Golden Square - Joy at Work

To create a platform and ecosystem for startups, India Japan Startup Community in collaboration with Golden Square who are into Co-working spaces, hosted a pitch event on 10th March 2018. Ten Startups got a chance to pitch in front of 14 Japanese Investors and 2 of Indian Investors as well. We are proud to say that among the 10 Startups, 3 were Golden Square Co-working Space Members. The event was graced by Mr. Takayuki Kitagawa, Consulate- General of Japan as the chief guest. It took over a month to plan just the event day. A lot of preparations and the support of volunteers led to the successful event with rehearsals, among various other things. The three startups from Golden Square who gave their pitch were: 1. Svingo 2. Bookmytrainings.com 3. Pristinesoft We wish this is just the stepping stones to all the good things this community and our collaboration with them is going to bring. IJSC plans to do 3-4 events a year to create a regular platform to reach investors with innov...

In the last two decades, co-working spaces have undergone a sea change in infrastructure and functioning. From small, crowded rooms with people hunched over desktops, to large, well-appointed spaces that bring together a collection of people across industries, these places have truly come of age. There was a time when entrepreneurs and start-ups were the ones who opted for them. Today, however, large companies form part of a significant chunk opting for them as a viable space option to run entire teams and business verticals. Startups have always gone for co-working spaces, and the reasons for it have always been obvious. Lack of financial resources, the pains of starting up, the effort to do more with less yet give the team a place they can call their own made such spaces a viable work option for companies who were just starting out. It helped give them access to new talent across industries, helped them mingle with fellow entrepreneurs, incubate ideas and helped foster a sen...

A startup entrepreneur and a corporate executive have a similar set of tools, strategies, and skills to execute their tasks. Yet, placing them in a similar environment and exposing them to the same ambiance, may turn out to be counter-productive. Could this be because of the environment they are exposed to? Office design is never considered a factor when designing spaces for employees. Like medicines that are prescribed as a ‘one size fits all’ concept, so too has office design been implemented so rigorously and dogmatically that it often ends up defying its very purpose. A number of research papers have proven that standard office design catering to a wide set of individuals, teams, and companies often ends up hampering work, affecting productivity and harming well being in the long term. Take the ‘open office’ concept which is so prevalent today. Initially conceived as a way to engage, collaborate and streamline work and increase transparency, this concept cannot be applied ever...

There was a time when setting up a traditional office was a sign of having arrived. Business owners were therefore pushed to outdo themselves in setting it up, from getting interiors done to ensuring the space had all facilities and was equipped with quality furniture and decor. On the flipside, this involved plenty of expenditure especially on rentals, not to mention the time involved in setting it up and effort that went behind it. Cut to present times, and the traditional notions of doing business have changed drastically. Businesses are increasingly working within flexible time frames. Work from home options and enhanced technological advancements have meant employees can work remotely, and the concept of pay per seat has ensured companies optimize every spend they make. Co-working spaces are great for today’s companies. They have changed the entire concept of the way companies do business. The flexible format, the ‘pay per resource’ concept and large savings on time are encou...

The last decade has been one of the major economic upheavals. Its main impact has been on businesses, big and small. While these businesses have undergone organizational restructuring and borderless interaction, it has also resulted in unprecedented business growth. Besides the internet, which can be credited for this upheaval, there are numerous other tangible changes that have taken place - the proliferation of freelancers and the growth of co-working spaces to cater to them - being a few of them. Co-working spaces arose out of the need to provide businesses with a shared work environment that could cater to different requirements and budgets. According to this infographic by Officevibe, 40% of the future workforce will be entrepreneurs and freelancers by 2020, 90% of them will use a co-working space and 90% of today’s freelancers already love working in one. Start-ups have always been credited as the instigators for this. However, the reality is that businesses with different s...

Yet here I was, like any other women bearing dual roles, one of a responsible housewife, a mother of a young daughter and one as a student preparing for GMAT. I initially converted one of a spare room at my residence as my Study, however having a young daughter at home concentrating on my GMAT preparation was a big challenge. To add to it, my husband started using my study as his office while he opted to Work from home. I was left with no place to study and take up Online tests. I forced myself to look for an alternate option outside which gave me a desk, a place free from noise and uninterrupted Internet connectivity, especially while I would take online tests. My choices were spread across Cafes, Internet hubs, and Coworking facilities. I enrolled myself a membership in one of the co-working facility in HSR layout assuming it will meet all my requirements as promised. I was initially given a desk, due to a lot of external disturbances like other fellow co-workers phone cal...

To most of the city, it was just another day. Work went on at the Vittal Mallya Road branch of Golden Square just as usual, despite the sudden showers. The construction work at UB City blocked the roads, as it had for weeks now, but this didn’t hinder the flow at Golden Square Serviced Offices. Even lack of parking space had a quick fix in their hands. Mani was given a car to use as a shuttle, driving people to and from Cubbon Park, where ample parking space was available. Yet, on this day, efficiency wasn’t the exact word of choice on the mind of one particular man. As I said, for most of the city, it was just another day, but for Mr. Bhaskar, this day was turning out to be a nightmare. Even though his flight would depart in about two hours, he was nowhere near the airport yet, not even on the road! He was still stranded at his office at Golden Square. You’d think that getting to the airport wouldn’t be the most difficult task in the world, and Mr. Bhaskar isn’t a slo...