First Taste of Co-working

The co-working industry became part of my life on accident. After 4+ years working in sales/corporate operations/legal at a global technology company, my desire to transition to the real estate industry led me to an interview room in an architect's office in downtown San Francisco. I was interviewed by two leaders of a shared office space enterprise, and they offered me an opportunity to open and manage their first space in downtown San Francisco. How could I pass this up?

My first task was to set up shop in a co-working space called WeWork. Our office space was still under construction and a WeWork was conveniently located a block from my house. This was my first taste of the industry, and immediately I thought, "Well duh." The concept was great - I felt like I was in a library (albeit a loud one), but able to take advantage of community perks like cucumber water, conference rooms, printers and an energetic staff. I had free reins to come and go as I pleased, even though I was essentially "on the clock". One day, three different people came up to talk to me and ask what I was working on. There were free-lancers, remote workers and eager CEO-types running around 5,000 sq. ft floors. We were bumping elbows, but the energy of the space was undeniable. Whatever this was, it was a success.

When we opened the doors of our space a month later, we had taken the 26,000 square foot shell of prime real estate and converted it into 29 business suites. Dry wall partitions, 20+ ft. ceilings, interconnecting doors, exposed brick, plug and play workstations, conference rooms, cafe space. Furniture started to slowly pile in. We went to Office Depot to stock our mail center, IKEA to buy benches to put under earthquake beams to pass inspection, and CB2 to find additional design accents. We hired an office manager. One of the first tasks keeping me late at the office was checking all the wiring under each desk and zip tying as needed to ensure the desks looked neat. 300+ workstations, all numbered with port numbers to make sure our IT team in Orange County could manage the system remotely on a per desk basis. I started touring prospective clients who found us through a broker or via Google search. Some prospects pushed back and kept asking about "hidden costs" like guest passes or set-up fees. Others walked through with dollar signs in their eyes, shaking my hand at the end of the tour with a slow, deliberate compliment: "You guys did a GREAT job here".

My accidental transition into the world of co-working was not a moment too soon - over 34% of the workforce in America identify as freelancers. WeWork, the most well funded provider of co-working space, is valued at $10 billion. We had 96.2 million mobile workers in the U.S. as of 2015. And co-working isn't just for freelancers and tech start-ups. Large corporate companies and landlords want to reap the benefits of flexible office space, be it to drive additional revenue or save costs.

Not a moment to soon...