Podcast: For WeWork’s Ben Kessler, ‘our product is community’

“When we talk about community,” says Ben Kessler, director of marketing for WeWork, “I always try to push the idea that our product is community. It is those connections. It is the fact that while it makes sense financially to start your company out of your apartment or out of a coffee shop, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities by not being in a shared space.”

In a recent podcast published by TechnologyAdvice, Kessler talked with new media strategist Clark Buckner about the value of co-working spaces: how they spark creativity and offer on-the-spot resources for growing a business.

“A great example might be someone that’s a lawyer, who’s really looking to build out an app or build out their website or something like that,” says Kessler. “They can head out of their office or just pick their head up and look around to find someone that’s a web development shop, or a Rails developer, or something that’s going to help them. They can find a graphic designer. They can find someone to help them with their startup accounting.”

Kessler also talked about the importance of constantly sharing information, working in small groups for planning sessions, and getting the entire team together so that different departments can work together more effectively.

Listen to the entire podcast below. You can also subscribe to the TA Expert Interview Series in order to get alerts about new episodes.

Photo credit: Lauren Kallen

Interested in workspace? Get in touch.