Blog

Like a loaded gun the Cohort have been locked and stocked into their new co-working space in Cannon St. The 'Cannon' is the 6th floor space directly opposite Cannon Street station, a fantastic location with 97 stairs to keep the Cohort ramen noodle trim. We've given them all the luxuries a start-up could need; a desk, a chair and super fast wifi (toilet paper and coffee not included....)

So why do we love the Cannon?

Community. There is enough space at the Cannon for the whole cohort to either have a permanent desk with their team, or to hot desk when they're in London. The Cohort are all going through similar startup steps, the highs and the lows, and the Cannon gives them a focal point to share their experiences and to support each other.

Collaboration. 15 startups, 30 founders, a mixing pot of skills. The EF unconference at Bootcamp showed how talented and skilled the Cohort are and being located together means having access to this toolkit with just the turn of your chair.

Exposure and support. EF is all about community, but not just the Cohort. We have a fantastic pool of people from the startup community who are supporting EF and the Cannon makes it even easier for them to drop by, deliver talks, do a bit of mentoring, or just hang out.

Feedback on tap. If there is one thing the Cohort don't shy from, it's giving extensive feedback on each others ideas. Rob and Sal from FounderCentric instilled a love of the 'Brain Trust' in our startups. This is a daily or weekly check in with your peers to update them on progress, what's been learned and to push each other to the next level.

It's free! Thanks to the fantastic folk at start-up supporter, The Estate Office, we have been given the space free of charge until Christmas. 

The furniture is pretty eclectic. EF is a startup too and we don't have pots of cash to throw at office furniture. Core Sponsor, the City of London, came to the rescue by letting us raid their furniture store at the Fruit and Wool Exchange in Spitalfields. While picking up the furniture we managed to drive onto the set of a Robbie Williams music video, but that's another story...

Super fast wi-fi. Thanks to the support of Silicon Valley startup Meraki, we have a simple and fast wi-fi network. Meraki was formed in 2006, almost accidentally, by PhD candidates from MIT, and was funded by Sequoia Capital and Google (something for the Cohort to aim for...).  “It wasn't so long ago that we were a small company setting up our first humble office. We still remember what it was like trying to do a million and one things and the last thing you need to worry about is your Internet connection. Along the way, we were fortunate enough to receive some great support so when we heard about the concept behind Entrepreneur First we were happy to help.” Imran Idrees, EMEA Marketing Manager

Let us know if you fancy swinging by for a cuppa (you might have to bring your own mug), we'd love to see you!