OOO: The Future of Co-working is Outside
Membership perks are about to leave the building
Things Change
I started my first company, a digital creative agency, in 2010. Back then, designing for mobile was new, “millennial” was just entering the vernacular, and start-ups (including mine) shopped for office space the old-fashioned way: through an exhaustive search for the right space, then negotiating the best cost-per-square-foot possible, and finally putting a boatload of capital up front in rent and security.
That same year, a couple of other guys started a new business of their own to solve this problem by arbitraging office space. They called it WeWork. First, it smoothed over the exhausting and costly friction that came to define office space rental; second, it cooled-up the office vibe with a palette of rough-hewn wood and graphic wallpaper.
But that was then. Now things are different. Mobile is ubiquitous. “Millennial” has lost steam and meaning. And start-ups are moving toward a new set of criteria in their search for office space. Many early-stage businesses in New York (and some big companies, too) have made the calculation that while the quality of the space itself is not unimportant, it’s the shared experiences and curation of amenities that people enjoy together that may be even more important. WeWork, now the clear leader in the growing co-working industry, got the message. Over time, their offering focused a little less on space and more on the experiences that complement the culture of business-building.
Toward a New Kind of Co-working Space
After formulating a plan for a new idea and company, the next step for many of today’s most innovative entrepreneurs is to set up shop in a co-working space. That space serves not only as a place to work, but more broadly as a central hub for people to access the collection of experiences that make up their working environment and corporate culture. The question, then, for the next crop of co-working spaces is this: What can they do to build into their offering an enlightened and emotionally enriching set of perks, amenities and opportunities?
Successful co-working experiences can happen anywhere at anytime, if they meet a few conditions:
- Put like-minded companies in a similar stage of growth in close proximity
- Curate experiences around enlightened brand objectives, like positivity, balance, and impact
- Remove friction from participating in the experience
Meet Lewis
At Lewis, our “Adventure as a Benefit” company, we view ourselves as a meaningful and differentiating addition to the co-working experience. We built our offering to meet the needs of employers and their people in new ways, to tap into the spirit of exploration, camaraderie, and the sustaining benefit of a change of pace and scenery.
Lewis As a Co-working Experience
Put like-minded companies in close proximity
Lewis is New York’s leading provider of outdoors offsites and adventure benefits trips. Our paddling and hiking trips bring people together from some of New York’s fastest-growing, early-stage companies in tech, design, and services. They get people out of the office and into outdoor adventures, where they can reconnect to something different, open their minds, and do it in the world’s best breakout room: The Great Outdoors.
Curate experiences around enlightened brand objectives, like positivity, balance, and impact.
Lewis is purpose-built to promote a set of values that don’t always get the attention they deserve.
Positivity: We believe deeply in the need for a periodic, full-stop break from the digital, and the positive contribution to wellness that time away from screens can yield. Social media can maximize the external dopamine hit from likes and shares. But Lewis’s outdoor adventures are designed to deliver positive, life-enhancing experiences through personal achievement and the pure satisfaction of meeting a new challenge.
Balance: Lewis believes that your people seek and deserve true balance. In-house chefs, masseuses, ping-pong tables, and nap pods are fun perks, but they send a mixed message. They create more excuses to stay in the office longer, and they don’t promote the true balance that comes from getting out of the office and into a rich set of new experiences. So rather than providing a bazaar of perks scattered around the office, innovative companies increasingly see their role as facilitators of meaningful experiences that enrich the lives of their people away from work.
Impact: Top talent expects more than competitive pay, challenging work, and room to grow. They expect their work to make a dent in the world. They expect their employer to hold tight to a mission that will give their workday meaning. Increasingly, start-ups expect their co-working spaces to provide opportunities to champion impact-driven initiatives and make a difference.
At Lewis, our mission is threefold: Get more people outdoors, plant new trees, and donate environmental clean-up hours. We accomplish these through our 1:1:1 program: with each Lewis adventure someone takes, we plant one tree and donate one hour of clean-up time through our environmental partners. Our mission is clear and we believe that co-working spaces, in partnership with Lewis, can increase the collective impact of our mission.
Remove the friction from participating
Setting up a business is a logistical nightmare. Getting office space used to be, before the rise of co-working.
Leaving New York to find an outdoor adventure can be a challenge itself, even though many people would love to do it. Public transport doesn’t go where you want to go, most people don’t have gear, they don’t know where to go, and they don’t feel entirely comfortable once they get there. At Lewis, we’ve taken a page from the co-working book of frictionless service and pride ourselves on making adventure completely turnkey. Gear, guides, destinations, food, beverage, and insurance: Lewis smooths out the friction so you can enjoy the benefit of the great outdoors.
Get Out There First with Lewis
In the co-working experience of the future, the importance of physical space will decline, while the role of experiential offerings will grow. Co-working spaces should seek to build a collection of tailored offerings that go far beyond the office walls. The most successful and differentiated co-working spaces will recognize that companies and their people expect offerings that reflect positivity, balance, and impact. Lewis — and the Benefit of the Great Outdoors — has been built for the next phase of the co-working experience. Join us, and get there first.
