Building a Community with a Competitive Edge
The following post was contributed by Terminal Co-founder Luke Finney.
Surround yourself with people who inspire you. That’s personal advice we hear a lot, but it’s just as valuable for businesses to consider. When you find the right community with the perfect environment, it’s motivating, inspiring, and energizing. That’s why we launched Terminal Workspaces earlier this year — to help more tech companies find the right community and setting to get good work done.
Creating the right environment goes beyond computers and cutting-edge video conferencing systems, fancy appliances, IT services, and furniture. It’s about putting dedicated, focused people with similar goals under the same roof, and creating a culture that values innovation and a life-long learning mindset. Now that we have successfully launched and helped our first wave of local startups, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on the values of our Workspaces and the community we strive to create. Here are five key takeaways.
Everyone Deserves Big Company Perks
Let’s face it — a big reason people choose to take jobs at larger companies is that they want job security, and of course, the perks. Whether it’s a comfy chair, healthy snacks or sleek decor, employees spend the majority of their waking hours at work, and they want to do that in a space that makes them feel good about being there. Why should that change for startups and people willing to take a risk? Why should working with a smaller company deny employees those perks and necessities? It shouldn’t. Regardless of size, industry, or location, Terminal provides an environment that allows companies to focus on the product at hand.
Personality Counts
We are live in four Canadian cities — Vancouver, KW, Toronto, and Montreal — and each city has its own unique ecosystem. From their culinary specialties to their tech luminaries, they all have their own characteristics and quirks. So, too, do our offices and the people that dedicate themselves to make them run effectively.
Although we hold all Workspaces to the same standard for professional amenities, we make sure each office has its own personality led by managers who treat it as if it were their home.
Create Learning Opportunities
Everyone wants to take a break from the grind to learn something new, but life inside a fast-paced startup can make that difficult at times. That’s why one of the ways we help build community is to bring learning opportunities to our members. Our calendar is full with after work events. We host tech-focused Meetups and even created our own Tech Talk series that brings world-renowned entrepreneurs, engineers, founders, and tech leaders who share their hard-earned insights on topics ranging from office culture to soft skills to tech advancements with our community.
Most importantly, our community is curated to create the most valuable kind of learning opportunity — peer-to-peer. By deliberately selecting tech-focused companies to join our Workspaces, we create an environment where the person eating lunch right next to you could be your best sounding board, secret weapon, or most valuable resource. Together, there is just as much engineering and project management expertise in our offices as you would find in the wings of the world’s most established tech companies.
Deliberate Partner Selection = Best Workplace
When we first thought of Terminal Workspaces, the last thing we wanted to do was start another generic co-working space. Instead, we wanted to create the world’s best workplace for tech companies. We take that commitment seriously by selecting teams to join our community based on their goals and the team that drives them.
No B.S. Office Build Out
When we started to design the Terminal Workspaces, we spent a considerable amount of time checking out other offices. We saw things we loved, but most offices seemed to have the wrong priorities. With Workspaces, we wanted to prioritize productivity and efficiency.
It’s a space for tech teams to get things done and focus on building their products, so we chose to prioritize meeting rooms and team office layout. Sure, we provide space for people to relax and get together, but it’s not at the expense of productivity or privacy. We won’t offer you a “hot desk” or a floater option because we understand that people work better when they have their own space to call home. I’m proud to say that we ask ourselves, “how can we make this space more productive?” and take member feedback to heart every day.
I want to say thanks to everyone who has helped to make our Workspaces what they are from the management teams, to the members, to the speakers who donate their time to share their insights with our community. I’m proud of what we accomplished these past few months and I can’t wait to see how we grow over the next year.
To learn more about Terminal Workspaces, email workspaces@terminal.io
