In Austin's fast-moving tech scene, 2005 seems like ancient history. But the foundations laid back in the day are part of what has set Austin up for its rocket ship ride to becoming one of the nation's most celebrated startup cities.
There near the launchpad of Austin's modern day startup co-working and incubator scene was Tech Ranch, founded by entrepreneur Kevin Koym.
But, Koym says, he rarely tells the story of what drove him to start one of Austin's original incubators and co-working spaces for tech startups. There's a good reason.
"It started as a very painful thing for me," Koym told me. He had recently lost a close friend to suicide. And, as he grieved and looked at the possibilities around him, he decided he wanted to reorientate his professional life.
"I wanted to do something to address more issues than what I could hack at as an individual entrepreneur," he said.
After starting by remotely helping about 1,000 entrepreneurs in Chile in 2003, Koym began building out Tech Ranch and expanding its reach across the globe wherever he could find partners. It officially launched in 2008, although Koym had been working on it for a few years prior.
Today, Koym is continuing that mission. But he's leaving behind the physical co-working space near the U.S. 183 and MoPac intersection, a place that has hosted dozens of events, pitch competitions and fireside chats through the years.
"Tech ranch was never intended to be a location. It was always supposed to be an organization that spans the world."
In its place is a new partnership with Impact Hub Austin, a branch of the global social impact incubator. Koym said it was a natural fit after getting to know Brian Schoenbaum, CEO of the Vuka Collective, which houses Impact Hub at two locations in Austin -- north and south.
“You find someone with similar values mix and complimentary organization and there’s this opportunity to really drive things forward to the next level," Koym said.
There are now dozens of coworking spaces in Austin, including massive build outs by WeWork and a couple waves of expansion at Capital Factory. In short, competition is fierce.
“Tech ranch was never intended to be a location," Koym said. "It was always supposed to be an organization that spans the world. And, at the time (before other co-working spaces emerged), Austin desperately needed a place for entrepreneurs to go.”
“I’m not here to build a WeWork. WeWork is doing that," he continued. "I’m here to see that there’s impact and that’s what we’re here for – to drive impact. And it’s not just a nice marketing message."
Koym said some founders working at Tech Ranch's space in North Austin have moved to Impact Hub work spaces. Others have moved on.
And Koym said that's OK -- it encourages the type of online collaboration that he sees as the way of the future.
“If you believe that the Internet makes collaborative business models more possible in the future and that collaborative business modes are the ones that will dominate the future," he said. "Then it makes sense for us to learn to collaborate earlier rather than later.”
You can meet the crew from Tech Ranch and Impact Hub on Monday, Sept. 25, at a campfire networking event at Impact Hub North from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
