The Geekspace is a hotdesking environment, aimed at creating a robust ecosystem for South Africa’s online development sector. It is based in Joburg.

Prices:

Hotdesking, R990 per month
This gives you access to a desk/table, and a chair. Your workspace must be cleared each time you leave the premises.
24/7 access
All facilities included

Dedicated desk, R1,990 per month
As above, except that you get a dedicated desk that is yours, and does not need to be cleared each time you leave the premises.

Private office space
Extremely limited. Charged according to capacity, at R2,100 per person. Private offices are not encouraged.

Daily Rate:
The daily rate is R100, on a hot desking basis, and is made available as space allows.

Facilities
All facilities, including meeting rooms, boardroom, quiet rooms and “phone call” rooms, bar area, kitchens etc are made available to tenants on a fair usage basis, free of charge. Ditto for coffee

Bandwidth
Still trying to negotiate my way around the best way/cost to offer the best bandwidth possible. Ideally I would like it to be included in the above prices, but there are no promises. If it is going to be a separate charge, it will not be more than R200 a person, uncapped, on a fair use policy basis.

Things to know:
1. Zero tolerance for not respecting other people’s space and stuff.
2. One month deposit. A calendar month’s notice. No notice accepted in November/December.
3. Rates are per person, not per desk.
4. No visitors, exept in meeting and boardroom. All other circumstances, visitors must check in and pay daily rate. Each tenant will get 2 free day passes a month to give out to colleagues, though.
5. Prices exclude VAT, which will be charged once we have VAT status (about 3 months from now)
6. All potential tenants, after they have been accepted into the Geekspace, must pass a security check, apply with their ID document, and agree to be fingerprinted on entrance to the space.
7. All potential applicants will be screened for their suitability for the Geekspace ecosystem.
8. Everyone must respect that this is a low-noise environment.
9. All tenants will be required to sign a “Code of Conduct” and a “Paying it Forward” pledge. Both these are to support the ethos of the ecosystem.

Hope this works for everyone.

Remember: if you are a company that earns revenue off the online space (development, consulting, marketing etc) please consider adding yourself to the Directory of SA Web Professionals and Companies. Your supoprt will help support the Geekspace!

So renting an office is expensive….

Most landlords want 2 or 3 months deposit, first rent, the office needs to be furnished, connected, etc etc.

The Geekspace is no different, and although there is a revenue model, it actually is a heavily subsidized one. R1000 a month, even collectively, would just never pay the rent and operating costs on 600m2.

That’s OK, though, because I have a plan for this (including corporate sponsorships) and I will be sharing shortly. (Also, my own company will be sitting there, so there is rent consolidation that is significant).

Anyway, the point is that the outlay for a fully connected, furnished office is HIGH.

I need a bit of help.

Some of you will know that I have recently launched the “Directory of South Africa Web Professionals and Companies”. (If you click on the link, the download will start). You can read more about it here, but essentially it is a downloadable directory of companies and people that corporates can outsource to get online stuff done.

Each company gets a one page listing, for R1,500 (May special) for the year.

So here is the evil plan: I challenge the 120 companies that are listed for free, and that make money out of this space, to upgrade their listing to a paid one. That will cost them R1,500.

I will then not “pocket” the money, but use it (mostly) towards the Geekspace. It will make things a bit easier for me.

But it’s not about me It’s about the companies who will be supporting the Geekspace, while also promoting themselves through a directory that can get them more business. This year alone I have published .pdfs that have gotten over 12,000 downloads/views…so this is seriously a good business move for any company who outsources web services in South Africa.

So:
100 companies
5 days (Need this finalised before June 1)

Can we do it?

(Ummm, PLEASE can we do it?)

This is really big news. Gareth Knight (Tech4Africa) conference has managed to persuade the Seedcamp guys (like Saul Klein, who is a SAffer) to bring the Seedcamp concept to South Africa.

For those of you not familiar with Seedcamp Week, you can read more about it on their site. But in a nutshell, it’s an intensive competition for startups, that happens in September in London. About 20 startups are selected, go through a rigorous presentation program and 5 winning teams are invested in, in return for a 5%-10% equity stake. The investment is between 30-50,000 pounds.

As with most competitions of this type, the real value is in the networking, exposure and mentoring, although the money is not to be sneezed at. There are over 400 mentors, with European connections, in the Seedcamp pool.

Seedcamp also runs mini seedcamps throughout Jan-June so that it can identify hot players to take part in the main event. South Africa is going to host an event like this, and this is a first for Africa. The winner will may get to participate in the main event in September, in London.

Gareth will begin taking applications mid June, and he will soon post more info on the Tech4Africa site. He is looking for 20 startups to participate in the local competition. Mentoring is going to be a huge part of the selection process, and the winner will be announced at the Tech4Africa conference.

I am particularly excited about this, because Crowdfund should have some exciting projects to enter into the competition (although not by mid June). Also, I see a lot of ideas that we cannot fund for various reasons, and it will be super to offer the entrepreneurs a chance of participating in this competition instead. And of course, we might spot some winning gems that don’t get to win, but that *we* can still fund.

Awesome.

(Gareth Knight is on Crowdfund’s board)

I have been waiting a *really* long time to be able to say this, but after many attempts, and dozens of viewed properties I am happy to say that the hot desking concept we have all been talking about for ages is READY TO GO!

Geekspace will be 500m2 devoted to helping entrepreneurs conquer the online space. Most of us are (or know of) coders who sit huddled in their bedroom, separated from the rest of the civil world, and who would really benefit from being a part of an ecosystem that could “feed” everyone in it symbiotically.

I am working out the finer details (including lease negotiations) but all of these are semantics: the Geekspace will be ready to launch July 1, and the space should be available June 1 if you don’t mind working in slight chaos while we set up.

The place I have in mind is in Bryanston, 5 minutes away from William Nicol and thus relatively close to the highway. Plenty, plenty of FREE parking (HUGE issue, trust me…most buildings want from R400 per bay). (But the lease hasn’t been signed, and I have 2 back up locations).

Should you be accepted into the space, you will get a desk, chair, Internet connectivity etc etc. There is a super entertainment area, including a bar (yes!) and loads and loads of built in fun. Also: free use of the boardroom, meeting rooms, etc. Private offices are also available, but very limited. Hoping to get DSTV and TVs in time for World Cup etc. There is a training room, a library, kitchens, etc etc. In other words…. truly AWESOME.

Oh, and the space will be a 24/7 so it will *never close*.

I am looking for a diverse mix of tenants, so it doesn’t all have to be “online people”, but it does have to be people that feed the online ecosystem. So, aside from coders, it can be marketing, strategy, legal, financial etc. Diversity is the key. Yes, also when it comes to colour.

The cost will be kept to the lowest possible. Still finalizing numbers, and dependent on sponsorships etc, but I wouldn’t want to cross the R990 per desk, per month fee. This includes the furniture, parking, facilities etc, but *might* not include bandwidth. You have to bring your own laptop.

Leases are month to month.

If you are starting up a venture, or have been accepted into the Crowdfund programme, you would most likely not incur any cost at all for the first 3 months. Also, if you are busy playing here, but really cannot afford to pay, you should just talk to me. This isn’t so much about revenue as it is about making things happen.

I will post much more details soon (including a dedicated website to this), but I just wanted to get the word out and start gathering some feedback of interest.

If you are interested in renting a desk for about R1,000, please email me directly, asap. First come first served, and space is limited. eved@ideabank.co.za, with GEEKSPACE in subject line, please. I need to know how many desks, who you are and what you do.