In 2012, a few months after I had returned from working overseas, I was back in Perth, meeting various people in the business community. After countless coffee meetings, I saw an opportunity to create a new type of organisation, one that supported businesses and not-for-profits in their early years. From this, Spacecubed was born.
The previous decade had borne witness to a major mining construction boom. The resultant increase in economic activity and money that flowed through Perth fuelled a significant rise in house prices, among other things.
While the median house price tripled from around $150,000 to more than $500,000 during the period, incomes rose, unemployment fell, and vacancy rates in commercial office space in the city were reduced to an all time low.
Good times.
Commentators spoke of a ‘new paradigm’ and down played any ensuing crash as the over concerned jealousy of eastern states commentators.
Leading Change
Two things then happened in September 2012.
Firstly, a mining major announced 2,000 layoffs. The market had expected 1,000 so this came as quite a shock. Soon, other majors would follow. The mining construction boom was over. Tens of thousands would lose their jobs.
Opening just a few months earlier, Spacecubed was situated at 45 St George’s Terrace, it was a collaboration with the property group Stockland who was wanting to support entrepreneurs and innovation through their corporate social responsibility. This innovative model provided a way to lower costs for small business, startups and not-for-profits while bringing a community of programs, meetups and support together to help them thrive.
Many people had told me that such an idea “would never work in Perth”.
The first members of this novel type of coworking space were community organisations, tech startup founders and consultants. They used Spacecubed as their ‘office in the city’. Soon, other small businesses and then corporate businesses flocked to the space.
In that same month – September 2012 – I remember the first ‘Startup Weekend’ was held at Spacecubed. From ideas pitched on a Friday night, teams were formed which then spent the next two days and nights developing products from the ground up, validating their ideas through questionnaires and online feedback.
Some of those teams had finished products and even revenues by Sunday night, before going up in front of judges. There have been 14 Startup Weekends held since.
Over the ensuing years, a thriving community grew up in and around Spacecubed. Meetups and regular events sprung up, as more and more people were drawn to the space to mix with like-minded community leaders, entrepreneurs, developers, creatives, mentors, and investors.
Spacecubed went on to set up other spaces, such as FLUX at 191 St George’s Terrace. We renamed the original Spacecubed space, Riff. Spacecubed is now the organisation behind these spaces and has built a technology platform to manage other organisational spaces, providing the community building and systems.
There are now four such spaces in the city alone, with Riff at 45 St Georges Terrace, FLUX at 191 St Georges Terrace and a collaboration with Murdoch University at 32 St Georges Terrace. Spacecubed will open Fern at Allendale Square this month in collaboration with Mirvac.
Today, Spacecubed’s spaces are home to more than 300 organisations and 700 of their staff across more than 6,500 square metres of space. Last year, more than 10,000 people visited the spaces at various events.
The downturn in Perth’s economy persisted for several years. But through it all, the Spacecubed community grew and thrived. We introduced a new way of working and activated otherwise empty space in Perth.
All through this time, a successful business was grown, but more importantly, a community was built.
After almost ten years, it is now time for me to step away from Spacecubed and serve the city in another capacity. We have been preparing for this as a team for the past 18 months, evidenced by not needing to be involved in establishing our most recent space, Fern, opening this month.
As your Lord Mayor, I will take the lessons and experience of building a community with me. I will listen to the residents and businesses of Perth, and together we will lead change through the current precarious environment COVID-19 has landed us all in.
Among the candidates running for your Mayor, I am the only one who has proven business and governance experience to lead our City through these uncertain times.
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