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✊ Coworking impact.
Coworking news & views.
📨 How a Portuguese operator got 600 virtual office customers #
In the first of a 2-part series, Marc Navarro shares notes from a conversation with Carlos Gonçalves from Avila Spaces about how they stated, what they learned, and how they landed up acquiring approx. 600 virtual office clients.
Spoiler: it was combining service, great addresses, being based in office buildings and offering a great app experience.
👉 Read this.
🤑 Making the financial case for landlords to bring in coworking operators #
Wil Irons shares a hot take on how office landlords can shift from spending $5-$20+ million on amenities, and how that can result on more profitable returns for their buildings.
One of the tips dropped is to bring in experience flex space operators, and although another is to turn unused space into spec suites, it’s a pretty interesting look at how the owner-side thinks and talks about amenities and Operating Expenses.
👉 Read this.
❤️ Founder shares that business was born within a coworking space #
Brooke Markevicius shares how long before there was Allobee (which was recently acquired by The Riveter) there was The Pod Works and how the company was "born in those four walls".
I love that the post also notes that folks should support their local independent coworking spaces.
👉 Read this.
💡 A tip for new ‘flexperts’ #
Cat Johnson shares a short, but important, tip for emerging flex space consultants or experts: join a space, and go every day.
As someone who worked from many coworking communities, launched my own, helped others launch theirs, and then worked alongside the teams running over 1000 other spaces, I completely agree. Nicely said Cat!
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🗺️ Collab helps folks find meeting places between locations #
Roman Schurter shares "meetween" a platform to help find places to meet in coworking spaces that are equidistant between two or more locations. The platform is powered by flesk for coworking spaces and Viadi for transit options.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
🤔 Is 2023 the year of working from third spaces? #
Adi Gaskel wrote a piece in Forbes noting that recent research shows that 2023 will be year in which working from third spaces becomes the norm. Using data from OpenTable (interestingly) they note the growing trend among Gen Z of whom 10% note third spaces as their preferred location to work from.
The research also notes that "that cafes are the preferred third place work venues, but participants also use libraries, pubs, parks, and coworking spaces. On average, people working in third places do so 2-3 times per week, staying 15 minutes to 4 hours, and spending $4-$30 per visit."
👉 Read this.
💥 Could new accounting rules implode banks’ loan underwritings? #
Jerome Chang shares a theory that the new-ish account rules (about reporting rent as a liability instead of an operating expense) could cause a lot of headaches and possible fall out for banks who hold a lot of commercial loans.
We discussed this briefly in our last This Week in Coworking recap discussion on LinkedIn Audio, so I’m glad to see Jerome sharing deeper information and links to the Lease Liabilities Index Report.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
🇵🇹 A big merger in Portugal #
IDEA Spaces have acquired No Office Work (NOW) creating a network of 5 spaces over 16,500sqm across Lisbon (with a new one launching soon).
👉 Read this.
⛲️ London operator expands into Covent Garden #
James Keisner shares that scope.space are expanding into Covent Garden, offering private offices for between 8 to 40 desks from May this year.
👉 Read this.
💸 More news on WeWork’s debt restructuring and new funding #
Reuters reports that WeWork have announced a deal to cut their debt by $1.5B and extend some of their maturity dates.
In short this means that $1B in debt from SoftBank would be converted to equity, bumping the firms already 46% stake. A further $1.9B in debt would now have a maturity date in 2027, bringing the firms net debt to $2.0B.
👉 Read this.
🆕 A whole new coworking consulting firm launches #
David Walker shares that after 15 years in coworking, and a decade in consulting (which included co-founding OpenWork Agency), it’s time for their next chapter.
Aptly called CoworkingConsulting, the firm will be "doubling down with a community consulting model".
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 Commuter coworking co gets funding and launches 2 new hubs. #
Freddie Fforde shares that Patch have not only secured £3M in funding, but they’re already preparing the launch of two new spaces in commuter hubs of Twickenham and High Wycombe. As part of their announcement, they’re also inviting the public to submit requests for where they should launch more work-near-home spaces.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Jamie Russo digs into what you can do if you’re selling a coworking product that people aren’t searching for on the Everything Coworking podcast.
Stasha Anderson chats with Jamie and Giovanni on the Flex Uncensored podcast about helping investors integrate flex offices into their portfolios.
📆 Coworking events.
🫧 Bursting The B Corp Bubble #
March 30: The London Coworking Assembly invites you to have a different and better conversation about running a profitable, sustainable business centred on your values.
👉 Read this.
👀 IDEA Handbook Launch Watch Party with Parisa Urquhart #
April 5: The European Coworking Assembly is holding a fundraising event to launch the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Handbook.
Parisa Urquhart is a BAFTA winning Scottish/Iranian director and producer based in Scotland, and is known for her work Scotland, Slavery and Statues (2020), Long Live Livi (2020) Sexual Harassment in Co-working Spaces (2019), Glasgow Acknowledging Slavery Glasgow City Council (2017). She is currently raising funds for a documentary on the womens’ uprising in Iran.
👉 Read this.