazing. Thanks Manu!