A few months ago I attended the first Coworking Unconference in Austin right before SXSW Interactive started. My earlier review of the conference mentioned the wide and varied range of topics discussed by the coworking community (e.g. business models) but I also met some great entrepreneurs running coworking spaces. One entrepreneur in particular is Liz Elam, the founder of Link Coworking in Austin, TX. Do a quick LinkedIn search on Liz and you can see she has had an amazing career in corporate America; most recently as Global Account Manager for Dell. What is interesting is that in a recent interview she mentions that she worked out of her home for nine years and felt a bit isolated. Like many of us she tried to hold meetings at Starbucks and it was a challenge to talk over the din of the espresso griders and cold drink blenders. So she decided to build a place that she wanted to go to work every morning and the idea for Link Coworking was born.
I recently had a chance to catch up with her and talk to her about her rapidly growing coworking space. I asked her about why she got started doing a coworking space. She responded that “I started to think about Coworking before Coworking was what this movement was called. I worked out of my home for 9 years in Atlanta and dreamed of a W Hotel lobby meets office space. I looked around for something like Coworking in 2002 and didn’t find anything. At the time I was happily employed at Dell Inc. with no desire to make a change.”
Coworking for an untapped audience
To build a great product you need to do your research and that is just what she did. She said that she “researched Coworking for a year and wrote about 17 versions of the business model.” She went on to note that “to date I have visited over 20 coworking spaces from NYC to LA.” I asked her about the market she wanted to serve and she said that “from the very beginning I had a vision of what I thought the space layout should look like. After visiting a bunch of spaces I changed a few things but for the most part my visits just solidified my vision.”
She talked about her SXSW experience – “I was very fortunate to be asked to join Clay Spinuzzi (UT professor) on a panel at SXSW in 2010. At that panel Lekan Bashu from Turnstone was in the audience. Lekan was looking for Coworking business’ in Austin to partner with and contacted me about forming such a partnership. I did form a partnership with Turnstone and they assisted me in the design of the space and gave me a killer discount on the furniture. It was a dream come true to be able to furnish the space with high quality furniture that my members could camp at for hours on end. I always knew furniture would be pivotal to the comfort of my guests. The business model was typical of a Coworking space.”
We asked her about being one of the more sophisticated coworking spaces in the nation and she remarked that “lately I’ve been deemed the ‘grown-up’ Coworking space. At first I didn’t like that because I’m not a fan of growing up. I then reflected and thought…I am a grown up and so are my members. I guess it’s something I should embrace. At first I thought I would differentiate by being a more “professional” space but I didn’t like how that sounded. Then I thought I would be the space with predominantly female membership. I started out with an overwhelming amount of females but now I’m about 60% male 40% female and it changes all the time. I think one of the key things that sets Link apart is that Link is my only focus. I’m not running other business’, I don’t have another job, Link is what I do.”
Great people make a coworking space great
We then discussed what makes her space great and her quick response was of course, the people. She remarked that “people are always trying pigeonhole me into saying I’m after this type of business or that. The truth is, I don’t care what you do as long as you need the space and are open to being part of a community. All members are interviewed before joining and required to spend a day with us before they can qualify for membership. If you want to put on a headset, turn your back and be left alone, Link isn’t the space for you.” She listed a wide variety of people that use Link Coworking:
- Marketing research (casey@cbresearchservices.com)
- Consultants
- A pastor (Michael@northvillagechurch.com)
- A non-profit (Tierneyoda@gmail.com)
- An attorney
- Realators (Laurie@giverealtyaustin.com)
The future and evolution of coworking
We I think that the current Coworking environment is fascinating. You have a group like the HUB across 5 continents and planning for an additional 60 locations. We’ve started to see a cookie cutter model coming to market as well. However, the Coworking movement is predominantly comprised of independents who are furiously trying to protect what they view as the “pure” model of Coworking. The problem with this model is that it doesn’t seem to allow for scale or profitability. I believe that in the future you will see Coworking fracture into two distinct groups, those that embrace a sustainable for profit model and those that reject it. We will see an association form with lots of grumbling and further dissemination between the groups. I believe that Coworking will grow in record numbers as more and more companies adopt remote worker models and more small business examine Coworking in order to save costs and increase mindshare. I believe there are many versions of Coworking to come:
- Corporate Coworking Centers (large companies opening up badged, secure Coworking centers in city centers)
- Coworking focused on Education verticals (grad students, college students)
- Coworking focused on specific business verticals (lobbyists, pharmaceutical reps,designers)
- Coworking in collaboration with city government
- Coworking in quiet spaces (writers, etc.)
If you want to cowork in Austin there is a desk waiting for you
Liz Elam’s model is one that is unique and breaking the mold of coworking. If you are in Austin you can be a member for $200 a month with a one year contract or $250 a month for a month-to-month membership. You can buy a 10-vist pack for $300 which is good for a two-month period. They also rent out small and large conference rooms for half and full days which is great if you are hosting client meetings. According to their site your membership provides these amenities:
- New sassy, ergonomic office furniture (from our partnership with Turnstone)
- Meeting rooms and conference room at reduced rates
- Fast, wireless internet connection
- Excellent coffee and snacks
- Phone booth for step in step out privacy
- Covered outdoor seating in a green courtyard
- Outlets at every seat
- Clean, bright, beautiful space designed specifically for coworking
To learn more about Link Coworking check them out at http://www.linkcoworking.com/ or make a visit to 2700 West Anderson Lane, Ste 205, Austin, TX.
