i think it would be interesting to gather definitions of co-working from everyone participating in the discussion to see where the common touch points are and as a way to gauge needs/wants in a space...Here is mine, a professional space to work/socialize with the ability to network/leverage the resources of those around you; a housing for shared ideas and creativity while allowing the individual/team to come together in one place to execute on a plan.  To borrow from business week where the coffee shop meets the cubicle...

Jack and Alan you mention expanding into product companies, an interesting company to look at is P’Kolino  http://www.pkolino.com/index.php?main_page=about_us the company launched out of a semester of work between 2 Babson MBA students and several RISD students and a professor.  That was 2 years ago and they are still  going strong continuing to develop products and  grow as an organization. 

 

 

Thorne to address your point and piggy back on Alan, I am not sure the volume needs to be all that different that the traditional VC model, how many "home runs" does a VC see per fund?  I would argue that if you have 2-3 home runs you are doing very well.  I would also suggest that the majority of the investments over the past 5 years are singles and doubles.  If you look at the model of YC success is defined as getting to the next stage, funding, acquisition, or in the rare case self funding from a revenue model.  Also I have yet to meet a VC that is searching for business plans to read; I heard an interesting metric that while it may have changed slightly over the past few years but the thinking is one out of 10 investments will be a success.  In fact currently funds are looking for creative ways to put money to work without expecting a home run return, look at some of the funds in Boston that have opened up part of their current funds as a loan facility on the level of typical angel investments   We are also seeing the true angel investor moving upstream so the question is how does a great idea get funded initially? 

I think if you read the original comments from Alan the point is the company never would have been started were it not for YC, and that is the group I think Ala is trying to reach.  YC does not depend on huge numbers, yes they may see a large pool of applicants but they are from all over the world and they work with only a few each semester.  I guess a question for you is how do you invest in a team or idea that has no revenue or product but you believe in and allow the founders to align themselves with investors?  Your comments seem to suggest that you only provide larger sums than a typical angel would.  From this I would infer that you are also asking for a large piece of the equity to manage your risk exposure.  I think what YC and others are trying to do is allow the team to still retain ownership in their idea but move the ball forward.

Owen:  Yes, yes, and YES  not only is there a place for this in RI there is a need from 2 perspectives: keeping RI on the move to attract the all important "high paying technology" jobs we all here so much about but also to meet the nascent community coming out of our great educational institutions.  RI has so many benefits going for it; small size, we are talking about a distance shorter from border to border than SF to San Jose, lower cost of living than Boston or New York, great potential workspaces in reclaimed mills/warehouses, access to brilliant minds and capital, proximity to Boston and the entire eastern seaboard. 

 

 

Sounds great and you might be able to attract others who for one reason or another may not attend Geeks.  WHat's the worst that happens, you have an excuse for a cup of coffee in a different place.  Count me in, where and when?