One of the founders of i/o ventures is Paul Bragiel (who founded Meetro, the first location-based social network, and Lefora). The other partners come from companies like MySpace and BitTorrent, and they have mentors from companies like Yelp, Digg, Mint, MochiMedia, and OpenDNS.

In addition to acting as an incubator (I haven’t heard that term since the late 1990s), they provide co-working space (like Citizen Space) on 780 Valencia Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. The cost to rent desk space is $150 per desk per month. The building also has space for small conferences and meetings.

http://www.ventures.io

A List Apart has finally posted the best replies that they are truly worth reading:

Working From Home: The Readers Respond

1. New York

2. London

3. Paris

4. Tokyo

5. Hongkong

6. Los Angeles,

7. Singapore

8. Chicago

9. Seoul

10. Toronto

Co-working is a fancy term for sharing an office with several people who work for themselves. Typically these people are web designers, consultants, advisors, etc. According to this article in the International Herald Tribune, many co-working spaces are popping up around the world to serve the needs of this growing class of independent worker. The example given in the piece is the Hat Factory in San Francisco. You rent desk space and share an office (including printers, fax machines, full kitchen, Wi-Fi) with other people for the recession-friendly price of $200.

Advantages:

• low cost: office space rentals for $200 and up
• social: dispels the loneliness and isolation of working alone at home all the time
• concentration and productivity: if you have small children at home, having an office allows you get work done
• meeting space: gives you a place for meetings with clients

In Amsterdam, there have been a lot of co-working spaces opening up. Indeed, recently, Dutch designer Marcel Wanders announced that he and his business partners are turning the former Amsterdam Central Library into creative workspaces, a hotel, cafe and museum.

I like the flexibility of co-working and the low cost, of course, not to mention the social and networking aspects of being around people in your profession. Even though our homes are well equipped with broadband and we can work at home just as easily, I miss the camaraderie of the office environment.

In the past few years, the city has realized that there’s a need for more ateliers and work spaces for the growing number of entrepreneurs who work in technology, advertising, media, etc. And of course, their counterparts abroad need a cool place to stay when they are in town.

Let’s hope the library has a superfast connection to the Internet (gigabit, anyone?). I know the new public library, which is a magnificent space, has very fast connections.

Anyway, this is a great addition to the city.

“Some customers are already making up to £100 a week, more than enough to cover a phone’s running costs, according to Noodle, the telecom firm providing the service. Noodle customers make 2p a minute if they make or receive a call during peak hours and 1p at other times. You can also make money by signing up a friend. You earn money each time you receive a call on your Noodle number, which is obtained by texting “Noodle” to 81025. Calls made by dialling the Noodle number first also earn money. There is no contract or monthly fee and you can keep your mobile number and any free bundled minutes you have with your existing provider.”

(2) Share an office, desks, Wi-Fi, coffee, everything: this is a trend I’m seeing in Amsterdam too, where you can rent a large desk in an office with other entrepreneurs for 300 EUR a month. It’s definitely for people who can’t work from home (because of kids, noise) or those who crave company. See this post on GigaOm about co-working spaces.

France: www.bureauxapartager.com

Boston-Cambridge, Massachusetts: www.betahouse.org