Adrian Johnson, founder of Elyos AI and member of Y Combinator’s 2023 cohort, shared YC’s official new joiner manual guidance that explicitly discourages startups from using coworking spaces. The accelerator’s manual states YC doesn’t believe in coworking because it already provides community, citing concerns that open coworking spaces are loud and distracting, can overshadow a startup’s internal culture, and often house companies "going through the motions without truly being serious." YC argues the best startups have weird ideas and need private space with closed doors to operate differently from average startups.

The manual specifically mentions WeWork, advising founders who use it to secure enclosed offices rather than hot desks.

Worth noting that YC has backed Commery, Innov8, Deskimo, FlexDesk, AND Tandem, who are all in/around the coworking space, plus 2,700+ B2B startups who sell into or to coworking spaces.

Veery, co-founded by Johnny Yeh and Vickey Li (both previously at coworking brand OnePiece Work), has developed an innovative approach to office management by "fractionalizing" the role for companies with 5-25 employees. The company focuses on transforming affordable Class B buildings into premium Class A experiences by providing comprehensive office management services to the tenants, at approximately 25% of the cost of a full-time on-staff manager.

Veery’s process involves understanding each client’s culture and needs through an intensive month-long onboarding process, creating spaces that reflect company values and making offices truly "commute-worthy." The startup has built strategic partnerships with venture capital firms and property managers, positioning itself as a solution for the post-pandemic workplace where companies need quality office experiences but can’t justify full-time management staff.

We’re seeing new services like Veery, Codi and Tandem fill in various voids within the CRE market for small businesses that are looking for dedicated space of their own, but with the amenities or flexible terms of coworking. Industy leaders have been exploring spinning out coworking-perfected solutions to provide enterprise-level type services without the enterprise-sized price tag.

Compton has officially launched Compton Concierge, a new service designed to streamline the management of workspaces for businesses. The service aims to take care of all aspects of office administration, allowing companies to focus on their core operations rather than workplace logistics.

This is yet another firm that is combining different needs and providers, similar to Tandem – as discussed on this recent episode of the TWIC podcast.

In this episode of the This Week in Coworking podcast, Hector welcomes Rafi Sands from Tandem where they discuss the platform’s unique position in the flex space industry, their recent shift from fractional offices to offering flexible, short-term lease arrangements, andtheir recent $6.1M funding round.

Rafi Sands shares that Tandem, a booking platform that is focused on serving occupiers that want their own, private office space on flex terms has raised $6.1 M in funding. They offer plug-and-play dedicated private office space that comes fully equipped and furnished on month-to-month terms.

ICYMI: They spun out from a team at Stanford, gone through Y Combinator, and have customers like Morning Brew and Product Hunt.