There are currently estimated to be 35,000 coworking spaces worldwide. That's more locations than Starbucks.
Remote work is exploding!
We talk to Jamie Orr, who escaped the daily grind of Silicon Valley to set up a coworking space in Tahoe. Like any great entrepreneur, Jamie then launched a company called JellySwitch to help solve many of the challenges she had as the owner of a coworking space.
We talk to Jamie about:
- How Jame and her husband decided to escape their high-pressure jobs in Silicon Valley to embrace the remote work life in Tahoe.
- Jamie gives us the complete rundown of what it's like to be a coworking owner, including common challenges, how to attract members, and how they make money.
- Why Jamie created JellySwitch and how it helps owners of coworking spaces to both acquire and engage with their members.
Happy Growing!
Time Stamped Notes
[3:30] - Jamie tells us about studying condensed matter physics
[6:20] - Jamie talks to us about how her background in physics has helped her as an entrepreneur.
[10:50]- James and her husband moved from Silicon Valley to Tahoe to escape the daily grind of work. Once they had moved, they felt Tahoe would be the perfect escape for other people who felt the same way and wanted to get out of the city, so they started a coworking space.
[12:40] - We talk about how Jame attracted people to her coworking space
[14:40] - Jamie founded her new company Jellyswitch to solve the problems she had as the owner of a coworking space.
[15:50] - There are currently estimated to be 35,000 coworking spaces worldwide. That's more locations than Starbucks.
[16:15] - Before launching Jellyswitch, Jamie spent a lot of time digging into the problems owners of coworking spaces had.
[18:50] - Some of the most common challenges of running a coworking space is making sure people can access the building, get into a meeting room, log into their work. There is also a lot of work to keep track of finances, resources for the coworking space, like coffee.
[21:15] - Being a small startup, Jamie prioritizes features her members would value first.
[22:45] - The thing that hooks coworking owners into using Jellyswitch is the features it provides to help them with member acquisition and engagement.
[26:00] - It's estimated that by 2030, 30% of commercial office space will be dedicated to flexible workspace, it's currently at about 2%. There is a massive opportunity around the flexible workspace industry.
[28:00] - Jamie talks through how her coworking business makes money. As someone who owns both the building and the business, she makes a profit on the real estate improving in value and on member subscriptions. Jamie feels you need to have 100+ members to have a profitable coworking space.
– Jamie on Twitter / LinkedIn
– Kieran on Twitter / LinkedIn / Medium
– Scott on Twitter / Linked / Medium
Topics: Podcast, Founder, Remote Work
