This is an artistic café, but it is also a stage of entrepreneurship. Yesterday, the reporter in this newspaper office walked into Pool X Café to know its originality and operation.
45 shareholders “mass-raised” and established the café, in which ‘pool’ represented the resource pool and ‘X’ implied an unlimited future. There were no leading actors in Pool X Café, where everyone can elegantly dance and release their feelings.” In the waves of coffee fragrance, Chen Yan, the initiator of Pool X Café, talked about the originality of the Café.
Pool X Café was a mass-raised café of western Hubei innovation-oriented society entrepreneurship incubation platform and Yichang pure-internet mind built by “makers” in Yichang. This project took Café as a carrier, building a low-cost and open entrepreneur platform for pan-field entrepreneurs that was oriented to the entrepreneurs, such as culture, IT, E-business and so on, breaking through the VC (venture capital investment) industrial chains in Yichang and the outside of Yichang, setting up a benign platform for entrepreneurs and investors to exchange, interact, invest and cooperate, to become the “resource pool” that many Yichang “makers” can share and communicate.
According to Chen Yan, Pool X Café, being similar to “Phoenix Tree Plan” of Wuhan and “Qingrong Plan” of Chengdu, made the site communications among entrepreneurs, investors and entrepreneurship tutors come true, the entrepreneurship programs quickly attract investors, and the entrepreneurship thresholds lower and lower. She vividly described: “When a group of people drink coffee, they may come to an entrepreneurship program, and the pioneering work is simpler and faster. ”
It took Chen Yan nearly one year from mass-raised initiation to argumentation, from collecting partners around the city to the establishment of “Pool X Café”.“What ‘the mass-raised\' raised was not only fund, but also human relations and resources”, said Chen Yan. Among many applicants, 45 shareholders had been finally screened out, most of them were born in 1980s, and now, the number has been increased to 52.
April 15th witnessed the signing ceremony of strategic cooperation between Pool X Café and Tsinghua Science and Technology Park. Pool X Café was officially settled. April 15th witnessed the signing ceremony of strategic cooperation between Pool X Café and Tsinghua Science and Technology Park. Pool X Café was officially settled.
Entrepreneurship & Growth Road in the “Artistic” Café
Entering into Pool X Café, you can feel its “artistic style”: transparent French windows, wooden tables and chairs, small blackboards full of words, high book wall as well as the coffee. With the careful observation, you will find the difference from the other café: entrepreneurial words in the small blackboards and small groups of people getting together to discuss the entrepreneurial problems in a low voice.
On the road of entrepreneurship, especially on the early phrase, a grass-roots entrepreneur who will face a series of issues such as the lack of experience, funds, contacts and resources needs an innovative incubator platform to carry their vitality and hopes. According to incomplete statistics, more than 140 entrepreneur services cafés have been opened or will be opened in 15 provinces and cities through the country. The social value created by the Garage Café (Beijing) a year amounted to several billion yuan, where a large number of influential startups domestically were set up. Chen Yan said, “You can drink coffee here, and also handle official business with your own computer.” Pool X Café offers open office space and facilities for entrepreneurs, namely, it provides entrepreneurs with office resources at a low cost to help grassroots entrepreneurs alleviate the difficulties on the early phrase.
Build up the spiritual home for “Makers” in Yichang
Chen Yan said, “We not only sell coffee, but also build Pool X Café into the spiritual home and real home for Yichang makers. ” In the daily operation of the café, Pool X Café provides higher and better business platform for entrepreneurs by inviting the national entrepreneurship stars to lecture in Yichang, and enterprise mentors to give the pioneering instructions and other forms. Currently, the Café has organized entrepreneurship lectures for five times and entrepreneurship salons for four times and invited 12 people from the United States, and some big cities in China such as Beijing, Shenzhen, Wuhan, to give lectures, sharing entrepreneurship experiences and entrepreneurial stories.
Being on duty in turn, Pool X Café shareholders all are highly innovative entrepreneurs coming from all walks of life. Therefore, enterprises and elites can also timely to explore the projects with the market value and commercial potential, and cooperate with the entrepreneurs.
In the café, the strong aroma of coffee as well as the faint aroma of the books can refresh ourselves. Pointing to the book wall, Chen said with a smile, “This is the wall of culture built by the book lovers through the crowd funding model rather than decoration. In the free time, we can discuss the books and make friends, relaxing and interesting.” The café regularly organize the book lovers to hold the reading activities, promote books and share the reading experiences.
Since the opening, more than 1,200 people have been attracted to join the activities held by the Café for little more than one month. Many activities such as the entrepreneurship road show and entrepreneurship salon are full of creativity and fun, so this place has gradually become the home of Yichang “Makers”.
On Aug. 11, it held the signing ceremony of Yichang “College Student Maker Space” co-built by Pool X Café and China Three Gorges University, therefore, “college student maker space” officially settled in China Three Gorges University, which can provide students with more powerful entrepreneurial "fertile ground.” Chen said, “We are on the way to provide more supports for Yichang entrepreneurs!” (Reporter, Yang Chunyan)