SAN ANTONIO – The technology industry in and around San Antonio is growing so fast and one of the big catalysts of that growth is Geekdom.
It is a coworking space in downtown San Antonio that provides a collaborative community with resources and opportunities to help businesses develop.
Geekdom just celebrated its 10th birthday this past week, so the Geekdom CEO, Charles Woodin, joined Leading SA on Sunday to talk about the growth and the future.
“Geekdom is a place where we assist individuals who have ideas to help build those into viable businesses, whether that be a startup, small business, something along those lines. We have resources and programs to assist individuals to be able to build it and do something spectacular,” Woodin said.
Geekdom and the tech industry across San Antonio have come so far in the last 10 years.
“I mean, it’s been an exceptional growth. You know, you think back to 2011 when Geekdom was founded and there were really no startups that you could really speak of in and around San Antonio. And now when you go downtown, when you go across the city, you see all sorts of, you know, new and exciting startups, big sales happening, and it’s just really changed. And so that ecosystem that’s grown up in the last 10 years is kind of what we were trying to celebrate on Friday this last week and just seeing all the partners, Port San Antonio, Launch SA, Velocity TX all there. It was a really fun time,” Woodin said.
We see that growth in various parts of the city and it looks like the future is just as bright.
“I had read this book once about how it takes or what it takes to build a startup ecosystem. And one of the key pieces to that was it’s a 20-year journey. So here we stand halfway through that journey and the next 10 years, I think you’re going to see a lot of exponential growth. You’re going to see a lot more startups are going to hear a lot more amazing stories like Path Lawyer that sold recently for $1.9 billion. You’re going to see a lot more of those things happening over this next 10 years. And I think you’re going to see the pockets of San Antonio where these startups call home, Port San Antonio, the East Side over where Velocity TX is and in downtown are going to continue to grow. And a lot of density is going to build up in those areas,” Woodin said.
You may not think of San Antonio as a hub for tech or startups, but that is changing fast.
“I think the first point is is that here in San Antonio, the culture of collaboration is so much stronger than any other place that I’ve been, you know? Here, you’ll find somebody who you typically think would be a competitor working together with you to help build your business a little bit better and to help find that next client for you. I think that that’s one thing that San Antonio is unique for, and I think it’s one of those things that we continue to embrace. I also think that, you know, here in San Antonio, there’s a lot bigger opportunity for companies to be the big dog in the neighborhood. So, you know, as you think these big companies grow here in San Antonio, it’s, you know, they have a bigger opportunity to build what the city is going to look like in the future. And, of course, affordable housing, affordable rent for, you know, their business, all sorts of things, the money just goes a lot farther here,” Woodin said.
If you are interested in learning more about Geekdom, you can visit their website here.
You can watch the full interview with Woodin in the video player above.