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22 February 2006 15 Comments

Coffee Shops are the New Garages

After commenting on Om Malik’s justified rant about how he is annoyed by Starbucks, he had a guest column talk about how the cafes are the new mobile office space.

I couldn’t agree more.

Since working with many startups in various stages of “starting up”, I find myself in Starbucks more than I do in the office on some days.

It really is the new garage.

Once and a while I spend the entire day at Starbucks. The headset is on with Skype and listening to podcasts to drown out the loud music. It is interesting to watch people’s patterns. 8am – Morning rush, 10am – casual business meetings, 12am – Lunch rush, 2:30pm – afternoon coffee jolt, 3:30pm – sales people sit with laptops to get into their CRM system and make phone calls.

Lots of people come there and work on various plans for world domination and I have met very interesting people in my travels. I feel like the Godfather as I meet with one person and another comes in for the next meeting. Should I have an assistant?

I do like Panera since the food is better and the wifi is free. I use a Verizon EVDO card because I am tired of looking for a hotspot when I need to get online.

I bet if someone created an Executive Office Suite space with a gigantic cafe open to the public, it would be huge.

So does this mean that Guy Kawasaki needs to change Garage.com to CoffeeShopStartup.com?

I went to Network Solutions. Someone has the domain already. Damn squatters…

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Written by Steven Fisher on February 22, 2006

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15 Responses to “Coffee Shops are the New Garages”

  1. chris 24 February 2006 at 1:39 am #

    Really? I mean, I’m not involved in a startup or any kind of entrepreneurial endeavor (yet), and maybe I’ve been spoiled by the Herman Miller overhead of Big-5 consulting offices, but the thought of meeting someone at Starbucks for a business meeting is just depressing.

    I mean, if the person is a certified coffee junkie (and I am), then this might be a good way to establish rapport… but are there not any temporary Executive Office suites in the DC area? Again, I’m a bit of an outsider, but I’ve read that there are such services, where guests are greeted at the door by “your” secretary, who answer the phone (your phone number) with your name… all the accoutrements of a big-time company at a fraction of the price. And a place where you could sit in silence, instead of having to drown out the overhead music with your iPod.

    Do these places not exist in the DC area – are they only a West Coast phenomenon? Sounds like a business case to me… and maybe my ALP™.

  2. chris 24 February 2006 at 1:39 am #

    Really? I mean, I’m not involved in a startup or any kind of entrepreneurial endeavor (yet), and maybe I’ve been spoiled by the Herman Miller overhead of Big-5 consulting offices, but the thought of meeting someone at Starbucks for a business meeting is just depressing.

    I mean, if the person is a certified coffee junkie (and I am), then this might be a good way to establish rapport… but are there not any temporary Executive Office suites in the DC area? Again, I’m a bit of an outsider, but I’ve read that there are such services, where guests are greeted at the door by “your” secretary, who answer the phone (your phone number) with your name… all the accoutrements of a big-time company at a fraction of the price. And a place where you could sit in silence, instead of having to drown out the overhead music with your iPod.

    Do these places not exist in the DC area – are they only a West Coast phenomenon? Sounds like a business case to me… and maybe my ALP™.

  3. chris 24 February 2006 at 1:39 am #

    Really? I mean, I’m not involved in a startup or any kind of entrepreneurial endeavor (yet), and maybe I’ve been spoiled by the Herman Miller overhead of Big-5 consulting offices, but the thought of meeting someone at Starbucks for a business meeting is just depressing.

    I mean, if the person is a certified coffee junkie (and I am), then this might be a good way to establish rapport… but are there not any temporary Executive Office suites in the DC area? Again, I’m a bit of an outsider, but I’ve read that there are such services, where guests are greeted at the door by “your” secretary, who answer the phone (your phone number) with your name… all the accoutrements of a big-time company at a fraction of the price. And a place where you could sit in silence, instead of having to drown out the overhead music with your iPod.

    Do these places not exist in the DC area – are they only a West Coast phenomenon? Sounds like a business case to me… and maybe my ALP™.

  4. chris 24 February 2006 at 1:39 am #

    Really? I mean, I’m not involved in a startup or any kind of entrepreneurial endeavor (yet), and maybe I’ve been spoiled by the Herman Miller overhead of Big-5 consulting offices, but the thought of meeting someone at Starbucks for a business meeting is just depressing.

    I mean, if the person is a certified coffee junkie (and I am), then this might be a good way to establish rapport… but are there not any temporary Executive Office suites in the DC area? Again, I’m a bit of an outsider, but I’ve read that there are such services, where guests are greeted at the door by “your” secretary, who answer the phone (your phone number) with your name… all the accoutrements of a big-time company at a fraction of the price. And a place where you could sit in silence, instead of having to drown out the overhead music with your iPod.

    Do these places not exist in the DC area – are they only a West Coast phenomenon? Sounds like a business case to me… and maybe my ALP™.

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  6. Michelle 26 March 2006 at 11:54 pm #

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  8. Michelle 26 March 2006 at 11:54 pm #

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks.

  1. GigaOM : » The New Office Space Goes Global - 24. Mar, 2006

    [...] Coffee Shops are the New Garages [...]
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    [...] Some consider this to be a sign of new wave of start-ups: The rise of the cafe start up, Coffee Shops are the New Garages, Forget garages coffee shops are where businesses get started or Web-based Apps plus Coffee Shop equals Start-up Company. The site Web Worker Daily is a virtual exchange board of tips and hints for the modern Bedouins – “geographically uprooted from office-space, always-connected through wifi- and mobile broadband connections, laptop-hauling, latte-sipping cyber-beduins”. You can see them anywhere where they find WiFi connection or at least a power outlet. Our move from working mostly out at various customer’s locations represents a sort of “de-beduinization” if you wish, settling down, putting down the roots [...]
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