New business model, expansion revitalize Cohab

The scope of Shreveport-Bossier City is evolving with entrepreneurs leading the innovation.

In 2010, when Cohab opened in Shreveport as North Louisiana’s first and only coworking space, founder and executive director John Grindley had a vision to create a hub for supporting and servicing new and existing business owners.

Nearly five years later, Cohab has achieved that goal, and this year Grindley introduces new visions and plans that he said will further elevate entrepreneurship.

“Cohab is a creative ecosystem for small businesses and startups to thrive and grow in a collective environment,” Grindley said. “Cohab focuses on startups, small businesses and service providers.”

Last year, when Cohab moved into its new, larger location under the Texas Street Bridge in downtown Shreveport’s Red River District it introduced Cookhouse. Cookhouse’s purpose was to provide culinary artists and restaurant owners a venue to learn, practice and have a temporary location for a brick and mortar restaurant.

However, several months after opening, Grindley realized Cookhouse wasn’t financially producing as hoped. Taking the advice he gives to entrepreneurs, Grindley reassessed the venture.

“Build, measure and learn. Build something, measure its success, and learn from it,” Grindley said. “We built Cookhouse, had the lunch counter series and catered out of it. But then we started to measure its success. There wasn’t a market or demand for it. It became an uphill battle.”

After much research of similar setups in other locations and various attempts to gain revenue from the Cookhouse, a new opportunity presented itself. Pandabit, a startup company in the Cohab entrepreneur program, was approaching graduation and was in need of workspace for its distribution center. Though Cohab offers office-style workstations and conference rooms in its facility, an open workspace was not available. “We used to have a space in the old building for graduates, but in the new building, we didn’t have that anymore,” Grindley said. “With the closing of Cookhouse, we now get that space back.”

Along with being the first to utilize the new graduate space, Pandabit is also one of the first startups to use Cohab’s new business model. Pandabit was originally founded by John-Scott Thompson and Spencer Lemoine as a trade-in company designed to collect old electronics to sell parts for profit to other companies. However, things changed during a recent session of Cohab’s 1 Million Cups. Pandabit was the presenter in the open forum discussion that allows businesses to introduce themselves to the community and receive audience feedback. The feedback they received changed their course.

“The way Pandabit was set up before, it was growing but not making very much money,” Thompson said. “At 1 Million Cups, I presented my business, and a guy from the community said, ‘You should be doing fundraising like this.’” Thompson loved the idea and immediately revamped Pandabit into a fundraising service using Cohab’s new business model.

In Pandabit’s “Feed the Panda” campaign, a special donation bin is placed at the participating school, church or nonprofit organization. Donors are asked to drop off new, old, used or broken electronics, such as cell phones, computers, tablets and mp3 players. At the end of the fundraiser, Pandabit sells the salvageable parts of the electronics to outside buyers, and the local partnering group receives 50 percent of the profit. The remaining parts of the electronics are sent to an Environmental Protection Agencycertified group that properly disposes of the electronic waste known as “e-waste.”

Thompson said since the adaptation of the business plan, Pandabit’s revenue has increased five times within one year. Thompson is also proud to be able to give back to the community and environment.

“I have a degree in disaster science and management, and it has finally made a full circle,” Thompson said. “Electronic waste is a man-made disaster. You can donate what you think is junk, and we can make sure it’s taken care of responsibly, environmentally friendly and legally.”

Several local schools and nonprofits are involved in the campaign in Shreveport- Bossier City, and Lemoine is launching Pandabit with a church in Baton Rouge.

With Pandabit temporarily running its warehouse from the graduate space, Thompson said he is still able to benefit from being able to quickly and easily access the Cohab Brain Trust mentors. The Brain Trust mentors are a large part of Cohab’s new business model.

“We’ve realized a lot of grant dollars have gotten us this far, but under this new model, we are looking for sustainability, private accelerators and incubators,” Grindley said. “We are looking for 40 to 50 active investors or business leaders in the community to give $7,500, and they must be actively involved in the program.”

Investors become a part of a Brain Trust team that jointly decides on what entrepreneurs and startups enter the Cohab program and then work closely to guide them. “They have a stake in the game and lend their expertise to these startups,” Grindley said. “We’re not just looking for dollars, we’re looking for impact.”

There are four criteria that a Brain Trust investor must meet: work, wisdom, wealth and connection. “Can they give sweat equity, services, time and energy? Are they wise of what startups are trying to do and able to give that wisdom to them? Are they connected to wealth? Can they help the startups or connect them to someone who can?” Grindley said. “It’s not just, ‘Can you power Cohab?’ It’s ‘Can you help power these startups?’” In the new model, Cohab will accept four to six startups into the program. These entrepreneurs must complete a Lean Canvas model found online, which breaks down important factors to consider when running a business such as problems, solutions, unfair disadvantages, revenue streams and more. Next, Grindley discusses the Lean Canvas model with the interested persons, and if the model is solid, the person can apply for the program. The application is then reviewed and decided on by the Brain Trust.

Once the applicant is accepted, quarterly milestones are set for the businesses’ growth. The Brain Trust works with the business to help it reach those milestones. If the milestones are not reached, the applicant may be asked to reapply for the one-year program.

Since its opening in 2010, Cohab has launched 22 startups with 10 graduating, including Rhino Coffee, iArchitecture, Twin Engine Labs, Horse Racing Nation and more. Grindley said about 65 jobs have been made locally stemming from the graduate startups.

Graduate businesses like Twin Engine Labs have been known to return to help guide the new class of entrepreneurs. Cohab offers many programs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and the community to take part in such as the 1 Million Cups open forum, BIZ. Breakfast (in partnership with BIZ. Magazine) and Louisiana Startup Prize.

Louisiana Startup Prize was launched this year by the founder of Louisiana Film Prize, Gregory Kallenberg with Cohab. The intense competition is aimed to energize, activate and educate entrepreneurs as finalists compete for $50,000 in cash and services and potentially startup funds from a panel of investor/judges.

Cohab is also contributing to the economic wealth of Shreveport-Bossier City. “We only spent about $1 million on this project and have reaped about $15 million in economic growth,” Grindley said.

As for the future of Cohab, Grindley continues to set and accomplish new milestones.

“We had humble beginnings,” he said.

“Now, we have loftier goals and can set our bar a little higher. Hopefully, the community can be there with us and help and chip in.”

Cohab is located at 500 Clyde Fant Parkway, Suite 200. For more information about Cohab, call 918-1446 or visit www. cohab.org. For more information about Pandabit, contact 225-288-8835 and or visit www.pandabit.com.