

San Francisco Cafes as Ad-Hoc Startup Office Space - sah
http://biz.yahoo.com/nytimes/080404/1194761869286.html?.v=1

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antiismist
This story is ripped off an article from the SF Gate, March 11, 2007:
[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/...](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/11/MNGKKOCBA645.DTL)

Original article:

"I'm looking around and there's gotta be 50 people with laptops," said Brett
Levine, 31, a co-founder and the company's lead programmer. "I got on a chair
and yelled, 'Hey, are there any ActionScript programmers in the room?' People
at the counter looked at me glaringly, but a couple of people looked around
and raised their hand."

New article:

So Mr. Levine stood on a chair, and shouted out, “Is anyone here an
ActionScript programmer? We’d like to hire you!”

“I got some nasty looks from the baristas,” Mr. Levine recalled, “but that
didn’t stop three or four people from coming up to our table and inquiring.”

~~~
allertonm
It also says "Flickr, the popular photo sharing site, held weekly meetings
there before it was bought by Yahoo."

I am pretty sure Flickr was based in Vancouver before they were bought by
Yahoo, so this does not smell right.

Updated: the SFGate article mentions Flickr too, but says they meet there now
- or at least "then" (i.e mid 2007), not pre-Yahoo. So the NYT piece is
definitely a pretty poor cut & paste job.

~~~
antiismist
That's a good point. This looks like it is from nytimes.com, which is annoying
because I think that they are one of the best media sites out there.

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zach
I made my local IHOP into an ad-hoc startup office space the other day. It may
not have a plug for my laptop, but at least I didn't feel an exaggerated sense
of importance about it.

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dzohrob
I love Ritual -- and the fine folks that work there (behind the counter) --
but the preponderance of nerds-with-macs has definitely changed the vibe of
the place over the years for the worse.

My coworking space costs a little over $200/mo for 24/7 access, and it's less
than 2 blocks from Ritual. Anyone spending $3/day on a latte can surely
upgrade to a real workspace, and leave the cafes for meetings and -- just
maybe -- people who just want to relax and have a cup of coffee without having
to fight for elbow space with Rails hackers.

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ardit33
Cafe Cubano is one. I was once coding there (for a project for my company),
and one girl started to talking to me (she thought I was a web dev). Three
girls, would go there and talk about a shoe startup. Selling speciality shoes
on the web. I trying to give as much advice as I could, (technically wise). I
am not sure how it has gone thou.

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neilc
I've never understood how people can concentrate and get real work done in a
coffee shop. Sure, it's fun to take your laptop to a cafe and get some hacking
done occasionally or catch up on mail, but as a substitute for an office or an
apartment? No thanks.

~~~
ardit33
Yes you can. But for a couple of hours at a time. I usually play trance on my
headphhones.

If you have been working for few hours on your room, and getting a sense you
are lacking human interaction, just get your laptop, go to one of these cofee
places with free wi-fi, put your headphoens on, sip your good coffee, and
work.

It is very refreshing actually. But I could do it only for a couple of hours a
day. More than that, your back probably would suffer (seats and tables in
coffee places are not the most optimal, and were not ment for long stays).
When I walk back, all that cafeeine and the always constant San Francisco
fresh breeze, makes me want to work more.

Just saying.

~~~
aschobel
I find walks work well for me, gives me a chance to clear my head and the
increased blood flow can't hurt.

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dimitry
any good ones in the marina? wifi is a pain to come by still

