Forget about MySpace. The next big thing is NextSpace. The company, which was founded in Santa Cruz, offers office space and services to a variety of companies on a per month or day-pass basis. Need a conference room for the start-up you started in your garage, and your living room just won’t do? You can get that at NextSpace, with all the advantages of a fully operational office. Or else you can move your entire office out of your bedroom and into a more business-like setting where you can mingle with other entrepreneurs.
The idea took off quickly in Santa Cruz, where the NextSpace office grew from just a handful of people to 200 tenants in just two years. It was so successful that the company has just opened a branch in San Francisco last week. So far, there is only one client, a all-digital record label, but it expects to grow quickly as more and more startups pick up on the advantages of having an office-like setting, even if only to meet with investors.
And what better place is there for that than San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley, where startups grow into international behemoths. Founders Caleb Baskin and Santa Cruz vice mayor Ryan Coonerty are checking out San Jose for their third location, which would be a home for local freelancers and startups. After that, the sky is the limit. Once they get their third location running, they plan to take their model national.
While other cities, including Santa Clara and San Mateo, are competing with San Jose to house the third branch, it is up to the city to do what it can to bring this company here. If they don’t it won’t be because of a shortage of office space. Read more at the Business Journal.
