Jerome Chang, founder of BLANKSPACES, discussed the evolution of the coworking industry since opening his first location in 2008 with Lucy McInally. Back then there were fewer than a dozen coworking spaces existed in the US. BLANKSPACES now operates 8 locations across the greater LA region, serving a member base that is 75% entrepreneurs and freelancers and 25-30% corporate clients.

Chang, who has an architecture background, noted the industry is at an inflection point with high vacancy rates creating opportunistic real estate opportunities, though mature operators are favoring revenue sharing or management agreements over traditional leases. Chang emphasized LA County, with 10M people, remains underserved compared to markets like London.