Nate has a good take on coworking. It’s interesting first because he’s in NY where they seem to have the same issues we’ve been discussing here in recent weeks, I especially like this part;
By centralizing ourselves — as with anything else — we can create massive efficiencies, addressing issues of resources, such as cost of rent, utilities, and labor. By incorporating a community cafe we open to a broader community, and an open culture is created around the incubator, making cafeBricolage more like a hot-plate than an closed incubator.
There’s a spectrum of people interested in coworking, some more on the creative side and some more towards the startup side—not that they are exclusive, on the contrary and that’s why coworking is interesting—and when talking about the startup / small company side the word incubator inevitably comes out but that’s not what we want to accomplish, even Austin who is also thinking as an Angel funder isn’t interested in a “classic” incubator.
Coworking spaces are much more organic, they are about people meeting up in a way that makes them all more creative / productive / involved, not about fostering new companies, that’s just a possible side effect. Even though it could also be seen as a higher pressure version of an incubator, I think the “hot-plate” analogy is fantastic when seen as one space where many things can be happening / cooking at the same time.