Karisma’s plan to take over Barcelona
All you need to know about Phase 2
Last week was very special. We officially transitioned from phase 1 to phase 2. In case you missed it, here’s a quick summary:
Phase 1 — Host coliving retreats in different parts of the world with the intention not only to build our brand and community but most importantly, to gain experience and clarity about the future in a quick and not-too-risky way. (Learn more)
Phase 2 — Transition into real estate, open our first permanent coliving space in Barcelona in Fall 2022, focus on growing our community more locally and keep opening new spaces until we take over Barcelona. (Having a stable salary would be nice too)
Phase 1 has definitely given me the clarity I was looking for. The vision has finally become clear(er) but there’s still a very very long way to go. Not so long ago, I decided to break down my journey towards my ultimate vision into phases with the intention of becoming more grounded and focused with what’s right ahead of me.
Many of us have big dreams and aspirations. Sometimes they can feel so overwhelmingly big that we don’t even know where to start and end up getting stuck. What really matters, however, is the very next step you’re taking, no matter how small it is. Many steps in one direction are exactly what will get you to your destination.
I’m constantly dreaming about having locations in every corner of the world, leveraging the power of web3 to supercharge my community, organizing epic yearly festivals and one-a-kind experiences, designing the most unique and aesthetic spaces… and sooo many more things. Those things will come (I know it) but for now, we’re in Barcelona and it’s time to open up our first space.
The purpose of this article is to share with you in a little bit more detail what phase 2 entails and why we’re doing what we’re doing. Specifically, I’ll be covering:
Why we chose Barcelona
What makes us unique
What our spaces will look like
When we plan to open
1️⃣ Why we chose Barcelona
Even though Portugal has always been in my radar from the very beginning (in part also because of the tax incentives I had with the crypto I no longer have), Barcelona is my home turf. Starting a business is already hard enough, so why make my life harder when I already have all the local Barcelona insights, a free place to stay in and a lot of valuable connections.
Putting personal reasons aside, I strongly believe that there’s a huge business opportunity in Barcelona. One one side, more and more people are flocking to this magical city, which has everything you can think of and more, with the intention of staying here for multiple months at a time. Demand: check.
On the other side, there’s a huge supply issue. In the last year, rent in Barcelona has risen 18% not just because of the increased demand but because supply has dramatically decreased by 58% (La Vanguardia). This isn’t sustainable. Properties are literally getting ripped out of people’s hands. I posted 3 fake ads on 1 platform at different price points (800€, 950€ and 1200€), each receiving 15+ requests in half a week.
The worst part of all is that Barcelona’s infrastructure was built for short-term tourism. Pre-covid, people came for a weekend, maybe a week and very very rarely for 2 weeks or more. What do you do now if you want to come for 3, 6 or 9 months, which is the case for many remote workers and digital nomads? Airbnb? Too expensive. Long-term lease? Not flexible enough. Flat share? Good luck finding like-minded people.
Airbnb ends up being one of the go-to options, even though coliving is what people really need. People want to move in and out whenever they desire and feel at home right away. They want to pay one monthly bill, which includes furniture, appliances and other amenities. Coliving offers that, the community and so much more without paying an unsustainable nightly rate.
Coliving is exactly what Barcelona needs. While there’s already a bunch of players (like Circles, CoImpact, Aticco or Enso) popping up, it’s not enough.
2️⃣ What makes us unique
Apart from offering the much-needed flexible and all-inclusive living solution, we’re planning to differentiate ourselves with a unique approach to the following 3 fundamental pillars:
Community
Workspace
Experiences
Community — You become who you surround yourself with
Community is at the center of everything we do. Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts (“What your coliving community really wants"), I strongly believe that a successful coliving needs not just a space but also a strong community. Coliving is much more than just accommodation and real estate. That’s why we started with phase 1 to first build the community pillar and now we’re adding the real estate pillar.
Most colivings will claim to be all about community. The reality is that many colivings — especially those that get heavily funded — forget the “co” in coliving. When scalability and ROI become a priority, which is naturally what most investors care about, community loses relevance. The moment you forget about the people and the interactions that happen within the space is the moment a coliving becomes just another property manager. Counterintuitively, smaller players may actually have a competitive advantage over bigger players when it comes to attracting more community-oriented users, which is what the majority of nomads desire.
At Karisma, we commit to always putting our community first. For us, the community starts way before residents arrive at the space; it starts at the curation process. Who you live and surround yourself with has a dramatic impact on the quality of your life. You are the product of your environment. With our curation process we engineer that environment so you can surround yourself with like-minded people who help you become the best version of yourself. If accommodation is all you’re looking for, we may not be the place for you.
Workspace — Become unstoppable at work
We kreators strive to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. We know that work is a huge part of our journey in this world. That’s why, instead of living for the weekend, we take responsibility over our lives to find a path that’s truly authentic to ourselves and to make work feel like play. We kreators are passionate about what we do and find joy in creation.
All of our spaces are fully equipped with the tools and an ideal work setup so you can do groundbreaking work and unleash your creativity. Our spaces are designed for growth and creation to happen. We know we’ve done a good job when, the moment you leave Karisma, you think to yourself: “how am I supposed to get shit done with this tiny laptop screen and uncomfortable wooden chair?”
Experiences — We go above and beyond for our community
In the same post I mentioned above, I talked about how the best way to connect deeply with others is through shared experiences. For us, coliving is just one of the many tools available to bring people together. One of the biggest benefits of coliving is the social aspect, so why just limit the community building and fun to the actual space?
For phase 2, our vision is to have many satellite spaces in Barcelona (and all cities yet to be announced) and to unite the whole community through local and international experiences and events. Many of these will be available to local and foreign non-residents as well. This creates a fresh and dynamic environment, allowing our members to constantly meet and engage with new people, who will also be introduced to our ecosystem.
Imagine for a second you’re a remote worker coming to Barcelona for a few months. On the accommodation side, your main priority is to find a place to stay that’s cozy, flexible and ideally as convenient as possible, offering all the amenities you need. Check! You're also desiring to make new friendships and have the best time possible. Karisma not only connects you with inspiring like-minded people from all over the world but also offers a wide range of activities and the local insights for you to feel at home right away. Everything is taken care of.
We want to get really really creative when it comes to organizing experiences. Life is too short and precious not to take full advantage of it. Here are some of the things we’d love to do with our community:
3️⃣ What our spaces will look like
Over time, our spaces will vary in shapes and sizes. However, what kind of property do we start with? I’ve given this a looot of thought and we’ve finally decided to start with 3-5 bedroom apartments. This is nothing like the 25-bedroom coliving in Portugal I originally envisioned or the spaces of the coliving retreats we’ve been hosting… so let me tell you our reasoning.
Quality > quantity
For our residents, one of the most critical parts of the experience is the people they’ll spend the majority of their time with. When I say quality, I’m referring to the alignment between our residents. We don’t ever want to accept someone who might be problematic or not a good fit to avoid making a loss. The experience of our residents always comes first. We feel very confident in our ability to fulfill this promise with 3-5 bedroom spaces at least at the beginning.
Slowmad-friendly
Our ideal customer is a slow-traveling remote workers (aka slowmad), wanting to fully immerse him/herself in the local culture and staying in each destination all the way from 1 month to 1 year. While larger spaces are the ideal place to meet lots of very interesting people, it can be very intense and overwhelming to live there for longer periods of time. We’ll provide you with plenty of opportunities to socialize and go on adventures, but we also give you a cozy and homey space with a more intimate group of people that you can go back to.
Less risk & more control
A smaller space means smaller upfront investment and monthly payments, meaning less risk. Apart from taking on less risky so early on in our project, we are focused on sustainable growth, while focusing on giving our community the best possible experience. We’ve received a big enough loan to get the ball rolling while still remaining in full control of our own destiny. For now, we don’t want to reply on big investors, who may be misaligned with our vision and our community-first approach.
Interior design
We’ve partnered up with a local up and coming interior designer who will help us create a space with character, prioritizing comfort, sustainability wellbeing and productivity. We’ll be documenting the entire journey of building the space on Instagram, so make sure to give us a follow.
4️⃣ When we plan to open
Our goal is to open out doors to you by October. For the first space, we’re looking for a non-furnished space in good conditions, which should take about 1 month to furnish and get ready. Ideally, we’re doing our very best to close the deal by the end of August. We already have some promising options but we won’t stop searching until we find the best possible home for our community.
We'll be documenting the whole journey all the way from the moment we acquire the property to the day we officially open on Instagram, so feel free to give us a follow 📲
🚨 If you’d like to move in with us, please head over to our new website and join the waitlist 🚨
Thank you so much for reading all the way until the end. It really means a lot. I hope this gave you more clarity about where we’re heading.
For more info, check out our brand new website freshly designed by my dear friend Finn Dollimore. Click here 👈
If you have any questions or there’s anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me: marc@karismaliving.com.
Incredibly exciting to read such an honest, in depth article. Really looking forward to watching this journey unfold 🙏🏼