Mindaugas Danys is the manager of Hub Vilnius, the first coworking space of Lithuania.
His space has been running for almost a year now, and he speaks about this experience as he answers Cowo’s 5 questions to the Coworking Europe Conference Members.
We are not sure whether Mindaugas will be at the Berlin conference, but he surely is a well-connected professional, so it’s always possible to reach him through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Thank you for sharing, Mindaugas!
COWO:
Has your own life changed since you practice coworking?
MINDAUGAS DANYS:
For me the biggest motivation behind opening the space was to be a changemaker and bring some social innovations to Lithuania.
However sometimes I feel that perhaps it was too early, or I did something wrong, cause it’s difficult to keep the place growing and members stay.
COWO:
Is coworking a commodity (i.e. the chance to share an office with little money) or a strategic option (i.e. a platform for all kind of sinergies)?
M.D.:
I’d prefer to look into coworking as a platform, however motivation of members is different, some see it as a utility some as a chance for personal growth and social changes.
After all these years of discussing, I think we should know by now if business rhymes with coworking. Does it?
With my experience I don’t see how coworking can become a business option, perhaps, and only, if it is used as a bi-tool by some venture capitalists and business angels who utilize serendipity to increase acceleration of their startup investees.
No chances of making it a business all by itself.
COWO:
Considering the media craze, the flourishing of spaces, the many online tools coworking-related and… why not,this conference itself, do you envision the risk of tranforming coworking in a sort of bubble, where a minority just trying to make money spoils the beauty of the idea, ultimately depriving the word coworking of its true meaning?
M.D.:
Since I don’t believe in commercial viability of coworking, I don’t see it as a threat.
On the other hand overexcitment leads to opening of more spaces without getting sustainable, thus ruining the credibility of the concept in the first place.
It’ s a much bigger threat than someone trying to make business out of coworking.
COWO:
What are your feelings about coworking as a public service, just like schooling or health services?
M.D:
I believe that coworking should become a norm both literally and theoretically, it should be everywhere and in different forms.
Flexibility, connectivity, sharing and openness has to take over the public space.
