CoLoft Coworking in Santa Monica

I’m out here for the CocoaHeads LA meeting tonight, so I thought I’d stop in at CoLoft, a new co-working space in Santa Monica, CA, near Los Angeles. It was started about a month ago by founders Avesta Rasouli and Cameron S. Kashani.

It’s a very nice space, and it feels a little like the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, where I spent most of the past month of my life. This is a place I’d like to come back to. I’m currently on their one-week free trial. Unlike the Hacker Dojo, CoLoft is actually a for-profit business.

Their wireless network is secured, whereas the Hacker Dojo’s Internet is unsecured and open. Speedtest.net reports a Download speed of 4.21 Mb/s, and an Upload rate of 0.72 Mb/s. Not bad — feels like standard broadband. Ping is 59 ms to the Los Angeles, CA server, a distance of < 50 mi away. Their ISP is Verizon Internet Services, and their IP is 96.229.79.x. They offer parking in the back weekdays until 6 PM, when cars need to move to the street. Street parking becomes free at 6 PM -- a lucky coincidence? I didn't have any difficulty finding the place, nor finding parking. It's a nice spot, and a very clean and new-feeling place. There's water and coffee, and a list of nearby restaurants (I think it's provided by Yelp). They're open for people to drop in and check it out. If you want to do that, their address is: 920 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 coloft.com Unlike the Dojo, I don't see any couches here. It's a retail space, and I don't think they'd tolerate much sleeping (but I haven't asked). There's some kind of women's event happening here tonight. I'm overhearing mentions of USC. I also met Marvin, a web developer who's doing freelance work for a company here in Santa Monica. It's a nice spot. It's only 0.8 miles from the Apple Store, so I might walk over there later. The Apple Store is open until 9 PM, I believe, so I'd need to go soon. I wonder if I could/should start a business like CoLoft, maybe somewhere else, far away (like Vietnam). What do you think?

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