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There is a disconnect between vision [everyone collaborating to build their business and grow the overall market] and reality [everyone is so busy putting out fires on the surface - essentially madly treading water - that they don't have time to get to know others well enough to do business together or figure out a business model in which independent entities collaborate]
Real estate companies see what they want to see: higher revenues per square foot than they can get with long term leases. They are creating a commodity market with words-as-window-dressing: "collaboration, innovation, community, create." Right now they are all racing to be the first IPO. Then there will be a race to the bottom of the pricing ladder. The only folks who will make money are the dealmakers. But that's their problem.
The rest of us should focus on how we breakdown the barriers to independents collaborating - including us. I think that starts with inventing a new business model. Any ideas?
K-
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This thread, to me, reflects the continuing evolution of the coworking ecosystem. Coworking has been expanding, evolving and hybridizing since its beginnings. This has led to a growing variety in space types and services offered. In most cases, this is driven by customers who are looking for different types of spaces and space experiences, including different types of community.
It seems clear at this point there are multiple coworking market segments. These different segments attract different types of customers. Some customers are very focused on community, others less so. For example, our research shows independent workers, on average, are more involved with and assign a greater value to a coworking space's community than corporate and startup employees who work in coworking spaces.
Organizations also have different interests in adopting coworking. Some see the "space as a service" benefits as described in the article as the important pieces and care little about community or see it as a bonus. For others, community is the key. Most larger organizations (at least today) fall into the category of caring more about the "space as a service" features than community.
Given that more large organizations (and traditional small and mid-size firms) are starting to move to coworking, it makes sense that spaces that focus on the "space as service" attributes will be able to find customers. At the same time, independent workers and others looking for community first spaces will continue to drive the growth of community focused spaces.
In other words, there’s room for both.