The word surf has an etymology that connotes many meanings. Both a noun and a verb, surf is the wave that breaks upon the shore as much as it describes an action: the dude who surfs—on the crest of a wave, or by searching for information on the internet and by cruising TV networks. For Seaton Gras, the founder of the SURF Incubator in Seattle, the word Surf expands far beyond its original watery connotations and describes both an entrepreneurial mindset and a physical place for entrepreneurs of all stripes to thrive.
Founded by Seaton Gras around seven years ago, the SURF Incubator has evolved from being a meetup group that focused on iPhone developers and grew to take on a vision and an infrastructure that now has a global footprint. SURF’s beginnings were modest. Seaton Gras was intent on learning iPhone coding and knew that the most effective way to learn is by creating a culture of peers who get together and collaborate by exchanging ideas and information. Over time the group expanded and soon outgrew their free meeting location in the upstairs library of the Center for Wooden Boats.
And yet the concept of creating a culture where entrepreneurs work in a shared office environment that provides critical resources for collaboration and mutual support is at the crux of what the SURF Incubator has become.
Today SURF supports entrepreneurs who are in all stages of starting-up and growing a business, and occupies 22,000 square feet or the entire 7th Floor of the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Seattle. Seaton Gras estimates that at any given time 50 to 70 companies are sharing office space at SURF. There are many different types of membership, from the ability to pop-in and use the café’s shared communal space as a pit-stop for coffee and impromptu meetings to private offices with access to conference rooms. There’s even a float desk—grabbing a desk—that’s available on any given day.
SURF offers benefits much more critical to the growth of a new business than only offering a physical location and access to a full fiber-optic gigabit connection with cable to every desk and a powerful wifi mesh system covering the entire floor. SURF offers opportunities to build mindshare, talent pools and vital connections leading to key influencers, venture sources and investors. Each year, SURF hosts more than 200 networking events, huge hackathons (AT&T and NASA space Apps), a full range of business, technical and education programs and access to interns, and maybe most important of all, mentors who can offer entrepreneurs sage wisdom and guidance from their own years of experience.
Riding theSURF
by Patricia Vaccarino