Shared Office Space Equals Greater Networking Potential

As the definition of work has changed, so has the destination. Entrepreneurs not content to serve a sentence isolated at home or ready to take on the overhead of an office staff are joining forces in new coworking spaces where they can network with other creative types while sharing resources. The growing trend is visible at 3rdward in New York City where desk space starts at $300 per month with access to a digital media lab, wood shop and dance studio. It also pops it’s well-groomed head up at Conjunctured in Austin, Texas, where a team of four technologists share space and ideas with creative entrepreneurs in a remodeled old house. And in Sacramento, the solution born of economic necessity is called Capsity Offices.

The Capsity perch at the corner of P and 23rd streets in Midtown Sacramento is the brainchild of founders Ricardo Robles, Captain Visionary; and Jeff Louie, Chief Operations Dynamo. The goal for the duo was to mix dynamic entrepreneurs in a warm, informal space to facilitate the growth of new projects. That is why they turned a Midtown office complex on into Sacramento’s first rent by the hour, day or space studio geared for entrepreneurs who want to get out of the house and coffee shop into a cost-effective professional space that gives them access to a conference room, reception services and other motivated professionals.

“Capsity Offices is designed to be comfortable, professional, and entrepreneurial,” Robles explains. “What started as simply providing open office space blossomed into a community of entrepreneurs, thinkers, leaders, organizers, catalysts, freelancers, teachers, technologists and activists.”

Some of the first young business owners to flock to the art-filled space include Room to Breathe, PDC Technology, MidtownGrid.com, America's Youth United, Clear Printing and Graphics, Art Peace Massage and The Purnell Partnerships.

A January 2008 Christian Science Monitor article traces the coworking trend back to a lonely San Francisco software programmer who, with a few friends in similar circumstances in the heady days of 2005, leased an office space, installed printers, fax machines and wireless Internet and called it coworking. The article pegged the number of similar setups across the country at 29. A more informal version of the 1990s incubators, the collaboration can be spontaneous and powerful.

Robles and Louie are more than creative landlords, however. They see themselves as entrepreneurial boosters. The two have led in such community-building efforts as Global Entrepreneurship Week, Bikeramento and the first-ever Sacramento Tweetup – a physical meeting of networkers who connected on the growing Twitter micro-blogging site. Capsity hosts classes on effective networking and has become a hub in the live-work neighborhood. Their energy has not gone unnoticed. Louie was named Ambassador of the Year by the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

About Capsity: Capsity Offices is an Entrepreneurial Fueling Center located at 2321 P Street in Midtown Sacramento, providing virtual offices and executive suites in a comfortable, yet professional, setting. Affordable virtual offices feature access to conference rooms, meeting spaces and professional business services such as shared receptionists and office equipment. Paired with the creative power of networking with fellow entrepreneurs, Capsity is the perfect first space for technology and business services start-ups as well as executives looking for a local home base or downsizing from a large footprint. Capsity was also the launching pad for Global Entrepreneurship Week and Bikeramento. Learn more at www.capsityoffices.com.