Thinkspace is on a mission to give local entrepreneurs easy access to the resources they need to launch and grow their business. With two locations in Seattle and Redmond, the space curates connection, collaboration and community.

I spoke with Thinkspace community manager Ingrid Porter about the inspiration for the space, how the in-house mentors support the entrepreneurial community, and the benefits of collaboration, both inside the space and among Seattle space operators. Here are the highlights of our conversation.

Cat Johnson: How long has Thinkspace been around and what was the inspiration for it?

Ingrid Porter: Thinkspace has been around for 10 years, as of May 1. Our founder, Peter Chee, had been working with entrepreneurs for a long time. He wanted to provide a space that would be so rich in resources that it would help entrepreneurs be the best they could be.Part of that experience is making sure the people in this space are collaborative and engaged, and wanting to be active players in the community. My role as community manager is to curate that experience and make sure we’re maximizing the entrepreneurial resources.

Right, if the members aren’t interacting, they’re missing out one of the greatest benefits of coworking.

Absolutely. It’s the benefit. It can be really cool, especially when companies are bootstrapped, to be accountable to each other.

Is Thinkspace a curated community or is it open to anyone?

We restrict the number of service providers. We have five services providers and at least one member of their team is an expert-in-residence in our community. That means we have advisors who are available for office hours and they put on lunch and learns. The objective is to have them provide free consultation to members—to provide the type of information people don’t even know they need and don’t know how to go about finding.

There’s a lot of mentorship here and a lot of advisors. That’s the basis for our community. As far as curating, we do have prospective members take the grit test, which is a test to determine your level of grit as a characteristic of those who are successful in the startup realm. We’re more specialized than curated.

Are the Thinkspace advisors members or staff? Or do you trade office space? How does that work?

Some of our advisors—our experts-in-residence—are just within our network. We host events for some organizations, which is part of their connection to the community. But all of our service providers in the building all have experts in residence. There is a trade: in order to be an expert, they have to be available for four hours per month—one hour of office hours per week where they sit out in the coworking area and are available to talk with people, and one learning event per quarter.

That’s such a good idea. The idea of hiring a financial advisor sounds intimidating and probably expensive, but the idea of asking a quick question feels really accessible and open.

Exactly. Even determining if you need to hire a financial advisor. Sometimes it just takes one of those free conversations to realize you don’t need to spend $8,000 on something.

So you have the coworking space and the experts-in-residence. What other support and services does Thinkspace offer members?

We provide free space and limited libations for our members’ launch parties or business anniversaries. Basically, any kind of promoting of your company that we can do in the space and to our greater community, we will do. It’s also relevant to mention that we’re right on the water in Seattle and it’s kind of amazing. It’s the first thing people notice and it’s a big deal.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance. Why do you find it valuable?

I started with Thinkspace in January and I learned of the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance in April. But, while I’m new to the organization, I’m definitely a huge supporter. The basis of the Thinkspace community is involvement and engagement. I believe that makes us stronger and it makes the experience for our members and our guests better.Being collaborative is an advantage, and collaborating with some of the other fantastic spaces within the region can only be a good thing. You have different perspectives and different experiences.

There’s no reason we can’t all contribute to all of our members having a positive experience. There are so many things we can all do to help each other succeed. It’s a saturated market, there are tons of options. I think it’s in our best interest to help publicize coworking by being a really fabulous option—all of us.I’m excited to be involved with different spaces and different types of niche spaces, and to meet the fantastic teams behind them and hopefully contribute positively in a way that has a great impact on our community.

Thinkspace is a member of the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance. Learn more about joining the community of member spaces.

How Thinkspace Helps Local Entrepreneurs Next Level Their Business

Creating Community in the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance: a Q&A with Susan Dorsch

Under New Ownership, Makers Workspaces Doubles Down on Community, Supporting Local Entrepreneurs and Coworking in Seattle