Cospace.co Grows to Serve All Work Spaces – Austin’s Cospace Coworking Closes

by Paul O'Brien / Tuesday, 22 January 2013 / Published in Local, Startups, Vertical Search

Last week, the Cospace brand evolved to focus on serving entrepreneurs and professionals throughout the world as our web service continues to aggregate and promote work spaces; providing economic and real estate intelligence. In July 2012, we launched https://cospace.co to index and promote every work environment; connecting skilled professionals with the right place to work.

As part of the announcement, BlindOx, LLC, which owned and operated the Cospace coworking space, announced the closure of the space and the end to one of Austin’s original and most iconic coworking brands.

I am very proud of the positive impact Cospace coworking has had in the startup community.”, said Kirtus Dixon, Managing Partner of BlindOx LLC, owner/operator of the Cospace coworking space. “I will be eternally grateful for all of our customers and colleagues, some of who gave of themselves without any expectation of return. It’s been a great run.”

In the past few months, the new, virtual Cospace has grown to serve over 1,000 spaces throughout the United States and is connecting nearly 100,000 professionals, each month, with the ideal work space.

The tangible significance of coworking is that people working in a shared environment, collaborate. Getting out of the home, and into such a work space, fosters business development, job placement, partnerships, and new ideas. The key to economic development is in helping people with skills find the space in which their talent has the most demand. Cospace.co is focused on matching what you do and what you want to do, with the environment in which you are most likely to meet others with whom you can succeed.

Related Questions

What is "startup theater" and why is it a problem?

Startup theater is the performance of ecosystem activity without the economic substance; ribbon cuttings, innovation districts, pitch competitions, and coworking spaces that look like a startup ecosystem but don't produce one. It consumes resources and political attention that could go toward structural reform.

What makes an entrepreneurial person difficult to work with in traditional environments?

Entrepreneurial people do things without waiting for permission, resources, or approval, because they're wired to see what needs to be done and act. In conventional organizational structures, this looks like insubordination, distraction, or poor follow-through. It isn't. It's a fundamentally different operating mode that organizational environments consistently misread as a performance problem when it's actually a management and structure problem.

What are the most important things a mayor or economic development office can actually do?

Separate startups from small businesses in statute and policy language. Coordinate regional venture development with incubators, studios, accelerators, universities, and investors. Establish startup-specific education and curriculum — distinct from generic entrepreneurship or small business programming.

Should governments fund IaaS for startup ecosystems the same way they fund roads?

That's the argument Paul makes directly. A city's economic development office asking whether founders can find the right mentors, connect with the right investors, and access the right deal flow infrastructure is asking whether the city has invested in ecosystem infrastructure, not whether it has hosted pitch competitions. Governments underwriting purpose-built ecosystem infrastructure would produce better outcomes than funding another cohort of another accelerator running on ad hoc tools.

Who is the book written Startup Ecosystems for?

Policymakers, legislators, government officials, ecosystem builders, and economic development professionals, foremost; though too, it's for founders, investors, and policymakers who want scalable outcomes instead of "startup theater." If you're looking for inspiration, this isn't that book. If you want to understand why things aren't working and what to do about it, this is it.