LinkedIn Show Notes #31 from the Coworking Values Podcast Bullpen.
đď¸ Listen to these stories and hundreds of others on the Coworking Values Podcast.
What three crisis stories from Armenia, Gaza, and London reveal about the invisible currency that keeps independent coworking spaces alive when everything else collapses.
Sara Anjargolian‘s coworking space in Yerevan had glass walls.
Deliberate. Radical.
In post-Soviet Armenia, where secrecy was a matter of survival, transparency was an act of defiance.
“We were turning that idea upside down and pushing forth that collaboration is actually power and sharing is power,” Sara told me.
Then the war came.
And those glass wallsâand everything they’d built behind themâturned into a humanitarian logistics network that saved lives.
This isn’t marketing copy. This is infrastructure.
We measure what we can see. Square footage, membership numbers, and monthly revenue. The tangible stuff on spreadsheets.
There’s another currency in your space. You can’t see it on a balance sheet. But it’s the most valuable thing you’re building.
When everything else collapses, it’s what keeps the lights on.
When Trust Becomes Logistics
For years, Sara’s glass walls at Impact Hub Yerevan did exactly what they were designed to do. They built connections across different sectors, backgrounds, and power structures. Entrepreneurs met NGO workers. Government officials sat next to startup founders.
Trust built up. One conversation. One introduction. One shared problem solved.
Then came the test.
During the brutal 44-day war with Azerbaijan in 2020, all that trust instantly converted into something else: a humanitarian logistics network.
“We turned from a coworking space,” Sara recalls, “into almost a humanitarian centre, trying to help… our boys on the front lines… and all of the people who were displaced from their homes during the war.”
The relationships Sara had builtâthe trust between members, the connections across sectors, the shared commitment to Armenia’s futureâbecame the infrastructure that coordinated aid when the state was overwhelmed.
Invisible until you need it. Then it’s everything.
When Networks Outlast Buildings
Dan Sofer‘s Founders and Coders coding campus in Gaza was built on trust.
For years, developers learned together, built projects together, and survived together. They turned those skills into Yalla Cooperative âa digital co-op owned and run by graduates in Gaza and London.
Then the building was flattened.
“The office and the campus that they ran out of have been flattened,” Dan told me, his voice steady but heavy.
The desksâgone.
The serversâdust.
The walls where they’d taught each other to codeârubble.
But Yalla Cooperative?
Still operating. Still taking clients. Still paying developers.
You can’t bomb a network built on trust.
The real infrastructure wasn’t the campus. It was the relationships between developers who’d learned together, failed together, and built a future together.
That’s what outlasted the bombs.
When Community Becomes Defence
Bombs aren’t the only test.
Sometimes the test comes as hatred.
Paul Hepworth Nelmes and Vibushan Thirukumar at Oru Space in London were hit with a torrent of vile, racist abuseâa targeted attack designed to terrorise and intimidate.
Enough to make you want to walk away and never come back.
But they didn’t.
Because the response wasn’t just sympathyâit was coordinated defence. Messages of support. Public solidarity. Practical help. The wider coworking community turned its relationships into a shield.
Paul and Vibushan’s experience shows this invisible currency isn’t just about nice networking events. It’s about building relationships strong enough to stand against hatred.
Their space became a symbol of defiance because the community had the infrastructure to make that stand together.
The Currency You Can’t See But Can’t Ignore
Sara, Dan, Paul, and Vibushan didn’t just survive crises.
They’d spent years building the thing that got them through.
Sara’s glass walls weren’t just architecture; they were investments in transparency that paid dividends in trust.
Dan’s coding bootcamps weren’t just skills training; they were relationship-building that created unbreakable networks.
Paul & Vibushan’s community events weren’t just programming; they were deposits in a bank that paid out when they needed it most.
We miss this when we only count what shows up on spreadsheets.
The conversation in your kitchen. The introduction between two members. The moment someone feels welcomed. That’s it, accumulating.
When crisis hitsâwar, collapse, hatred, or just slow economic deathâyour P&L can’t save you. Your members can. If you’ve built infrastructure that turns strangers into people who show up for each other.
It’s the only thing that grows when everything else burns down.
Learning to See the Invisible
Sara, Dan, Paul, and Vibushan know something most operators miss:
This invisible currency isn’t a byproduct of running a good space. It’s the product.
The desks and Wi-Fi are the byproduct.
You’re already building this. The question: are you doing it on purpose, or by accident?
Want to Go Deeper?
Tomorrow on the Coworking Values Podcast, we’re talking with Tilley Harris co-founder of Akou, who measures social impact.
We’ll explore how London coworking spaces can better understand and build the invisible currenciesâtrust, knowledge exchange, and emotional supportâthat transform spaces from businesses into lifelines.
đŹ Community on LinkedIn
The LinkedIn Coworking Group is a great place to connect with guests on these and other Coworking podcasts, as well as other listeners and Coworking community builders.
đ Event: Unreasonable Connection – The world’s smallest coworking event.
If you want to experience this kind of community building firsthand, join us at Unreasonable Connectionâour monthly free online event where coworking community builders connect, share, and support each other. RSVP here.
And mark your calendars: we’re planning our first in-person Unreasonable Connection in London for February 2026, coinciding with the Workspace Design Show London, where we’ll delve deeper into building the infrastructure our communities need.
-> To get on the invite list for February, join the London Coworking Assembly here.