Are you tired of your monotonous 9 to 5 and searching for your next big thing? Often times finding yourself daydreaming about what you could have done or what you’ll do one day. Galvanize is where you go to explore your next steps. The coworking space currently have 8 campuses with over 3,000 students. Their mission is making education and growth accessible to anyone – especially underrepresented groups in the tech industry.
Mindset of learning
What sets Galvanize apart is their concentration on learning as a way to grow. They have over 200 mentors and hold over 15 workshops a month. This really brings in a lot of resources for entrepreneurs, startups and growing companies. They know that each stage needs different resources as they grow. The programs include web development and data science. The campuses offer several options such as full time, part-time and online classes. Their immersive course runs for a span of 12 to 13 weeks.
Tech Ecosystem
The great part about Galvanize is that it is an ecosystem of students, entrepreneurs and companies which means that each lend well into the other. As students graduate from their course, they’re able to get a head start and apply for open positions at the companies at Galvanize. Having a common area as a coworking space allows everyone to co-mingle and build relationships between companies and tech talent.
Mentor and community
What I’ve personally found appealing is that Galvanize has quality mentors. They’re relevant and on the ground doing the work that they’re mentoring you for. Many of these people aren’t circulated in every other program and accelerator. Therefore they have a lot more capacity to work with you.
Furthermore the community is collaborative but also tends to keep to themselves. This is wonderful in being able to get work done but also having the comfort of seeing familiar faces. As you walk into the front entrance, you’ll notice clipboards with every company working out of the space. It’s a great way to get some visibility for your company as well as familiarize yourself with others.
What’s It Like Working Here
When Galvanize first opened up, they had the unfortunate timing of being in a building under construction. With inconveniences such as internet outages and construction noise, they’re now able to reap the benefits of their sought after location. The space is located within walking distance to Trader Joe’s, Austin Central Library and several brand new restaurants like Flower Child.
Outside of location, some of my favorite aspects of Galvanize is their layout. I love large working spaces. They made a wonderful decision by bringing in glass tables and setting up dry erase markers. It keeps me from wasting paper as I brainstorm and creates usable working space in interesting ways. It’s still one of my favorite work setups to this day! Small details like this is what makes each coworking space special.
Furthermore the space is broken up into several floors. The top two floors is for the data science and web development classes. Each floor has a large conference room and the main 1st floor is often used for events during the week. Whether you’re looking to flesh out your idea by talking to mentors or just looking to get some work done, come check out Galvanize and see if it’s right for you.