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Building the future of life science

Sam Altman hates co-working spaces. While running Y Combinator, he called coworking a "reversion to the mean" that "kills the best ideas." ??REVERSION TO THE MEAN “The average level of ambition & willingness to work hard at a coworking space is incredibly low. There’s this reversion to the mean," says Altman. A founder sitting at Norrsken's coworking space in Stockholm expressed the same frustration to me once. Norrsken is a beautiful space that does a lot of good for the Stockholm impact tech ecosystem... ...but most days, it’s empty at 6:00 pm. “Where’s the ambition?” the founder said. She was seeing mean reversion. Leaving work by 6 is not a problem in 90% of the cases...but it is a problem for the super-ambitious 10%. ?? KILLS THE BEST IDEAS Altman: “Coworking spaces do indeed kill the very worst ideas, but a band-pass filter for startups also kills the best ideas. Great ideas are fragile. All the best ideas sound bad at the larval stage. "Four people working behind their own door can keep the necessary self-delusion going. But at a coworking space, people laugh at you, and no one wants to be the kid picked last at recess. So you change your idea to something that sounds plausible but is never going to matter." ??At Nordic Science Capital, we like to keep our company ideas secret as long as possible--or ask scientists to stay in their own labs in the early days. ?At the same time, I know VERY ambitious companies like Tandem Health that are thriving in a coworking environment... What’s your take?

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Vincent Weir

Building the future of life science

4 个月

Link to the interview where he made these points (from 2019): https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam-altman/

Thom Feeney

Community Builder | York ?????????????? Stockholm ????

4 个月

What a load of nonsense. And incredibly American culture-centric. I was GM of Norrsken House for 3 years, Events Manager before and a member before that. The desks may have started to empty from 4pm - and this was surprising to me, moving from London where working 10-6 was more common than 8-4 - but this had no reflection on the commitment of members to their startups and vision. People in Stockholm work flexibly and sustainably balancing successful business and personal life. Let's not forget that outside of Silicon Valley, Stockholm is home to the most unicorns... So why conflate ambition with the physical space? And what connection does that have to secrecy?! Joining a coworking space is not solely about working on your startup, nor are they the only place where work on your startup happens. Social interactions, professional interactions, quick access to caffeine, someone else taking care of the office admin, events to network and find your next investor, employee or customer... If working from a coworking space means reversion to the mean then Hedvig, Normative.io, Flower, Bower, EFUEL, Cling Systems, Vitala, Alex Therapeutics might wish to disagree with that - and I'm sure Daniel Goldberg has even more examples! ??

Stefan ?? Pettersson

Developing Software, Building Companies

4 个月

I get your point… but (food for thought)! (1) Why this obsession that progress is bound to a particular physical place? (it is not a lab, it is just a desk) (2) Disregarding how sustainable it is and productivity, let’s say you consistently push through to 10pm - you’ve increased time spent with 50%. If that is your ceiling you’re doomed - push to 2pm is the next? At this stage things must 10x and then 10x again. You get that from working smart, not working ”hard” (as in spending more time at your desk, which typically just results in busywork).

Cathy Xiao Chen

Digital Events Project Manager / Author of "How To Create Successful Events To Grow Your Brand" / Creator of The Business Event Canvas? / Event Photographer

4 个月

I think it depends who you are as a person, how strong your conviction is in your own ideas, how willing you are to getting feedback from people who work in different fields and how you want to live your life. Having run 2 award-winning coworking spaces in Stockholm, I would be surprised to find anyone working from at office at 6pm aside from early stage founders with full time jobs or people who work with a different Timezone. Being effective as an entrepreneur or in any role means taking care of yourself first so you have the capacity to stay in it for the long haul and make a difference. Coworking spaces are fantastic for inspiration, collaboration, networking, staying motivated by surrounding yourself with other ambitious people. But all those benefits require people so what’s really the point of hanging around long after everyone else has gone home? Swedes have developed healthier work-life-balance and personal relationships compared to other cultures where being busy is a sign of success or one person stays at home to tend to the household while the other goes out to bring in the dough. Also we have this thing called the internet now so people can continue working from home, even if we don’t see them in the office.

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Anders Fredriksson

Founding Team @ Andsend | Your Customer Relationship Agent

4 个月

This could be both good and bad... it all depends on where that mean is relative to your own normal ambition level. When I was at Chalmers Ventures in the early days, I was struck by this low mean where everyone would leave the office at 15-16 on Fridays but we would usually keep hustling. But when I was at 500 Startups during Batch 12, almost everyone stayed to work at the office until 10pm every day for 4 months. I don't think the pace is sustainable for a longer period of time, but if you want to increase the odds of succeeding, then those are the types of hours you should expect to put in, no matter if there's anybody else there to help you raise above your own normal mean....

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Per David Jonsson

I build tech products and support fellow founders ????

4 个月

I think most co-working spaces place way too little emphasis on creating a culture of psychological safety and mutual support. It is assumed, especially in the hyped spaces, that this is already there. In fact, I have observed the opposite. The cooler the space, the greater the fear people have of breaking the mold and trusting their instincts to go out on a limb, which I think speaks exactly to what Sam Altman is referring to in his comment.

Hakim Yadi Ph.D. OBE

CEO & Co-Founder - Closed Loop Medicine | Chair - Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland

4 个月

How does this line up with this recent news flow? OpenAI picks Fora’s York House (co-working space) for first overseas HQ https://www.egi.co.uk/news/openai-picks-foras-york-house-for-first-overseas-hq/

? Jason Dainter

Growth Obsessed Tech Entrepreneur

4 个月

RE: leaving at 6pm.. haha I think you have spent too long in Sweden Vincent ?? Valid points here though.

Johannes Stjernquist

Founder hlthy.se, Humanist, Optimist, Alchemist and Cyclist.

4 个月

I have a lot of pictures of microwave ovens showing 23:59. It's at a coworking space, so it works for some companies and some people.

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Alina Borg

Storytelling partner for Nordic CEOs & thought leaders @ Alina Borg Comms / Journalist ???

4 个月

Interesting point about coworking spaces, Vincent. I’ve been going to a co-working place called Katapult in Subtopia, where you can find creative entrepreneurs like actors, musicians, and musical therapists. The emphasis is on building community, even though we do different things. It’s great to exchange ideas with people from different backgrounds, especially those with an artistic point of view (very different from places like Norrsken). But as a solopreneur, I need that outside input to grow. I’m still selective about who I talk to, for the reasons you mentioned. I get how it could be an issue for teams if they don’t keep the creative energy, motivation, and ideas flowing internally. But I've also seen co-working spaces work well for global remote teams.

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