Sam Ley  wrote:
>   WOW I wish I was in some of your markets! 

You want cheap rent? Two words for ya: Metro Detroit. :) 

When i3detroit got our first space back in fall 2009, just off downtown Royal Oak, we paid something in the neighborhood of $1200/mo for 1500sqft, and I'd guess another $200/mo for utilities. It was an ideal starter location, four blocks from pretty much the coolest part of pretty much the coolest suburb (I could be biased but I don't think I am), equidistant between a brewery and a hardware store, and across the street from an art gallery. It was "cozy" (meaning tiny) but that made it feel busy and active, which was essential.

In spring of 2010, we moved (long story!) to our current home, roughly 8,000sqft for something like $3000/mo, I don't know the exact number. Utilities are killer -- last month's heat was like $600. Not the same neighborhood at all, though, all industrial here. It's a much rougher warehouse-style building with just a bit of office up front, but the aerialists love the high ceiling in back, and we're still only half a mile from a bus stop so the one member who relies on public transportation (it's the motor city, man!) doesn't seem to mind. 

So, rewinding to the very early days, getting started, the founders recognized something that I now realize was crucial: People will put money towards something they believe in, even if it hasn't happened yet. It's funny because it seems so obvious in the Kickstarter-as-household-word era, but at the time it wasn't obvious to me. So before that first space, the meetings in the coffee shop and the build sessions in SWiT's garage, there was cash collected in an envelope, and the more fun we had together, the faster it grew. That envelope paid for paperwork filing fees, insurance, deposit, rent, etc, until such time as we set up regular dues. Dues were a flat $100/mo in the early days, and I don't remember when we switched to the present split, two rates of $39 and $89.

We've always operated in the black, except for the odd month here and there (some winter months when the furnace just seems to burn dollar bills), just on member dues. Occasionally, we have classes or events that bring in fees or donations, but really that's a drop in the bucket. There's been the occasional outside donation (I'm aware of $2700 total ever), but no government money, no university sponsorship, no foundation grants, no investors, none of that. 

-Nate-
