Guillermo Bonora and Jason Zagdañski, architects by profession, decided to give up their work in Buenos Aires and head for Barcelona to take the International MBAat EADA Business School. This experience consisted of a break away from their pre-established mindset and prompted them to transfer their creativity from designing scale models to creating a new business model that would change the life of millennials around the world.
They tell us that the MBA Internacional – Bilingüe gave them the tools to increase their human and intellectual knowledge through constant teamwork in diverse groups, and business know-how. The focus on leadership gave them the self-assuredness and independence they needed to embark on their own endeavour.
How did Livesharing come about?
We began thinking about it when we finished the MBA. We had moved to London in search of work. As soon as we arrived in London, we realised all that we had left behind and that we didn’t want to give up.
And what was it that you had “left behind”?
The capacity to generate relationships with others, set up teams, contact networks and value diversity; in one word, our community. From the first day that we arrived in Barcelona — where we didn’t know anybody– the MBA gave us a community. It connected us with 60 people who had the same interests as us, who motivated us to create. Over time, they became our family.
All of this changed when we moved to London. We met people and lived with other people, but we didn’t have the same feeling of being at home again. And it was impossible for us to create this feeling by ourselves.
And then what happened?
In London, we talked a lot about the productive and social life we had led in Barcelona, the diversity of the people, and above all, the strong group that supported us on a day-to-day basis. We talked about the real sense of community we had experienced in the MBA.
Then we realised that the concept of “community” itself was being changed by innovative technology and the creation of new disruptive business models in which services collided… anyone could now become a taxi driver, a hotel manager or freelancer.
We began to believe in the possibility of replicating the MBA experience, combining the best aspects of modern community and collaboration systems into a new opportunity that reflected the unique needs and values of the Remote Generation.
We thought up a new life style, a movement that we called co-living.
How did you convert Livesharing to a business model for implementation in Argentina?
LiveSharing is the first ever co-living space in Argentina where global entrepreneurs who come to Buenos Aires live, work and connect with local entrepreneurs in a collaborative, inspiring environment.
We generated an international community with three man goals in mind: Live, work and connect. We combine private and shared spaces designed for maximum comfort with productive and collaborative work spaces thrown in. People forge ties through events, experiences and workshop spaces.
Livesharing is a comprehensive experience, with ideas springing from reality, and collective knowledge and talent form a living resource library for cultivating success.
What is your target market?
We are targeting both foreign and local entrepreneurs aged 25 to 35 who come to Buenos Aires for a minimum period of one month and who are interested in forming part of a community.
These are a new generation of entrepreneurs that is redefining the rules and norms of work culture. Limited only by Wi-Fi access, the people in this culture have adopted a new identity and global mentality. They value flexibility, cultural interaction, diverse relationships and networks, and a sense of community.
Would you call these people “nomad millennials”?
Exactly. They are young people who love to travel, interested in getting to know the world, learning each step of the way. Thanks to new technologies, they can work from anywhere in the world whilst allowing them to enjoy these experiences. And this new culture is on the rise. By 2020, 40% of millennials will be remote workers in the United States.
How is LiveSharing going in Buenos Aires?
We opened up our first house in May in the Palermo district, and the truth is, we’ve had an incredible experience so far. It was super important for us to discover that the model actually works, to validate it, make sure that people are happy and to realise that we can create the community we had imagined.
What’s the next step?
We want to expand to other spaces and create a larger community. We are looking for investors to quickly expand in Argentina and, later on, in LATAM. We also want to continue to build the community that we already have through events, experiences and workshops, and connect our entrepreneurs with the local community so that they can develop their projects. There is still a lot to be done.