Tech Ranch Archive

A couple of weeks ago I held the first brainstorming session to create the Austin Tech Meetup (modeled after the NY and SF tech meetups). The big questions that the group discussed were: where should the event be located to start and when should the event take place. The when is pretty easy – monthly, most likely on either the first or second Wednesday of the month.

The where is more complicated. Eventually I’d like to see the Austin Tech Meetup grow into a space like the one that the Lean Startup Day used at the AT&T Conference Center at the University of Texas in the midtown area. But we need a good place to start from and grow the group each month. The group came up with several recommendations including the coworking space Cospace, a few theaters and Tech Ranch. Also discussed were the Microsoft, Facebook and Google Austin offices. I am in discussions with someone at Microsoft but would absolutely love any leads on contacts at Facebook and Google!

Today I stopped by the Tech Ranch space in North Austin to learn more about what they offer and see if their event space might be a good fit for the Austin Tech Meetup. I’ve written about coworking numerous times and still think it’s a great model, especially for companies that are just beginning their existence. When I left Tech Ranch, I started to think about how to categorize the space and what I realized is that it sits in the middle between a coworking space and a dedicated company office. Tech Ranch is basically a hybrid startup space — bringing together the best of all three types of work spaces. The space reminded me of another space I profiled, Sunshine Suites in NYC.

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