Why You Should Share Office Space

My name is Mike and I run Product at Kinglet and I want to share one of the main reasons I joined the team.

A few years ago I was working on a mobile app company with my partner (our own Kinglet CTO). We were working out of his basement. Three to four days a week I'd make the drive into Baltimore City and the other few days I'd work at home. We had a few outsourcers that were completely remote, but felt it was important that the two of us were together as much as we could be, in order to build the business.

And it was fine.

But then I took a trip to help an old colleague with some UX work. The goal was to collaborate with the team and understand the product they were trying to build, then present a few concepts. As I worked alongside them I began to realize something was missing from my own company. Being surrounded by energized people all working toward a common goal for 3 days opened my eyes to the lack of energy and positivity that we were generating from our basement office.

The realization was so profound for me that as soon as I got back, my partner and I began looking for office options. At the time there was nothing like Kinglet, and outside of a Google search we had no clue where to look. We settled on space in a great co-working location. A space in our system - The ETC, which was also our home in the early days of Millennial Media, where we both worked previously.

We immediately saw a difference in our business and in ourselves. There was a boost from being around people, from feeding off their energy and knowing that they were feeding off of ours.

At Kinglet, we use the term "creative collisions" when we're explaining the benefits of sharing space vs. working at home or in a coffee shop. It's an organic effect that comes from being in the same space as another team. It's a benefit that you don't know until you know it. Bumping into someone in the kitchen that later introduces you to your new VP of Engineering or overhearing a conversation between two founders struggling for a solution to a question that you know the answer to because you were in the exact same situation the previous week. Just like most everything in life we succeed more often (and more quickly) with other people.

The collisions that occurred for us at The ETC introduced us to partners that increased our sales and saved us money on our marketing efforts. Beyond that I met some great people who are still important in my life today.

These collisions don't always happen in your office, which is why I always recommend sharing your story to whomever will listen, but by choosing the right space to work you improve your odds of the chance encounter that CAN take your business to new heights.

So, when Alex, our CEO approached me about joining Kinglet it was a pretty easy sell, because I already believed in the mission. I had already lived it.

As I talk to our users I hear it over and over again. They didn't know all that they'd gain from the experience. They're making more money or they see an increase in output from their team or they just love their space and feel happier. I envision a major skew in startup success, productivity and employee happiness from those companies who are part of the office sharing ecosystem.

That's why I joined. But now, being in it every day, I'm even more excited. We're creating tools to make those serendipitous moments less happenstance and more by design, which will change everything again.

So, if you're reading this from your local coffeeshop or home office and have been thinking about investing in your own space, pull the trigger. Surround yourself with success, it's contagious.

Work small, dream big,

Team Kinglet