3. Mike Larosa Talks 2015 Coworking Trends Live from the Asia Unconference
“The future of coworking is truly community, if you can find a few people with some similar interest or similar work projects, people just want to be around like minded individuals. So as long as there are people that have opinions, and have different perceptions on the work they want to do, I think that there will always be room for another type of coworking space or a space with a different type of focus.” - Mike LaRosa
About Mike LaRosa:
Mike is a self diagnosed coworkalcoholic, he helped to open a coworking space in Kansas City, and a year and a half later became a producer for GCUC!
What coworking space do you frequent?
Mike used to be at Affinity Lab in DC, but it closed because of redevelopment, so 10 members from that coworking space went to WeWork Wonder Bread Factory around the corner and rented a space from them. A coworking group with in a coworking space! Mike also spends a lot of time at Cove, which has an hourly model and is considered a productivity space, as opposed to a coworking space.
GCUC Unconferences this Year:
Mike is on the planning team for GCUC USA being hosted in Berkeley, CA in May 6,7, & 8th. GCUC is also going to be hosting conferences in Sydney, Australia and Toronto, Canada this year!
Coworking Trends in 2015
(This interview was inspired by a similar post on GCUC.co
Trend #1: Current Coworking operators will supply the majority of the explosive growth in the market. Mike talks about how larger operators are finally building enough momentum to grow at the rate they had hoped to.
Trend #2: It will rain money. Mike explains candidates that are most likely to invest in coworking growth are regional & local real estate developers, network as much as possible, reach out to developers.
Trend #3: Specialization will continue to thrive. Mike discusses how existing coworking spaces and coworking spaces that are being developed are being specialized to fit into a specific niche. “The future of coworking is truly community, if you can find a few people with some similar interest or similar work projects, people just want to be around like minded individuals. So as long as there are people that have opinions, and have different perceptions on the work they want to do, I think that there will always be room for another type of coworking space or a space with a different type of focus.” - Mike LaRosa
Trend #4: Coworking in new physical locations. Mike explains that there’s some developments that are building coworking spaces as amenities to residential building, there’s some developers that are taking it to the next level. The Drew companies out of Boston were the first to take on a chance in the Seaport district, now that people are moving there, the units are quite small, but the amenities are great, it’s more than just a business center, they’ve put in a full blown coworking space, they rent it out, and residents can use it because many of them are working at home.
Trend #5: Coworking growth is finally expanding to traditionally underserved markets. Mike talks about a person he just met a GCUC Asia who has opened the first coworking spaces in Vietnam and in Cambodia, explaining that in less developed countries, coworking spaces are changing the way people view their lives. People in these countries don’t believe that they can make more of their lives, but these spaces are being opened by ex-patriots and they are starting to reach out to the locals and provide them with the space to be entrepreneurs.
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:
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