There Is No Checklist.

Startup Edmonton isn’t just providing office space, it’s building a community. That can make the application process to become a member a little confusing. We don’t have a check list — there are a lot of different factors that go into growing a startup community. By keeping the process personal it allows us to be open to the most possibilities, rather than narrowing the focus to a few pre-determined values.

Q: How do you select a member?

A: The whole thing when we’re looking for members is that we’re building community. Community and culture are the two biggest things we’re building here and you need the right mix of people for that to work. We’re looking for people that will give as much as they get. We’re curating the right mix of people. The right mix means finding members that embody potential — for their personal projects, to inspire and to create something together. If you are willing to be a part of that type of that environment we have space for you here — as a tech entrepreneur, an artist, a developer, a writer, a hacker.

Q: What are the main differences between resident and shared members?

A: Resident members are people that are working on projects that are scalable. These tend to be product-driven projects that can grow. One way I like to describe our resident members is that they assemble talent, solve problems, and test their ideas locally but are thinking big enough to scale elsewhere.

With shared members, our focus is on finding members to be a vital part of the community talent base. Creators, hackers, designers, entrepreneurs… it’s a much broader scope than our resident members. Shared members bring diverse points of view and experiences to the space. This provides incredible opportunities for feedback for our resident members and helps build the conduit between Startup Edmonton and the larger business and creative communities.

It’s not really about networking where sometimes the process feels more about acquiring connections than building relationships. We try and embody the make something mantra of “What are you building? How can I help?”

If you have the right community mix people feel that they can build trust within it. And trust is really important. It’s ok to fail here… to think bigger about what you’re doing… to be audacious about your plans. No one will shun you for trying here.

Q: Club membership is your newest addition, what are you hoping it adds to the community?

A: The Startup Edmonton team travels a lot, connecting with startup communities around the world. The club membership really grew from of our experiences trying to find places to work when we were on the road; spaces where we could meet people, be productive and have a better understanding of the exciting projects that were happening in that place.

Club members are people that embody the community we’re looking the build but aren’t really suited to our other levels of membership. We don’t want to lose out on their contributions because of how much time they could spend with us. Club members can spend a few hours a month with us, when they travel to Edmonton or when they need to draw on the energy of our community.

Q: Why should a potential member book a tour, even if they have been to the space before?

A: We really want to meet everyone face-to-face before they apply. That way we get to know what they’re doing and what they want to do. People come in with an idea and other people might want to do something but are a little unsure. That was something missing in Edmonton, a space where it was okay to be thinking about projects. The collective spirit of working hard to solve problems rubs off on you at Startup Edmonton. It gives you faith in your own path, even if you’re not sure what your idea or project is yet.

I think getting feedback on what you’re doing more often is really important too and we can start that process right from the first visit. It’s hard to get that feedback if you’re working at a coffee shop. It’s a good space for working but gets a little weird if you start asking people at Starbucks to weigh in on your work (although don’t be afraid to do it).

It’s easy to get stuck on an idea if you’re the only person working on something and all your feedback comes from friends and family. Honestly, that isn’t the ideal kind of validation. Friends and family can be on either end of the spectrum, super supportive or hyper critical. It’s really hard for people close to you to help navigate the path of your project, or to tell you that it’s okay to quit and start work on something new. Strangers and customers are more likely to give you that feedback.

When we meet people in person we can also funnel them into our more formal programs, like Preflight, more easily to help them grow as entrepreneurs and work alongside other entrepreneurs at the same stage.

We’re a campus and community hub for hackers, artists and entrepreneurs. Meeting people that are excited about what we’re doing and want to be a part of it is one of the best things I get to do as Co-Founder and CEO.

To schedule a tour and check out membership options, visit startupedmonton.com.

Special thanks to Stephanie Enders for the conversation. We’ll be doing more of this in the coming months, exploring topics most frequently discussed with our members, supporters and the larger community.