The Big Why
From 31st December 2017, the Rainmaking Loft London will be closing its doors for the last time. We would like to thank all our wonderful members, staff, partners, sponsors, suppliers and advocates over the years, who made one of London’s top entrepreneurial hubs possible. Below is some context for those of you who are keen to know the full story.
As entrepreneurs we are often told to start with Why and hold off a bit on the What and the How part. Our creations are a lot more meaningful when they come from a strong Why rooted deep inside us, rather than just from a shallow idea of the mind.
Back in June 2013 as we opened the doors to Rainmaking Loft London we surely felt a strong sense of Why. We wanted an inspiring home for our own startups, rather than a standard office with low energy, bad taste, and few visitors. We wanted to engage with the emerging startup ecosystem, to hang out with our peers, and to be inspired by other founders with great ideas, breath-taking skills, and high energy. We believed that what you call home for your startup should be much more than a desk and a chair, but rather the best possible platform for success.
Since there was no place on the market already that matched our requirements, we did what entrepreneurs do best; we simply created it. Ok, it wasn’t that simple because we needed to sign an expensive and long lease agreement to get the keys to the home of our dreams. But we did it, held our breath, and…. as you know it was perfect timing because the London tech scene was booming and Rainmaking Loft quickly filled up, and even had a wait list for years to come.
Wow! Fun times. We had gone for The Big Why, and it had worked out. Rainmaking Loft had become the buzzing home for 250 tech entrepreneurs, and every week we had famous visitors and the biggest brands of our times come by.
We at Rainmaking Loft truly felt that we did something meaningful and worthwhile every day: we provided the best possible home for tech startups, and a platform for their success. We built bridges. Made founders and their teams happy. Provided them with something they could not find anywhere else. We were not-for-profit from Day 1, and have been ever since. For us it was all about being part of the tech community, and for a long time we were a rare opportunity to have a truly meaningful place to go to work.
Fast-forward to today and the landscape is very different. There are literally hundreds of great co-working spaces in London, and many of them with many millions or even billions in investor funding. Half a year ago the biggest of them all, WeWork, moved in on top of us. They took a space 5 times larger than ours, and they spent 9m GBP buying furniture. Well done! However, their emergence in our building did make a question that had been luring in the corners for a while very obvious: is what we are doing still meaningful?
We have been pondering this question seriously over the last couple of months, and then during the weekend it finally became clear to us. There is no reason for us to keep running Rainmaking Loft London. Our work is done. The Big Why was here, but it has left the building. Knowing when to leave is just as important as knowing when to show up. We had our time, and we like to believe that we have made a difference. But today there is no longer a real need for a Rainmaking Loft in London. There are hundreds of co-working spaces competing for business, and they actually do a really good job in terms of design, community and content and anything else you can think of.
So when the year 2017 is over, Rainmaking Loft in London is also over. We hope that you will look back at the Loft with a smile on your face, some good memories, and maybe even a bit of love. Here at Rainmaking we have no regrets, only gratitude for what we have experienced over the years, and for the people we have spent time with. We have many other activities going on at Rainmaking, and we will continue to be part of the startup ecosystem in London.
Thanks for an amazing adventure to all of you! Your visions, dreams, hopes and inspirations have been the driving force behind Rainmaking Loft. And we are sure you will continue to thrive and move the world forward from your new home.
However, for the rest of 2017 it will be business as usual here at Rainmaking Loft, and we will assist you in the transition. Please don’t hesitate to contact us about anything we can do to help.
Kind regards,
Avril, Managing Director, Rainmaking Loft London
Mats & Martin, Partners at Rainmaking