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Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by thesyndicate on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @05:10PM (#10780717)
Founder here! We were totally full when we opened in October. Our next building - also in Brooklyn - opens on January 10th.
Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by tdaltonc on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @07:21PM (#10781265)
How do you keep a small charismatic group from totally dominating the common spaces. In other words, how do you keep them "common," so that even the introverts can feel comfortable using them?
Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by thesyndicate on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @10:13PM (#10781751)
Founder here.

One, it's important have several different common spaces that are used in different ways.

Two, it's about setting specific guidelines about how those spaces are used.

Three, it's about selecting for people who tend to be inclusive rather than exclusive / cliquey.

So far so good.

Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by tdaltonc on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @10:38PM (#10781803)
That's great to hear. It's hard for me to over emphasize how extremely interested I am in the social and physical architecture of human thriving. I'll be watching Common with wrapped interest.
Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by empressplay on Wednesday December 23, 2015 @01:10AM (#10782219)
The only thing I watch with wrapped interest are Christmas presents =P
Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by dopamean on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @08:21PM (#10781478)
I hate to be exclusionary but wouldn't you think that if you were so introverted that you had a hard time sharing a space with other people then maybe you shouldn't live in a shared situation like this?
Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by tdaltonc on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @08:35PM (#10781516)
Even if everyone in the house is an extrovert compared to the wider world, someone is still going to be the most introverted person in the house. And the most charismatic and extroverted person in the house is going to relatively dominate the common space.

It's a recipe for conflict, and if they don't have a formal way to precess that conflict, there's going to be either bloody noses or hurt feeling.

Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by gatsby on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @06:00PM (#10780953)
Congrats on the initial traction!

I feel like "co-living" is definitely a huge opportunity, and someone will get it right.

Curious what you're going to do differently than Campus and several other SF-based companies that had a similar model but couldn't scale beyond 15-20 locations: http://www.businessinsider.com/campus-co-living-san-francisc...

Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by thesyndicate on Tuesday December 22, 2015 @10:11PM (#10781748)
Lots of things - mostly that we have the entire buildings rather than single units, which is particularly important in NYC where we're operating right now.

We also partner with real estate funds and investors to purchase vacant buildings rather than leasing units off the market.

Re:Common: Co-Living Startup from a General Assembly Founder by rquantz on Wednesday December 23, 2015 @12:38AM (#10782154)
What is the demographic makeup of your residents? Crown Heights is a diverse neighborhood, but I'm betting Common is skewed white, young, and wealthy? I can easily imagine this being a place for start up people who do nothing but work, and only want to live with people like themselves.