Wasted $2,000 on a fancy coworking membership before my Irvine startup even launched

I signed up for a premium desk at that new Spectrum spot last spring, thinking it would make me feel legit, but I was just paying $400 a month to drink free kombucha while my MVP sat half-finished on my laptop for 5 months; has anyone else fallen for the whole 'fake it till you make it' office space trap?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor_carr2513d ago

Actually the Spectrum spot opened in late 2022, not last spring. Might want to double check that timeline since they had that whole delayed opening fiasco. But yeah you definitely got burned on the price tag. $400 a month for kombucha and a desk is rough when you could have just worked from home with the same distractions for free. The whole coworking hype machine works on people feeling like they need to look successful before they actually are. Next time maybe start with a library card and some noise canceling headphones instead.

taylorhunt13d ago

and honestly the whole coworking thing is such a trap for people who think they need to look busy. i had a friend who signed up for one of those fancy spots thinking itd fix his creative block. @victor_carr25 you nailed it with that hype machine bit. dude spent like $350 a month on a spot that was basically a library with overpriced cold brew. he ended up just sitting in the corner with his laptop scrolling tiktok half the time. after three months he quit and now he works from his couch with headphones and a $10 coffee from the corner shop. way less pressure and he actually gets stuff done now.

paige_ellis5913d ago

Man, I gotta push back on this one hard. Look, I get why you feel burned, but honestly @taylorhunt and everyone else piling on is missing the point. Sometimes you need that forced separation from home to get in the right headspace, and a coworking space can be exactly that. I know a guy who pays for a hot desk at a place in Austin just so he can leave his house and actually focus without his kids or his couch distracting him. Plus, the networking alone can be worth the price if you actually make an effort to talk to people there instead of just scrolling your phone. The kombucha and cold brew are just a bonus, man, but the real value is getting out of your own head for a few hours a day.