Author: Vi Nguyen

Keep Austin Weird. Shop Local. It’s how Austinites think and it’s what makes us what we are. This is also what makes Austin Coworking a great resource for newcomers as it’s overwhelming to learn and identify what works best. Austin is great at creating that local feel with a particular niche. The only problem is that it requires you to invest time in getting to know your community.

To every mom and pop shop, there’s always that mega store that will consistently deliver the same quality and experience no matter where you’re at. I remember walking down Las Ramblas in Barcelona and joked, “it smells like Subway.” Right as I said that, I turned around and lo and behold, there was a Subway. The exact same smell. The exact same feel and I can only assume, the exact same taste. This is what franchises do best. That is what WeWork has been able to do; create the same quality and experience but yet still shine in bringing in the feel of the community.

WeWork started in 2008 and was originally called Green Desk. Little did the founders Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey know, that WeWork would become the most valuable startup in NYC in 2015. WeWork’s mission is turning “me” into “we” and credits community as their catalyst.

I think every coworking has the “danger” of being less productive over time as you get to know more people but I think WeWork Congress has an interesting vibe. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time to get to know the community here and my perspective is biased but I found working in the main lobby of WeWork Congress to be quite refreshing. The community is friendly and will say hello but gets the clue when you’re busy. Each community will differ depending on the type of entrepreneurs that work there and you’ll have to check out and test each one to see what fits best.

WeWork now has 5 offices in Austin with the Barton Springs location being the most recent. They do best in attracting newcomers who are overwhelmed with the growing selection of coworking spaces by being the familiar face in town. Every WeWork you walk into, you can expect some of the same traits as the ones you’ve been to in the past: your flavored fruit water, open kitchen and urban feel.

What I specifically like about the WeWork Congress space is that it’s a very convenient location. I typically stay and/or have meetings around downtown. If you have a lot of meetings with people coming from out of town, many choose to stay in downtown. This makes it a great choice to work from. It’s relatively central in downtown so walking to Houndstooth, Capital Factory, or Café Medici is simple and easy.

It wouldn’t make as much sense if you’re just a solo entrepreneur and looking to find a space to work. Unless you know the ins and outs of downtown, it can be a very frustrating place to work from every day. They do have a parking lot but that only adds to the high cost of coworking.

A couple of quick (entrepreneur minded/wallet safe) tips on parking downtown:

1. Avoid lunch meetings if possible (11am-1pm) as it’s essentially impossible to find parking
2. If you’re only there for a couple of hours, parking on 6^th street is free for the first 2 hours
3. Some areas of East Austin are free all Monday if you plan to stay for a while and don’t mind the hike

The movement of the sharing economy started in the early 2000’s and has evolved into a broader range of platforms. With technology, the ability to work remotely affects a far larger amount of people. So it makes sense that people are looking for more variety in their chosen work places. I personally have a list of places I love to go based on mood or what I need to get done. Therefore, I was thrilled to add Craft, Austin’s creative hub for DIY, to my list of places that inspire.

Back to Kindergarten

Remember back when you were little and you got to play with paints and glitter and made a spectacular creation/mess? Then the teacher would help you clean up or you just walked away and went to take a nap? Well Craft essentially is kindergarten all over again minus the nap. As they put it, “where you go to be a kid. No kids allowed” haha.  The owner, Eli started Craft back in 2013 because she was tired of buying so many craft supplies when all she needed was a little. You can walk in and pay $10/hour to create to your heart’s desire. As Eli found out, occasional crafting is an industry which is why it’s relevant to Austin’s coworking community. Most people don’t consider themselves as creative so it’s less of a commit than to buy $$$ of craft supplies, only to figure out you’re not all that great or you don’t like it. Craft allows you to dip your toes without the financial commit. The staff are also super helpful to teach you how to use everything there too!

Work + Play = Success

I sat down and talked with Hannah, Craft’s manager, about how they started offering coworking space. Just like many businesses who started based on the sharing economy, they found that often times their space was not being utilized throughout the day. That’s when they decided to open the space up for events and coworking. One story Hannah talked about was when a CIA agent spent here afternoons doing her work there and took breaks to make creative cards! Two clearly different activities illustrate the benefits of working different parts of our brain. As Hannah mentions, being creative is “equally as important as working out.”

Outside of being one of the best places for a first date as mentioned in the Austinite Magazine, Craft is a perfect way to add that work life balance. Based on the article, Inside Your Brain: When You Have a Creative Idea, “flashes of insight are those aha-moments when relaxing our mind, and without thinking methodological and logically, we are coming up with significant solutions…Studies have shown, that we are actually thinking differently when we have a creative moment like that, than when we are coming up with routine or logical solutions.” It may sound counter intuitive but if you have an important decision to make or you’re stumped on a particular challenge, busting out the crayons or digging through Craft’s largest stamp collection in Texas may be your answer.

Who Should Go

As with any coworking space, each space caters to a different set of personalities and goals. I honestly feel that everyone should at least visit even if a month of coworking isn’t right for them. There’s no harm in some occasional crafting! For those who are committed to actually coworking for the full month or more, I’d say that flexibility is the key word here. Since Craft is still figuring out what works for them, their coworking hours available tend to depend on events booked. Therefore it makes a lot of sense that the cost is reasonably at $60/month. If you’re looking for a place buzzing with people and to network, try another place. But if you’re looking for a quiet space filled with inspiration and possibility then head on over to Craft!

It all starts with an idea. You ponder whether it’s good enough to start a real company. One day, you take the leap. Soon, you’ve convinced another friend to to help you build out this idea. Before you know it, you have a product released and have your first customers. Sales get so overwhelming that you need to hire more people to handle the load. You go from a couple of people working remotely to a small team working together in cafes. Eventually coffee shops aren’t cutting it so you move to coworking spaces. Things go well for quite awhile until you raise your first institutional round and realize you have to do a lot of hiring. Not only are you overwhelmed with all the decisions involved in growing your company but you’re also tasked with finding where to office out of.

This is the pain point that several coworking spaces including Work Well Coworking East Austin is looking to address. Too many times have you heard of companies leasing out massive spaces and then having to find creative ways to lease out the extra space. That’s actually the exact story of the founder of Journey Coworking, the space prior to Work Well Coworking East Austin. The previous founder decided to buy a warehouse but had additional space and repurposed it as a coworking space. Eventually he chose to concentrate on his growing company but it shows a real problem in office space as Austin continues to grow.

Austin’s Growing Tech Scene

Austin has been infamously nabbed as a place to start a company but not grow it. Too often you’ll hear of startups having to go outside of Texas to raise larger rounds. You ask Bay Area or NYC investors and few will acknowledge any real opportunity in funding in Texas. 2017 was a rough year in terms of funding as summarized in an article by Mary Ann Azevedo at Crunchbase, “Austin’s venture scene went on a roller coaster ride in the first three quarters of this year: down, then way up, then way down.” The article expresses optimism of new funds and changes coming in 2018.

With new opportunities in capital, Austin is now seeing a problem with everything else that follows after a company raises their series A or is in a growth stage. This is also the prime opportunity for spaces to take advantage of solving this pain point.

Wellness As You Grow

Work Well Win is a national coworking space that started in Greenwich, CT. Their next expansion into Austin led to Work Well Coworking East Austin which is a launching pad to their much larger space Work Well Eightfold on 3443 Ed Bluestein Blvd. The new space will have a yoga studio, cafe with local Austin products showcasing companies in the space and an Alpaca vending machine. You’ll notice as you walk through the kitchen at Work Well Coworking East Austin that all their snacks and beverage options are organic and/or health conscious.

What Work Well is good at is logistically planning out what companies need as they grow. When you first walk into their space you’ll notice a beautiful lobby with a glass encompassed conference room. The area is sectioned off with an area for hot seats in the common area by the kitchen/bar and a more quiet area (no music blaring) on the opposite side for companies with 6 or less people. Once a company grows to a larger size, they’ll upgrade upstairs and have their own private conference room next to their team work space. Lastly, when they’ve grown to a medium sized startup and need their own space but don’t want to commit to a several year lease, they can go to the Work Well Eightfold location. No matter what stage you’re at, Work Well Coworking has a space for you.

We’ve all been there before. You’re cranking out a good amount of work and then you realize you have to take a bathroom break. You disconnect from your laptop, take a couple of steps and run into Steve from Company X. You guys get to chatting and catch up on what’s been happening at each other’s perspective companies. 20 minutes later you realize you still need to hit the bathroom so you guys talk about grabbing happy hour later in the week. You finally make it to the bathroom and then on your walk back, you run into Suzy at Company Y. 40 minutes after you took your break you’re finally back at your seat.

This is a common problem at large coworking spaces. Here are a few tips I’ve found to be helpful when you need to get work done but still enjoy the coworking space.

1. Wear Headphones

This sounds silly but it’s actually a very effective tool. Very few people will go up to you when you’re working if you have your headphones in as it’s an unspoken rule that you’re busy. Although not fool proof, you can get away with this most of the time as long as it’s obvious that you have earplugs in–avoid using wireless earbuds. You can easily pass as if you’re on a call or just into your work.

2. Plan Ahead

If you have flexibility in your schedule to work, where and when you want, I’ve found it helpful to create a hybrid work schedule. I typically will plan to have more of a maker’s schedule at the beginning of the week. This allows me to plan out my week and know what meetings I have in the next couple of days and what needs to be done. With this in mind, I’ll typically seclude myself in the quiet areas at a coworking space or even during the morning hours at a local coffee shop if I’m in a time crunch.

I’ll then take meetings or do team calls later in the week. For this, I make sure I have all my conference rooms booked and give myself 30 mins in between meetings. This allows for any spillover in meetings but also allows you to mingle and talk to your fellow coworkers.

3. Know What You Need

Every person and company have different needs so it makes sense that not all coworking spaces are the same. With this in mind, it’s helpful to know if you’re at a stage where you need a network vs when you just need to get things done. This is not only important for your productivity but you’ll also limit your opportunities if you’re stuck in a place that doesn’t have what you need.

Don’t forget to do your research or just go test them out for a day. Although most spaces will offer similar amenities, you’ll quickly find that each has it’s own culture and strengths. Most will have a day pass or even a free day of coworking.

4. Just Tell People You’re Busy

It’s simple enough but always a bit harder to do especially if you’re a social person. Keep yourself accountable to your work. You can nicely tell a fellow coworker that you’re on a time crunch or need to get to work. We all understand as we’re also in the same boat. You’ll have more time next time to catch up!