Going it alone, together

by Matt Nash May 9, 2016

written by Matt Nash May 9, 2016

Illustration by Ivan Debs

Samar Ibrahim doesn’t like her current office. Since February, necessity has forced her into a small space in the bowels of ABC Mall, Ashrafieh. She suggests meeting for an interview instead at Urbanista on the top floor. It’s fitting that she’s chosen a coffee shop as a setting – she sounds like her own ideal client. Ibrahim manages the temporarily closed Coworking +961, a shared workspace. An 11-year-old concept with activism in its genesis mythology, co-working is gaining popularity from Los Angeles to Singapore and even boasts its own unicorn in WeWork (valuation as of writing: $16 billion). There are many co-working proponents whose blood will boil when reading this article. Both Executive’s in-house stylebook and the much more influential Associated Press (AP) stylebook call for spelling co-working with a hyphen. True believers argue the hyphen should go. As Carsten Foertsch – founder of Deskmag – argued in 2011, “the

Matt Nash

Matt was Executive's Economics & Policy Editor and Real Estate Editor from May 2014 to November 2017. He began reporting in Lebanon in April 2007, and his coverage focused on oil and gas, public policy and human rights.

1 comment

David Munir Nabti May 13, 2016 - 12:34 PM

Just to clarify, AltCity is not closed at all! We changed locations because we are *growing* our programs around Beirut and around Lebanon, and part of that meant reducing our focus on one particular location.

We also actually moved our location to a place where there will be revamped coworking and shared offices launching later in 2016 … so look forward to more great startup and innovation activities and spaces coming to Beirut soon!

For more info about AltCity, check us out at http://www.altcity.me or on FB at http://www.fb.com/altcity … and our major program Bootcamp-LB (in partnership with Al-Mawarid Bank and the Central Bank of Lebanon/BDL) is also growing! http://www.bootcamp-lb.com

Various ecosystem components go through transitional periods, but overall things are growing in a very positive direction in Lebanon. Mabrouk to the startup ecosystem and all the players within it for their perseverance, positive collaboration, dedication, creativity, and top-notch performance! Bit by bit, bound by bound, we grow. :-)

Comments are closed.

Going it alone, together

You may also like

1 comment