The New Yorker called it the rise of the co-living startup, and in their article, they are retelling the tale of a young copywriter by the name of Cole Kennedy, and how he changed his life when he started co-living in New York. Another catchy phrase that was used regarding the branding of this relatively new concept was that it’s “emotionally and culturally resonant with millennials.” We are sharing this short synopsis with you because it’s true, and it’s going to be the focal point of this article, where we are going to highlight the startup culture itself and the benefits of co-living.
Since the early 1980’s, the world started changing faster than usual, and this time it was not induced by a World War, a devastating disease (think Black Plague before the Renaissance) or terrorism, but by tech. The upsurge of companies like Microsoft and Apple, and later by Google and PayPal, provided knowledge to everyone with an internet connection. Wikipedia and Google have helped more people in the world educate themselves than any formal education system we have seen so far.
Thus began the startup era and the boom of the entrepreneurs.
Startup Culture
The good name and sparkling reputation the startup culture has gotten in the last decade is more than earned because it made employers aware of the need for a cultivated working environment. Startups are usually resulted oriented, and they tend to value their employees by giving them the freedom of choice, which in return boosts the motivation and productivity of the whole team. Regular office hours and simple offices are not the best places for creative minds, and the entrepreneurs of the world saw that and changed it, and in return, the startup culture was born.
Today, when we are talking about this subject, we are referring to a whole plethora of new, inventive concepts exemplified in fun offices, coworking hubs, flexible working hours or remote working. Millennials, as the driving force in startups, brought the desire for fulfillment and reaching personal objectives to the culture. The new generation is not focused only on money, but also on happiness and making a difference with their work. They want to see results and affect the way society is working as a whole, and that is the real goal behind startups in the present day.
The culture is created from within, and we need to applaud startups for changing the notion of how workspaces and work itself looks like.
Co-Living
Another byproduct of the startup rise, as we said in the beginning, is the co-living idea, which is a cross between finding the right people, sharing your living space with them and then getting inspired by their originality. It looks like a Utopia, but with these places popping up all over the world, we can see that it’s not. Of course, things are not as smooth as they look, and this is a much more complicated subject than just sharing your living space with someone. However, it’s a good start that can change the way we perceive housing.
The apparent reasons for this are an expensive housing market and the condition of the labor market, but it’s not that simple. There are also philosophical and psychological reasons that make this the great new concept for millennials. Even though we have social media and a thousand new ways to contact and communicate with people, finding the right ones can be a challenge, and not only in the private life. This is an opportunity for individuals on the same wavelength to share intellectual notions and motivate each other to be better in business and life.
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