

Silicon Valley: A few exciting new business models that actually work - stritar
http://stritar.net/Post/The-Silicon-Valley-tour-part-7-A-few-exciting-new-business-models-that-actually-work.aspx

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stcredzero
Coworking, as commonly envisioned, doesn't seem to work so well in a
geographically dispersed city like Houston. Commute distances and commuting
are too large, and the population of freelancers and the self-employed is
dispersed enough to be a big challenge to the benefits of coworking.
(Serendipity being chief among these) This is despite Houston's being the 4th
largest city in the US.

That said, the resulting isolation is still a big problem for freelancers and
the self-employed here. Perhaps widespread retail coworking centers with
select services (like high-end telecommuting) could work. They'd have to offer
something above and beyond the local Starbucks.

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hkarthik
+1 to that. We have the same problem here in Dallas. Coworking facilities are
centered around downtown and serve the freelancers and creative types more.

Those of us working remotely with families tend to live in the suburbs farther
out where the schools are better and safer. Harder to justify the cost and
commute for coworking facilities under those circumstances. Much easier to go
to coffeeshops :)

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philwelch
In other words, dysfunctional city centers == why we can't have nice things.

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hkarthik
In the US, even the most progressive city centers like SF and NYC are still
dysfunctional for families due to public schooling being poor in all but the
wealthiest neighborhoods.

My family was ready and willing to downsize to less than half the space we
have now to live in the city. But we can't stomach 4 times the cost for the
smaller housing plus a lottery system for public schools for our kids.

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zackzackzack
All of these models rely on physical components in the user experience. Good
code is just one small piece of the startups here. Maybe a factor in why these
models are seeing success.

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adaml_623
Zipcar has just bought Streetcar over here in the UK. Streetcar has been
operating for at least 6 years. It's a cool idea but it is hardly new.

