In a matter of months, co-working spaces have found their way into all corners of Boston. Their founders pour thousands into building out raw space with the sweetest amenities, in hopes of wooing young and broke entrepreneurs with promises of no overhead costs and a rich community of like-minded innovators.
All that is well and good; there’s no doubt that many co-working spaces have survived, and helped startups in the process. But Boston newcomer PivotDesk has a plan to disrupt that system, and it doesn’t involve the company putting a penny into construction.
Founded out of Boulder, Colo. in 2012, PivotDesk is an office-sharing marketplace that connects existing companies with space to spare with small startup teams seeking an interim spot to grow. The company is active in Boulder, San Francisco, New York, Denver and Portland, and, as of October 2013, Boston, where PivotDesk has been busy making matches between tech firms and eager entrepreneurs ever since.
“You’re going to reach a point where it just doesn’t make sense to work in a WeWork or a Workbar,” admitted PivotDesk Boston lead David Miller, ensuring that he wasn’t intending to knock said co-working spaces in general.
But it’s not just much-needed space the startups are getting. Working within the same area as a well-established and successful company makes room for mentorship for the budding businesses.
“We’re trying to get back to this lost concept of people just being with, and helping, other people. Just communicate and be transparent with each other,” said Miller, who used to work as a startup concierge at MassChallenge.
Here’s how it works: Startups, or guests, scroll through the list of available leasing spaces, posted by local firms. The companies, or hosts, cite how many free seats they have, set the price per person per month and describe the culture and cool features, because, as PivotDesk’s site notes, “culture is more important than cubicles.”
When a certain company’s space piques a startup’s interest, both parties will meet and discuss to find out if it's a good match. PivotDesk, then, handles all the details and gets a 10 percent cut of the rent, passing the rest of the sum on to the host company.
PivotDesk’s service also gives companies on both ends control over their work environment. Host companies can pick and choose which people they want in their space, while startups can narrow their search to only neighborhoods of choice and companies within a complimentary industry.
Looking to find a spot in Downtown Boston? Local marketing startup Privy is offering up a pair of seats priced at $350 a pop. If you’re searching in the Back Bay, streetwear e-commerce company Karmaloop’s 40 seats, at $500 each, might be your best bet. If you’re searching in Fenway, Techstars grad Jebbit has 22 spaces at $350 each up for grabs. The average price in Boston is between $400 and $500 a person, said Miller.
And the best part is, PivotDesk is designed to be totally flexible to the needs of young companies in flux. The license agreement automatically renews every 30 days, meaning that the host or guest company have to give one another a head’s up a month in advance.
That transparency makes for partnerships that allow PivotDesk users to see a given office as more than simply a shared space, like a desk in a co-working building.
“There’s community [at co-working spaces] for sure,” explained Miller. “But this is an office space to call your own. It’s not literally your own, you might share it with two or three other companies … But you get to call it your office, too.”
