Grassroots efforts for community-building have been springing up as some tech founders themselves seek to build the connection they feel is lacking.
One example is Toronto’s Studio 535, opened in April by a group of tech people who wanted something more accessible than the big hubs, but offered more community than a WeWork. The studio hosts a handful of founders and regular events, like a speaker series and intimate sessions to share feedback on startups.
-
This month, Long Calgary, an organization supporting the city’s founders, will start a similar effort at House 831, an event venue and co-working space for 50 members.
- You don’t have to run a space to build community. The New Demos event series began in January, where tech and creative people fill a Toronto movie theatre to demo their prototypes for each other.
Why it matters: These spaces are tapping into a sentiment that there aren’t places for connection among people trying to build interesting tech. And their founders think a low-commitment, grassroots approach offers room for experimentation and feeding off of each other’s ambition, giving them motivation they’d lose if working totally on their own.
-
“Being a founder is a very isolating journey and over time your ambition will decay,” says Fahd Ananta, who helps run 535. “It's actually quite fragile, like protecting a tiny ember when starting a fire.”
- Vin Verma, who started New Demos, says the current environment is “unkind” to new ideas that need space for creativity, which gets stifled by the scrutiny and pressure for commercialization found in a tech hub or incubator program.
What they’re saying: The response shows these groups are onto something. Between packed events, Ananta says he fields requests to expand 535 to other cities. People who helped fill the 236-seat theatre for the most recent New Demos event said it was “the most delightful and fun ‘tech’ thing I have been to in the last 10 years” and “invigorating what seemed to be a soulless tech district.”