
Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder - edward
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/19/common-building-opening/
======
caser
I'm really excited to see more companies like this. While the economics are
interesting, I think the real value that co-living brings is community.

People used to get their feelings of belonging from their church and religion.
As religion takes a backseat, people are finding that sense of community in
new areas (like Crossfit).

I personally felt really lost toward the end of university. Due to injury, I
was unable to play sports, which is where I'd found my "tribe" growing up. I
also was doing a lot of soul-searching after shutting down my last company,
and so was feeling disconnected from a lot of the people in the startup world.

Anyways, through a series of random events, I ended up starting a coliving
experiment for developers & entrepreneurs in Costa Rica.

I thought the value would be having interesting people around while abroad,
but the best part was getting thrown into a collegial atmosphere, where people
would just hang out and shoot the breeze about anything they found
interesting. It was a really profound experience for me, and I've since spent
11 out of the last 14 months in various co-living arrangements around the
world through Hacker Paradise.

There are definitely drawbacks to intense levels of community. You have a bit
less privacy, and interpersonal friction will arise.

Still, I think it can be a really remarkable experience for people in their
"Odyssey years," while they're still trying to figure out what they want to
make their life's work. I know I've made closer friends through co-living than
I would have otherwise.

~~~
archagon
I had the exactly the same experience with student co-ops in college, as did
many of my peers. Honestly, I think it's just a better way of living in
general, Odyssey Years or not. I'd love to still live in a self-sufficient,
close-knit community when I'm 70 years old. (Maybe structured as a bit more of
an eco-village than a giant house, maybe not.)

~~~
metasean
I'd like to have semi-eco-villages that could also support a more mobile
community. In particular, I'd like to be able to travel and live in an RV,
moving between "villages" as desired.

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beatpanda
Can somebody please start a co-living startup that actually increases the
quality of housing for the money instead of decreasing it?

"I have a great business idea -- you can rent a bedroom on Craigslist for
about $1,200 a month, so let's add bluetooth and charge $2,000 a month!"

These people are parasites and they need to be stopped.

~~~
archagon
Traditional co-op housing arrangements were developed to save money by pooling
resources. Now, it looks like the SV twist on the idea is heading in the
opposite direction.

I guess that's the only way you can get venture funding for a project like
this. The corollary is that if a great, cost-saving, truly cooperative tech
house actually gets founded, you won't hear about it on HN.

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lmcnish14
Wow have times changed. I lived in a (much less nice) communal building in
Bushwick, Brooklyn a few years ago and it was just $500 a month for a room. As
a newbie to NYC at the time, it was really great to jump into a fully formed
community but after a while, it was just too much to be surrounded by people
all the time. You could tell others were having the same issues and people
started to pick fights over silly things and it just became a very stressful
experience. This place is significantly nicer than where I stayed but I wonder
how the issues that come with putting a large group of diverse people together
in one space will be handled.

~~~
milkshakes
the market hotel by any chance? i have fond memories of that spot.

~~~
lmcnish14
It was called Surreal Estate. I believe it's still there but at this point, I
assume anyone still living there is just a squatter.

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archagon
I stand firmly by the idea that a co-living arrangement should never be
structured as a traditional corporation. Make it a co-op, and make each member
(roughly) an equal shareholder. Have the incentives align.

Are there any such public co-living startups?

~~~
tdaltonc
Do monastic orders qualify for your definition of co-op?

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chrismartin
As someone who always prefers shared housing, this does not sit well. It's not
a cooperative, it's a dorm/hotel-like arrangement where laundry and cleaning
tasks are outsourced to people who can't afford to live there. You're paying
someone else to be your mom.

That model works for short-term arrangements where inhabitants are very busy
(students and travelers), but this sounds like it will become a gentrified
echo chamber of Rob Rhinehart disciples.

I agree with other commenters that cooperative ownership models, with sharing
of costs/chores/equity/governance, are more accessible across the
socioecomonic spectrum and tend to build stronger communities.

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hendzen
This seems quite expensive given that the units are located in Crown Heights.

(19 people * 1900 avg rent) / 7300 sqft = $4.68 per sqft

Lets look at a typical unit [0] in Crown Heights. We'll look at large units
(4+ br) to make it comparable as possible.

It's 4k per month for a 1200 sqft space with for 4br - so

$4000 / 1200 sqft = $3.33 per sqft

So about 40% more expensive than a normal shared unit + plus way more
roommates. I think the extra 800-1000 difference per month should pay for food
and laundry with plenty to spare for savings.

[0] - [http://streeteasy.com/building/348-eastern-parkway-
brooklyn/...](http://streeteasy.com/building/348-eastern-parkway-brooklyn/2e)

~~~
tdaltonc
Yes, that 40% is called profit margin.

~~~
jarcane
If you think landlords in New York aren't factoring in a profit margin, I've
got this great bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you.

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tdaltonc
$1800/bedroom/month sounds like a lot for someone trying to bootstrap a start-
up. My co-founders and I pay $730/bedroom/month in Los Angeles, and it's more
than enough space. It would be nice to share a bigger space with other
startups, but not $1800 great.

~~~
dominotw
Yea really expensive for most people.

Also, the article doesn't seem to mention who is responsible for 'communal
areas'

~~~
chrismartin
Common areas are cleaned by people who can't afford to live there.

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wehadfun
I would have liked something similar years ago. Here are a few features I
would like

Free dinner, breakfast, and snacks A small kitchenet Free or cheap onsite
storage Include all util also Wifi and premium cable pay rent online Security
cameras way to let guest into building without going out to meet them Fully
furnished option In unit laundry or laundry service Amazon locker

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amyjess
Reading the first paragraph makes me glad I don't live in New York.

$1800+ to rent a _bedroom_ in a shared space? Really? Living in Texas, I have
an entire 1500 sq. ft. townhouse all to myself for $1220.

~~~
robrenaud
As far as I can tell, this isn't even in a nice part of New York.

~~~
garethsprice
It's a working class Caribbean neighborhood right now but was originally built
as housing for middle-class Victorian clerics, so there's a lot of beautiful
but run down buildings & great transport links (ie. ripe for gentrification).

In the 90s it was extremely rough (race riots), now it's fairly safe and the
artisanal coffee shops and trendy restaurants are creeping southwards as the
city's population continues to grow & get priced out of other areas.

Guessing a flop house packed with affluent young tech bros is going to throw
some gasoline on the Crown Heights hyper-gentrification fire, for better or
worse.

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tzier
This article is from October 19th, so 2 months old. They also announced their
funding back in July.

Have there been any updates since then? What is fill rate? What is feedback
from inhabitants like? Updates on next residence timing?

~~~
thesyndicate
Founder here! We were totally full when we opened in October. Our next
building - also in Brooklyn - opens on January 10th.

~~~
tdaltonc
How do you keep a small charismatic group from totally dominating the common
spaces. In other words, how do you keep them "common," so that even the
introverts can feel comfortable using them?

~~~
thesyndicate
Founder here.

One, it's important have several different common spaces that are used in
different ways.

Two, it's about setting specific guidelines about how those spaces are used.

Three, it's about selecting for people who tend to be inclusive rather than
exclusive / cliquey.

So far so good.

~~~
tdaltonc
That's great to hear. It's hard for me to over emphasize how extremely
interested I am in the social and physical architecture of human thriving.
I'll be watching Common with wrapped interest.

~~~
empressplay
The only thing I watch with wrapped interest are Christmas presents =P

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rdl
I'd love to do this for my next startup (in Seattle and/or Berlin; maybe an
Asia location too). It's the most efficient way to work. I've done it with
Sealand/HavenCo and in war zones, but not recently elsewhere.

It's unsustainable when startup isn't the primary (or, basically only) thing
in your life, but there are a few potential solutions:

0) Be flexible. The biggest bar to this is probably people with families/kids
(which I personally hope to never have, but I respect that some people,
including great employees/founders/etc., do and deeply value having family
interactions) -- do whatever is possible to address this. It's probably not a
one size fits all solution. "Live on site 2-3 days/week, wfh otherwise" might
actually be preferable to a lot of people with families than spending 1-2h/day
commuting and 8-12h/day working 5 days/week.

1) Duration limited (say, a startup from 0 to 10-15 employees and $20mm/yr
revenue -- could be 1-3y). Even if the duration is long (3y), having a
specific time where it will change as the default helps.

2) People who are inherently suited to this (which probably works well for,
say, early career security people; not as well for civil engineers.)

3) Intermittent -- work/live like this for months at a time, then go back
"home".

4) High budget: live/work like this AND have enough money to have a "regular"
house/apartment elsewhere, or at least go on great vacations.

5) Deep mission at the startup: "save the world from spy agencies", yes.
"Build a more efficient billing system for other startups", probably not.

6) Strongly prioritize "no assholes rule" in hiring. (The worst thing about
having one coddled asshole is then everyone else feels the need to
equivalently act like an asshole to be taken seriously; it's self
perpetuating)

7) Have an obvious physical reason for being in the same place -- easier to
co-live in a remote location building a dam, than it is to co-live in an
office park in Kentucky to build billing software.

~~~
napoleond
_> which probably works well for, say, early career security people; not as
well for civil engineers_

Just curious: why do you think this would be less likely to work well for
civil engineers?

~~~
rdl
It may be selection bias of the ones I've met, but they seem
older/families/more traditional, vs. early-career security people. That might
be because a lot of the civil engineers I've met have been government
employees.

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nxm
So the only question is...can I Airbnb my bedroom?

~~~
thesyndicate
No - subletting / listing a bedroom on Airbnb at Common isn't allowed. It's a
pretty tight community of 19 people so your roommates would definitely notice.

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cobookman
The Negev is another coop that started in the bay area, but has recently
expanded: [http://thenegev.com/](http://thenegev.com/)

Was a great landing pad, and would highly recommend to those moving to SF. Its
$1250/month for a shared room month-to-month.

~~~
milkshakes
i have only heard shady things about this place both anecdotally and in the
media[1][2][3]. this does not seem to be the atmosphere that common is aiming
for.

is there another side to the negev story that i'm missing?

[1]:[http://sfist.com/2014/11/21/tech_co-
op_the_negev_faces_furth...](http://sfist.com/2014/11/21/tech_co-
op_the_negev_faces_further.php)
[2]:[http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/legal-
problems-c...](http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/legal-problems-
continue-for-two-negev-tech-communes-in-sf/Content?oid=2913249)
[3]:[http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/sro-tenants-
tale...](http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/sro-tenants-tales-tell-
scary-story/Content?oid=2912562)

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egusa
brad hargreaves (the founder of common, also co-founded General Assembly), is
an amazing guy; super humble, really willing to help others. it's great to see
him having so much success.

