About our coworking plans
Dusty
our discussion here for everyone. :)
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"I saw the tweets on another coworking space in Austin. Great news!
What are you all planning?"
-Todd
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My reply:
We're looking to bootstrap a space. We're hoping to create a space
with low margins with nearly all of the coworking space revenue going
back into the space. Besides the standard coworking amenities, we want
to offer lead generation, referral bonuses, a job board, and later
down the road, investments in startups. That's how we want to make
money as Conjunctured. It's also how we want to set ourselves apart
from other spaces.
Some examples of how we'd like to make money:
* If an entrepreneur is bootstrapping a business, but needs a few
hours of work to pay rent, we want to have some work for that guy to
do. Everything is opt-in (part of our manifesto, plus we have no
employees), so we want to find projects that pay well and are projects
people want to work on. Conjunctured will take a margin off the top of
work we bring in.
* If a member wants to work exclusively on Conjunctured work.
Awesome! If not, see above.
* Another scenario is, if a member refers work to Conjunctured
(and people opt-in to do it) we'll pay the referrer a finders fee, and
Conjunctured will take a margin off the top.
* If a freelancer does a lot of work for a company, but a project
comes along that is "too big" for the freelancer. Conjunctured might
offer to throw our weight behind the contract so the freelancer can
get the gig. All the props would go to the lancer, but if he couldn't
hack it, the client could hold Conjunctured accountable. We'd take a
margin for assuming the risk.
* Non-member recruiters could pay to place an ad on our job-board.
(Members could post for free of course.)
All the scenarios above are opt-in. A member could choose not to
participate in any of that stuff.
As far as the space itself goes. We're thinking something edgy. We're
following the lead of Independents Hall and New Work City. We're not
sure how we're gonna' brand the space yet. We've agreed that part of
your membership is your logo somewhere on the sign. Perhaps like a
collage of business logos.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this! :)
Dusty
John Erik Metcalf
I just sent the following in another email -- most of this info you will be aware of, however the time line may be nice.
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1.) 1-2 months out - open a coworking space in Austin similar to the following
- indy hall: http://indyhall.com
- coworking nyc: http://nwcny.com
Coworking definition: Coworking is cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.
If this sounds cool, it would be great if you'd fill out one or two of these forms for we can get rolling with all this
- Membership Interest (12 have completed this as of 4.14): http://tinyurl.com/68f89z
- Sponsorship Interest (1): http://tinyurl.com/5usods
We are looking at spaces with several agents NOW. However, we all know the best deals come from relationships and connections. If you know of a space on the east side, downtown, or on south congress - PLEASE let me know.
2.) Ongoing - Help organizations have conversations online.
Conjunctured leverages the power of collaboration and community. We are inspired by the existing concept of coworking and call ourselves a "co-company" – it's a term we came up with that describes how the company is structured – we don't employ people. Instead, a team of independent freelancers, all specialists in their own areas, come together to collaborate on the projects they feel most passionate about.
- co-company google group: http://groups.google.com/group/co-company
- start of our business plan: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhsdhzzs_0gdz9nfgg
- social media release: http://conjunctured.com/index2.html (click the arrows)
- site - includes services, manifesto, team, & blog: http://conjunctured.com
3.) 1 year - micro-fund; akin to
Here's a link to my personal vision(1.0) for Austin's startup community http://blog.think27.com/austin-startup-community-vision/
John Erik Metcalf
tel: 210.724.3619
fax: 563.405.4275
email: jmetc...@gmail.com
web log: http://blog.think27.com
co-company: http://www.conjunctured.com
resume/cv: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnerikmetcalf