Large companies spend big bucks to make their promotions look uber-sophisticated and polished.
This video, on the other hand, took three minutes and 12 seconds to film and maybe a little less to edit. (Maybe.) It’s a very ‘lean’ debut for a much needed addition to the Queensland startup ecosystem. And that’s exactly how it should be.
River City Labs is a shared startup space in Fortitude Valley, one train-stop from the Brisbane CBD. Funded serial-entrepreneur Steve Baxter and, powered by the enthusiasm of River City Labs ‘evangelist’ and former DevNet CEO Craig Deveson, it’s living the Lean Startup ethos made famous by Eric Ries.
For example, this might well be the first time that you’ve heard of the ‘Lab’.
However, in less than two weeks, it has attracted 20 tenants and more applications than could possibly fill its 76 seats. How did it do this? Billboards and print ads? Of course not! It infiltrated influencers in the Brisbane digital media and technology scene, such as the connected people behind Interactive Minds.
Like York Butter Factory in Melbourne and Fishburners in Sydney, tenants are provided with access to a desk, wi-fi and very little else… except the intangible and highly addictive ‘vibe’ that comes from working alongside other startups.
With much uncertainty surrounding the future of iLabs (What is going on there, anyway? Anyone?) and some other rough starts (which I won’t name), River City Labs seems to have picked its timing well. It’s lean (like a startup), mean (in a good way) and, with the help of its tech-savvy mentors, it has the potential to become a ‘new biz’ machine.
