Coworking spaces provide low-cost office space alternatives to startups who want to focus on growing their business instead of spending time and money setting up an office to keep up with their growing needs. Established businesses are using coworking spaces for remote teams and meeting spaces to save time and travel expenses. Coworking spaces offer opportunities to connect with a diverse community of business professionals in your area. The collaborative, electric atmosphere has proven to attract a growing list of startups that include these successful businesses:
- InstagramWho doesn’t use or at least know about the app that inspired the selfie, along with providing a visual platform for photographers, food and travel bloggers, as well as social influencers? After a number of preliminary ventures, in 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched the wildly popular photo-sharing app. Working in a San-Francisco coworking space, the team spent eight weeks developing the app that first launched on Apple’s iOS® operating system and was sold one and a half years later to Facebook for a cool $1 billion in cash and stocks.
- UberA year earlier, also starting out in a San Francisco coworking space, co-founders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp hatched an idea that would help with the horrendous taxicab problem in the San Francisco area. Their little idea, Uber, put the brakes on traditional taxicab services, opening up a convenient, affordable way to get around San Francisco.
Operating in 633 cities worldwide, according to Market Realist.com, Uber is funded by big names, such as Google Ventures and Fidelity Ventures. Uber has also teamed up with Amazon Flex to deliver packages and now offers a service called UberEats to deliver food to hungry consumers. - SpotifyAfter launching in Sweden in 2006, Spotify finally launched from San Francisco’s RocketSpace in the US in 2011 after long and arduous negotiations with US record labels. The popular music streaming service has a long-term goal “to get everyone in the world to use Spotify,” Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. Spotify is now worth about $8 billion, with over 180 million active monthly users, in more than 61 countries, including 71 million who subscribe to Spotify Premium.
- TimehopOriginally called 4SquareAnd7YearsAgo, Timehop was created at Foursquare’s Hackathon in February 2011. A nostalgia app for the digital age, Timehop allows Facebook users to share any previous posts and pics they’ve ever shared on Facebook. Users find Timehop a fun way to share memories and reconnect with others in their photos and posts. Jonathan Wegener says that the coworking space “gave him a real platform to launch from” and sees coworking spaces as technology hubs of the future. “Having an awesome home for independent workers and entrepreneurs is crucial to New York City’s goal to become a major technology hub,” Wegener said.
- WanderflyIn 2011, Christy Liu, along with three other co-founders and a small staff working at Soho’s Prospective Space in lower Manhattan, set out to create a platform she described as, “a travel inspiration site that helps people discover new experiences based on their budgets and interests.” Liu believed that something needed to be done about the restrictive search parameters available to travelers planning trips. She thought by working with a close-knit team and other creative types, in a shared space, her team could find a way to broaden search parameters and results in order to inspire travelers planning trips. In the space of a year after Wanderfly launched, TripAdvisor purchased the travel app for an undisclosed sum.
- IndiegogoLaunched as a way to fund independent film projects at 2008’s Sundance Film Festival. Co-founder Danae Ringelmann, a Wall Street analyst, along with co-founders Eric Schell and Slava Rubin, wanted to find a way to democratize fundraising. Now, Indiegogo has raised over $800 million for 600,000 projects in some 223 countries. One of the biggest crowdfunding portals to date and a go-to portal for startups and entrepreneurs, Indiegogo supports a broad range of startups, in all phases of development, from the idea process to the marketplace.
- Charity: WaterNot all coworking space members are involved in business ventures. Scott Harrison’s non-profit brainchild of an idea to supply clean water to developing countries launched in 2006 in a New York coworking hub. Since then, Charity: Water has funded over 27,000 projects, providing clean water to 84 million people around the globe. Harrison was recognized by Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 list, in addition to Forbes Magazines Impact 30 list. Currently a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, you can pre-order Harrison’s new book, Thirst to support this cause.
Venture X Naples offers the space you need to bring your entrepreneurial dreams to life. Upscale, yet affordable, Venture X Naples connects you with the resources to grow your business in a well-appointed contemporary shared office environment. Working around other like-minded professionals, you can connect and collaborate in a welcoming community with flexible monthly contracts. If motivation and productivity that leads to success is your jam, come visit Venture X Naples to schedule a tour of your new workplace. Located in the Mercato neighborhood near outstanding shopping, dining, and entertainment venues, you can also stand on Naples’ white, sandy beaches, only a matter of minutes and a short bike ride from our location. Truly motivating.
