Founder Survival: Office Hacking 101
6 ways to find free places to work I learned from bootstrapping my startup
After quitting our cushy day jobs, my co-founder and I embarked on an adventure to build a big idea and change the world.*
I learned a new word first hand: bootstrapping. That is, the art of creatively using whatever resources you have to fund your company and build your idea, instead of raising capital. It comes from a phrase you’d hear in old-timey England meaning to handle your own impossible tasks: pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Suffice it to say, this is not an easy strategy. No matter how much you have in the bank, how high your limits are on your credit cards or what type of budget you’ve made: bootstrapping is a bitch.
Here are a few ways I found to get free or low-cost work space and help lessen the burn.
1. Work From Home
As an entrepreneur, my first instinct was to be super efficient and justify the rent on my Hollywood apartment by working from home. I did video conferences with a button up shirt on the top and sweats on the bottom. Emails were done from the hammock on my patio. Lunch was made in the kitchen. Naps were taken on the couch. It took me about a month to disrupt my domestic zen and become a total workaholic hermit.
Pros: Pants optional. You’re the best pet parent ever. No cost—in fact it’s a tax deduction if you’re smart about it.
Cons: Isolation. No separation between work and home life. Everything blends together, your work day spans 24 hours and you slowly go insane in your underpants.
2. Coffee Shops
Co-working’s ugly cousin
Coffee shops have a cover charge, around $5-10 a day for coffee and snacks. The minimum spend to not seem like a freeloading jerk is about $2.50/hr. I like to limit myself to 4-hour sessions and change up the location so I don’t become too regular of a regular.
Pros: Perfect temperature. Soothing music. Instant access to coffee. You get more done when people are watching (in theory, or sometimes you just sit on a social network and act smug).
Cons: Inconsistency of seating. High risk of taking on hipster traits. Average burn of $150/month, or about half the cost of a good co-working space.
Once I burned out on coffee shops I returned to the home office. I missed the energy though, so I faked the coffee shop atmosphere with Coffitivity to get into the zone.
3. Public Libraries
Places with books also have Internet
Not only do libraries have WiFi, they generally have more people on computers than reading books. There is something about being in a public library that feels good, it reminds me of being a kid. Maybe it’s because they have storytime in the other corner.
Pros: Quiet workspace. Consistently available for free with no pressure to buy anything or leave. Makes you feel smarter by osmosis, like college.
Cons: Quiet can be too quiet. Cell phones are sometimes taboo or banned. Short hours. The occasional crazy person. Can have slow Internet.
Observation: there is an equal but opposite ratio of Macs to PCs in a library as there are in coffee shops. Go see it for yourself.
4. Museums
The art of free WiFi
I was previously working in a top floor of a 31-story building, outfitted in modern agency fashion, with sweeping views of L.A. It was right across the street from the LACMA art museum, which I completely took for granted as I rushed to the food trucks parked in front almost daily. The agency job came with a hectic schedule.
It wasn’t until I was a bootstrapping founder, seeking some inspiration by perusing art at the Hammer after some work hours at the Westwood Library, that I realized there are beautiful courtyards stocked with WiFi at museums. Art and Internet happen to be two of my favorite things.
Pros: Inspiration is free. Easy setting to get creative juices flowing. Museums tend to be very friendly to the public.
Cons: Depending on the place, you might need to order coffee or food. Gangs of tourists or kids on field trips will cruise by every so often.
5. Great Outdoors
Los Angeles weather humblebrag
@crystal_rose
Stop reading here and skip ahead if you live in a place with shitty weather. Fortunately in Los Angeles we have weather that’s so awesome we forget everyone else carries a hoodie all the time.
There are many open places to roam with your laptop. I keep a lightweight blanket in my backpack for grassy hills and beaches, because you never know where you’ll end up getting inspired — or pinged — to work.
Pros: Your brain is happier in nature. Generally easy to find a park with little distraction during the day. BYO-Anything. Have a picnic, eat a granola bar, outside food is welcome.
Cons: BYO-WiFi. You’ll probably need a hotspot or tethering for public outdoors spots. Eyes get sore quickly from laptop screens in the sun. Sometimes birds poop on your laptop (speaking from experience).
6. Last Place You’d Be Found Dead
Literally.
The library is a good solution but it’s too quiet to watch a video without headphones, and mobile phones are taboo or banned. Okay, so I want somewhere quiet with people who don’t care if I curse loudly when my server goes down. Solution: mortuary.
This sounds like a crazy idea but, in Los Angeles at least, the graveyard can be a really peaceful place. We’re known to embrace our city’s cemeteries, like the popular Hollywood Forever where movies are screened once weekly in the summer. (Only in L.A. do people line up to get IN to the cemetery).
Pros: Always an empty seat. Nice outdoor scenery and plenty of flowers. Constant reminder to do more faster.
Cons: Dead people. Not a long-term solution: limited number of times you can do this without seeming crazy. You’ll need to supply your own Internet, seems to not be a priority for the afterlife.
For motivation, there’s nothing like staring mortality in the face to get your next task checked off.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. –Steve Jobs
Finally, Find Your Third Place
Bonafide co-working is inspirational
I learned something important in my trials of hacking places to work: it’s best to be around people who have the same energy as you and to have a consistent home base. When you get to choose your working environment, isolation and erraticism are usually not ideal.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term ‘Third Place’ which is not your home or a traditional office. The third place must be free or inexpensive, offer food and drink, be accessible, draw enough people to feel social, and foster easy conversation.
Co-working is the ideal third place. I had been to co-working spaces around the world and always loved the atmosphere and culture, but I kept dismissing local membership as an unnecessary expense (around $300–$600 for an individual). I’ve happily given in and am now surrounded by like-minded creators, makers, and founders.
Pros: Feels like your company’s own office space. Endless networking. Access to events. Feels like being part of a club. Community of helpful people willing to give support and feedback.
Cons: Can be crowded and loud at times. You need to know how to play well with others. Good headphones are essential.
I’ll take a moment to give a nod to incubators and accelerators like Techstars and Amplify LA. They are like co-working spaces but they give you free rent—and sometimes a little cash— in trade for equity in your company.
Founder Shelter
In the spirit of a nomadic work life, I found a nice little resource to help with your personal digs as well. If you’re an adventurer and can truly work from anywhere, check out nomadlist.io for rankings of the best (and cheapest) places to live and work remotely.
My co-founder and I are currently working from Cross Campus in Santa Monica, California. Please stop by and say hello if you’re in the L.A. area.
*We’re still hustling every day to make that big idea a reality for our community and yours. Check it out at sensay.it
