Tech Ranch Offers Austin Startups a Hybrid Work Space

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.

About 10 companies have offices at Tech Ranch, each has an actual office with room for about four desks. Small offices of 150 square feet start at $400/month and include internet access, kitchen, desks, chairs, a corporate address, conference room access, and 24×7 office access.

The space had a very positive vibe and they have pictures on the walls that tell stories about entrepreneurship and building great companies.

The event space can hold 60 or so people and Tech Ranch holds a number of regular events including a bootcamp that helps you move from idea to business in a few weeks.

I am told that the office spaces at Tech Ranch are currently sold out so if you are interested, you should get on the waiting list. It’s so interesting to see how many different types of startup spaces have blossomed over the past few years. It was back in 2007 that a bunch of us met in the basement of a coffee shop to discuss creating the first coworking space in NYC and at that time there were just a handful of coworking spaces. Today there’s everything from coworking to hybrid spaces like TechRanch to the now trendy startup incubators. And what’s awesome is that all of these spaces are opening around the world providing a way for great startups to grow in any environment and with a space to meet nearly any budget.