This Week In Coworking

Host Hector Kolonas is joined by co-host Sam Shea (ex-Workbar, ex-WeWork, ex-LiquidSpace; now at Uniti; and founder of FLOC—Future Leaders of Coworking) to discuss the 2026 Coworking Tenure Survey and key Week 41 stories.

Read the Week 41 newsletter at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-41-2026/

Get the free 2026 Coworking Tenure report at https://twic.co/tenure/results

They review survey findings from 37 operators across five regions, including that 78% report entry-level staff staying a year or more, with drop-off often occurring around 2–3 years, and that defined career paths correlate with lower churn. Reported reasons for entry-level departures include limited career progression (39%), moving industries (39%), and compensation (31%). They discuss internal promotion splits (some promote most managers internally, others few) and optional revenue-per-employee results where 33% reported $300k–$500k.

The episode also covers AI agent adoption (a master agreement bringing Uniti to the Vast franchise network), an IKEA franchisee case study on reskilling, HubSpot’s shift toward consumption-based pricing, Alcove’s expansion to 33 pods including Manhattan, and a FLOC collaboration pub quiz at GCUC UK in London.00:00 Welcome and Sam Shea00:43 What is FLOC01:49 Tenure Survey Key Findings03:18 Career Paths Reduce Churn05:13 Why Staff Leave06:03 Promoting Managers Internally08:11 Revenue Per Employee Insights10:35 AI Agents Enter Coworking12:47 AI Reskilling Lessons17:13 HubSpot Pricing Shakeup20:20 Alcove Pods Expansion21:43 GCUC London Wrap Up

Hector Kolonas hosts the Week 40 (2026) recap of This Week In Coworking with guest co-host Cat Johnson, discussing upcoming events including GCUC UK in London, a Coworking Creators meetup, the Coworking Creator Summit, and October and November convos, plus a surprise trivia game at GCUC UK powered by This Week In Coworking and hosted by FLOC.

They highlight a Cobalt resource on pricing psychology (price anchoring, the endowment effect, frictionless signups, and effective discount framing), then explore how AI personal assistant agents from Meta and OpenAI could shift booking and search behavior and what that means for coworking ecommerce, reviews, and positioning.

They also cover Google Sheets gaining Gemini-powered board-style interfaces, the risks of “vibe coding” without maintenance, and implications for tech stacks and coworking space sales. Finally, they discuss Tamara’s public response to a “bad member” and review bombing, emphasizing transparency, community trust, and online context.

00:00 Welcome and Birthdays

00:40 Cat’s Event Sprint

01:31 GCUC UK Trivia Tease

02:19 Pricing Psychology Wins

04:33 AI Agents Change Buying

10:08 Aggregators and Incentives

11:26 Gemini Sheets Goes No Code

13:29 Vibe Coding vs Maintenance

15:16 Exit Strategy and Tech Stack

18:34 Handling a Bad Member

22:16 Community Support and Wrap

In this episode of the Week 39 recap, host Hector Kolonas is joined by Ivailo Ivanov, VP of Product at OfficeRnD, to discuss three critical topics from this weeks newsletter for the coworking industry:

1. A "catastrophic booking failure" case study: Analyzing how breakdowns in access, staffing, SOPs, and Wi-Fi can ruin the member experience despite a successful booking.

2. Branding over overcrowding: An argument that flex workspaces aren’t suffering from overcrowding, but rather a lack of clear branding. We compare coworking differentiation to hotel tiers and emphasize the need for clearer expectations based on specific use cases.

3. AI in coworking: A product-focused deep dive into OfficeRnD’s utility-first approach. We explore implementing sales agents and web chat widgets to drive conversions, and experimenting with conversational analytics for faster data insights.

Follow along at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-39-2026/

Or subscribe for the free email newsletter at https://twic.co/subscribe

We also offer a warning against the risks of "vibe coding" bespoke systems, emphasizing that long-term maintenance and security require more than just a surface-level approach.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:23 Catastrophic Booking Fail

04:10 Fixing Ops and WiFi Basics

09:03 Branding Not Overcrowding

12:18 Power Outage Reality Check

12:39 OfficeRnD AI Philosophy

14:44 AI Adoption Types

19:28 AI Sales Agent and Conversion

22:49 Conversational Analytics and Data Trust

24:26 Vibe Coding Warning

25:52 Wrap Up and Thanks

Host Hector Kolonas recaps week 37 of 2026 with guest co-host Perla Caballero from Alliance Virtual Offices calling in from Monterrey after attending the GWA conference, where she led roundtables on excellence management and member loyalty, drawing on experience from WeWork and Airbnb.

Follow along with the web-version of the free newsletter at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-37-2026/

Perla shares Alliance revenue opportunities for operators beyond virtual offices, highlighting meeting rooms as a lead generator for new members.

They discuss Sarah Travers’ view that companies now proudly use flexible offices as a hiring and operational advantage, and explore corporate demand for managed, amenity-rich private offices.

They also cover Jamie Hodari’s point that restrooms and “hidden” spaces shape the overall experience, suggesting tours, photos, and potentially ratings for bathrooms and other amenities.

Finally, they review OfficeRnD’s tech survey, which shows integration challenges rising to 68%, and discuss how well-built integrations and instant bookings reduce workload and improve responsiveness.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:36 GWA Denver Highlights

01:37 Perla Career Background

02:07 Alliance Revenue Streams

03:25 Coworking Credibility Shift

06:02 Enterprise Flex Office Benefits

09:21 Restrooms Matter Too

13:16 Tours Ratings and Bathrooms

16:39 Tech Survey Integrations

23:03 Wrap Up and Where to Meet

In the Week 36 (2026) recap of the This Weekend Coworking podcast, host Hector Kolonas and guest co-host Mark Furness discuss Mark’s reacquisition and take-private of essensys, his renewed focus on building faster with AI, and what “AI at the core” means: agentic capabilities across essensys Platform (network/WiFi), elumo (meeting room access and monetization), and Operate (lead-to-cash/ops system) via more autonomous operations and natural-language interfaces.

They debate where AI agents should and shouldn’t replace deterministic workflows, rising concerns around data security as workers bring their own tools, and the need for interoperable, best-in-class stacks.

They cover improving onboarding/activation journeys, insights from Flexspace data on full-day bookings (median eight seats), the importance of distinguishing buyer vs user, and why utilization data is a stronger signal than occupancy, including plans for MCP-enabled access to essensys data and a push toward autonomous flexspace operations.00:00 Welcome and Introductions00:41 Mark Reacquires Essensys02:44 AI at the Core08:50 Agents vs Infrastructure11:39 Security and Data Risks16:14 Autonomous Ops Use Cases19:37 Onboarding and Activation20:55 Flexspace Booking Data23:44 Fixing the Arrival Experience28:41 Occupancy vs Utilization32:15 MCP and Data Access35:25 Wrap Up and Thanks

In this Week 35 recap of This Week in Coworking, Hector Kolonas is joined by Ken Koh from Nexudus to unpack the latest shifts shaping coworking, flex, and community-led workspaces.

See this week's full summary at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-35-2026/

They discuss Nexudus’ new Members Portal and Passport app updates, embedded storefronts, AI-powered member experiences, why coworking websites need to show real community, the rise of niche spaces like QUBE, and what Dublin’s flex market data reveals about larger companies adopting coworking.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and intro with Ken Loh from Nexudus

00:53 Nexudus Members Portal updates

02:20 Passport app and mobile member experience

02:43 AI tools, chatbots, WhatsApp, email, and calls

03:36 Embedded storefronts and ecommerce for coworking spaces

04:14 Schema, agentic search, and bookable workspace data

05:16 What coworking websites get wrong with imagery

08:12 On-demand use, community discovery, and workspace fit

11:36 Occupancy data, vibe, and useful workspace signals

13:10 Is traditional coworking dead?

14:45 The rise of niche coworking and media-focused spaces

17:28 How AI is changing why people use offices

20:13 Collaboration, whiteboards, and coming together intentionally

21:15 Dublin flex data and mid-market demand

24:34 Why coworking metrics vary by location and audience

25:00 Upcoming Undercurrents deep dive: which metrics matter?

25:44 Closing thoughts and thanks

Featuring:

Hector Kolonas, Syncaroo https://www.linkedin.com/in/inztinkt/

Ken Loh, Nexudus https://www.linkedin.com/in/i-am-ken-loh/

Topics:

Coworking, flex workspace, Nexudus, member experience, workspace technology, AI in coworking, embedded storefronts, niche coworking, QUBE, Dublin flex market, coworking metrics, community-led workspaces

In this recorded keynote-style discussion, Hector Kolonas (Syncaroo co-founder) is quizzed by Jessie Glew (CEO at WOTSO) and Andrew Rothstadt (CEO at Clarence) on what coworking operators should optimize for beyond software; shifting focus from occupancy to utilization, revenue, reduced churn, and staff efficiency. Hector elaborates on why “not all revenue is good revenue,” sharing an example of public meeting-room bookings that appeared successful but lost money once service overheads and commissions were included. He highlights scalable SKUs, such as virtual offices and day offices, to address uneven weekly demand, and discusses adding digital services that members need. The conversation explores what great software should do, why operators often stop building their own platforms, and what’s coming next: stronger data ownership and zero-trust thinking, better capture of institutional “context,” evolving roles such as data governance, and expanding AI agents that affect both operator workflows and member experience.00:00 Podcast Setup00:27 Beyond Occupancy Metrics01:12 Ending Productivity Theater02:13 Bad Revenue Traps04:20 Profitable SKUs Ideas07:09 What Great Software Solves09:20 Why Build Tools Fails12:05 Data Ownership Futureproofing14:10 Capturing Context Knowledge19:15 Avoiding Overlapping Systems21:34 Australia Leads Quietly23:57 Ignore Overseas Hype25:08 Jobs Shifting With AI26:52 Member-Facing AI Agents28:50 Utilization Beats Occupancy31:02 Dynamic Pricing Reality Check33:05 Closing Thanks

Hector Kolonas and Eyal Lasker recap traveling to Sydney for the Flexible Workspace Association’s annual conference, including long flights, jet lag strategies, and speaking engagements.

Eyal summarizes his panel on the industry’s need to standardize metrics and publicly share benchmarks so landlords, lenders, and banks can understand flex performance and support scaling goals.

They compare global markets and note that operators across continents assume others have already solved taxonomy and data challenges. Both were impressed by Sydney’s polished coworking products, strong hospitality, coffee culture, and frictionless building access with minimal security friction, plus activated lobbies with food and beverage.

They discuss on-demand booking, virtual office demand, an unstaffed workspace concept, high-quality lounges, landlord-funded fit-outs, upcoming lease renewals that create an inflection point, and evolving deal structures where flex operators manage broader building amenities.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:39 Flights and Jet Lag Hacks02:30 Conference Panel on Data04:35 Global Benchmarking Gap05:26 Sydney Space Quality Tour06:49 Frictionless Buildings and Lobbies09:31 Coffee Culture and On Demand11:21 Unstaffed Spaces and Lounges15:22 Views Servcorp and Lease Cycles18:05 Landlords Tech Stack Leverage19:04 What the US Can Learn21:19 Biggest Takeaway Hospitality23:39 Wrap Up and Global Future

Hector Kolonas hosts the Week 33, 2026 recap with returning guest co-host Antonette Benting (Workshop 17, Cape Town), who is helping bring GCUC Africa to Cape Town. They outline the conference structure across three operators (AfricaWorks welcome event, Workshop17 main conference day, and Neighbourgood evening), plus programming including local government on economic growth and foreign investment, panels on African flex/coworking, geopolitics, wellness, and social activations like a rooftop cocktail and optional beach run and cold plunge.

Follow along at https://thisweekincoworking.com/week-33-2026/

They discuss a TWIC partnership to create leader profiles for attendees to boost visibility and podcast/speaking opportunities, celebrate Ikigai Kenya’s 10-year milestone, debate coworking vs flex terminology, cover Cape Town demand for backup power amid load shedding, and note growing coworking demand for shared media/podcast studio spaces like Salt Hub.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:14 Antonette and Workshop 17

02:08 GCUC Africa Host Venues

03:14 The "Sanibonani" Partnership

08:35 Conference Program Highlights

12:17 Earlybird Ticket Deadline

13:20 Ikigai Kenya Anniversary

16:01 Coworking vs Flex Debate

20:05 Backup Power in Cape Town

26:23 Studios and Media Spaces

29:01 Amplify Member Stories

30:30 Closing Thanks and Signoff