'Lots of failed startups came out of Campus': Google axes London hub because startup scene 'doesn't need' another 7 floors of workspace
- Reference: 1624285924
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/21/google_closes_london_campus/
- Source link:
[1]Google said the pandemic had "demonstrated" it could somehow support the startup community without occupying a seven-storey building in the heart of Central London. The shift to remote working, it added, had allowed it to support fledgling businesses beyond the perimeter of the Tube network.
Lots of failed startups came out of Campus, man. People went there assuming they'd find co-founders and investors. Sometimes it was true, but most of the time it wasn't...
Google also noted the existence of competition from other accelerators and co-working spaces. When the service first launched, WeWork hadn't yet reached the level of ubiquity it now enjoys, San Francisco was still the shining city on the hill, and London had more Angus Steakhouses than accelerators. Now the English capital is a tech hub - at least from investors' point of view - with its startups collectively [2]raising £7.6bn in venture capital funding during 2020 alone.
"Today's founders in London are part of a vibrant ecosystem of 250+ coworking spaces, 35+ accelerators, corporate programs, and thousands of startups providing services to each other," Google said. "The UK startup community doesn't need access to a single shared physical space as much as it needs access to resources, mentors, and programs available at scale, anywhere."
Google said it remained "committed" to the UK's startup scene, and would continue funding initiatives including $2m Black Founders Fund and educational programmes like Startup School.
[3]
Unlike competing workspaces, literally anyone with a laptop could show up and toil from the Chocolate Factory's public areas, provided they'd registered in advance. Although seating was perpetually in short supply, if you arrived early enough, we have heard it was a decent place to spend a few hours working without worrying that your laptop would get nicked while you were in the toilets.
[4]Amazon notices Apple, Google cutting app store commission rates, follows suit
[5]UK financial watchdog dithers over £680k refund from Google (in ad credits, mind you) for running anti-fraud ads
[6]Google dishes out homemade SLSA, a recipe to thwart software supply-chain attacks
[7]Chrome 'Conformance' for JavaScript frameworks says: If you don't follow our rules, your project won't build
"I remember when the tech scene first started bustling in London it was the go-to for any kind of hackathon," said Shad Jahangir, product designer at JustPark.
"I worked in the TechHub on the first floor for a year too. It gave me a weird kind of insight onto the day-to-day there. Lots of failed startups came out of Campus, man. People went there assuming they'd find co-founders and investors. Sometimes it was true, but most of the time it wasn't."
Feeding our, er, minds
"Anyone who has had the opportunity of working on Google Campus will have a plethora of memories, but as any young person starting off their career might attest, it was the free food provided which made a lasting impression," added Heather Delaney, managing director at Gallium Ventures.
"Whether it was the fully stocked kitchen of drinks and snacks, or the bagels which you could grab and run, those coming out of university found a working environment giving away food a bit like Willy Wonka's factory of goodies."
[8]
[9]Ahem .
Cathy White, founder of CEW Comms, told us: "Some of my earliest memories getting to know and navigate London's flourishing tech scene happened there. Whether it was attending a Silicon Drinkabout, mentoring, working with the Seedcamp team, or running a Meetup, campus was a space for everything and everyone...
[10]
"I won't miss the weird smell the café had or the dodgy lift, but I will miss that sense of community." ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://campus.co/london/about/
[2] https://www.uktech.news/funding/vc-funding/london-tech-firms-raise-76b-vc-investment-in-2020-20210115
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YNC3m0YBXZHqmVbBaGwVtQAAABU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/18/amazon_appstore_commission/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/18/fca_google_ad_refund/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/18/google_slsa_supply_chain_rust/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/17/google_chrome_conformance/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNC3m0YBXZHqmVbBaGwVtQAAABU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://search.theregister.com/?q=%22chocolate+factory%22
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNC3m0YBXZHqmVbBaGwVtQAAABU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Never overheard such hyperbole in my life
I couldn't understand our local equivalent - think Silicon Valley meets Tellytubbies
Then I heard a business podcast about how they're are basically the C21 equivalent of a nightclub.
Nobody is there to start a successful company, there are a few trust-fund/credit-card funded 'founders' dreaming. A lot of marketing/management-consultant sharks trying to hook up with them and a large number of attractive boys/girls/etc hoping to 'market' themselves to the next Zuckerberg.
Re: Never overheard such hyperbole in my life
I'll start with a premise that power is a drug.
Wealthy people are bored and constantly chase that power high. This is where all these start ups come in.
People present these "life changing" ideas and bidding for their new god / guru who will pour the money and get the things moving.
If you ever worked in a start up, you probably know what happens when an investor comes to visit. The whole office prepares for a second coming. The wealthy investor can feel like a king, the dopamine rush and all those people trying to please him or her.
Of course a year or so later the whole thing wears off. It gets sold or folds.
Onto the next one.
There is also the tax fiddle aspect to it, but maybe let's not go there.
Re: Never overheard such hyperbole in my life
Or in other words, free food and people to talk about nothing.
Accelerators
Produce far more failures than successes. I've been part of 5 startups, none that participated in accelerators, but 3 were VC funded, one a boot strap and one a still birth. One VC funded went through IPO, one VC funded & the boot strap were sold to mature companies, one VC funded crashed after burning through almost $200M, and one never made it very far as we failed to raise enough cash. I'd probably tell someone starting anew to look at accelerators with a jaundiced eye and be careful what you sign. The people running them are not doing so because they are altruistic.
Re: Accelerators
Simple guide: success is inversely proportional to style.
Central London location with a rent only google can afford, artisanal coffee machines, motorized standing desks, and motivational meditation rooms = fscked
Some cheap cubical farm space you share, with somebody taking care of internet and electricity, with perhaps a receptionist to handle deliveries and a meeting room in case we ever get customers = a chance.
Re: Accelerators
Some cheap cubical farm space you share etc
And make that somewhere near where your can afford to live.
Re: Accelerators
It's not like that money got wasted. Most likely this is just a way of careful tax planning that looks like legitimate investing... ;-)
Am I reading this correctly - they have a fund that helps people based on their skin colour? How is that not racist?
Can anyone else hear that high-pitch tone? It sounds like someone is blowing a dog whistle.
Never overheard such hyperbole in my life
I spent an afternoon there, I'm a veteran of startup failure and semi-success. It was full of dreamers with no dev skills looking for some sap to do their bidding (as they are the 'ideas-person, fantasists unconcerned with economics, some who saw it more of a trendy 'scene' than of business, but it was a nice space if you could ignore the mass of cables everywhere into people's iFruit machines.