A Space for Ideas
In Odds & Ends
What kind of business will you do if you have a free 760 square feet commercial space? Martell started a contest “Ultimate Start-Up Space” and is inviting people to submit their ideas in the form of a minute-long video and the winner will get a really big office space, renovation money and some other goodies. We looked through the videos of ideas others have submitted and most of them are really boring. An idea struck me while I was falling asleep two nights ago and I thought we should submit an idea about ideas.
We made our own video and submitted it two days ago on Sunday and here it is.
The big idea is that we can use the space as a platform for ideas. People will come into the space and exchange ideas and work together to turn good ones into things i.e. technology, products, platforms, etc that will benefit people.
The place will be equipped with free WiFi, broadband internet, plentiful power points and other essential facilities and people can just bring their laptops and do stuff. The walls of the space will be lined with big bookshelves fill with books on innovation, design, technology, science and philosophy and they can come from donations, sponsors or purchased cheaply from used books stores. There will also be a nice cosy corner with a projector for presentations, talks, pecha kuchas and all kinds of show-and-tell. It will be like our own mini TED conferences.
The whole purpose of this idea is to provide a platform for the generation of ideas by encouraging people to think, make and do, and to encourage the exchange of these ideas though sharing, discussion and collaboration. The goal is to develop an open platform for thinking and collaboration to create business and societal value by collectively and intelligently solving problems and improving the world. If we win this and the idea becomes a reality, I intend to operate this as a non-profit, like Wikipedia and TED and probably rely on membership fees, sponsorship, corporate programs, etc to sustain operation.
It is just a big idea at the moment but we will surely pursue it if we win. Please spare some minutes and vote for our idea at http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/75. And do share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Good idea certainly, but you have heard of the Hackerspace right?
They’re kinda already doing it.
Hi Andy. It would be stupid if all we are trying to achieve is a omputer club. Not the same at all.
Perhaps I’m missing something significantly different in your idea.
I’m not saying it’s not a good idea, just that it’s at least 90% covered by a recent community driven initiative.
I think describing the Hackerspace as a computer club is a little short sighted if not blinkered, they have already hosted multiple non-technical events. It might also be worth looking through the library too – fairly broad reading for a ‘computer club’!
I’m not sure if making a remark about Hackerspace being a computer club is at all negative. Isn’t it supposed to be one?
Don’t think it quite captures the spirit of the venture. Comparing it to an after school activity is a little derogatory, particularly given it has been organically created by the community.
A living room, laboratory and meeting place for technologists, entrepreneurs and thinkers to get together and make stuff (from the hackerspace about page) sounds an awful lot like what you are proposing. I’m interested to understand how you differentiate your idea.
Lots of good things have come out of after-school activities and computer clubs are not necessarily after-school activities. The homebrew computer club which contributed to the birth of Apple was pretty kickass.
That aside, I’ve been to Hackerspace a few times and my opinion about the place is quite similar to many others—People just hang around, chill, have fun and make stuff. According to Wikipedia, that is what a hackerspace is supposed to be. That is the Hackerspace I thought you were comparing our idea to. As that, I don’t think a Hackerspace can accomplish much.
Now it seems they are becoming something else and over-commercializing and transforming into something that is similar to what I have envisioned. That is not a Hackerspace.
The motivation behind this idea is not to copy Hackerspace. Like I said, we will be more like a think tank, mini TED and Pecha Kucha. The motivation is because how commercially polluted TEDxSG is, and how too geeky and tech-oriented BarCamp and Hackerspace is.