I'm not I buy that the lack of great success stories coming out of co-working spaces is because peer pressure conspires to kill original ideas. In my experience, people working in these places are usually professional and polite, not going around shitting on other people's ideas or laughing at them. And even if they did, are the people working on these ideas really so sensitive that they'd abandon them simply because some asshole said something mean? I can't say I've _ever_ heard of a startup deciding to voluntarily shut-down because of negative feedback from co-working peers. It would be ridiculous.
I think a simpler explanation is that co-working spaces are really an expensive luxury, and are favoured by people who want a lively and social workplace rather than those who are super-focussed on thrift and productivity. Startups who spend money on unnecessary things and whose employees are not unusually driven are statistically less likely to succeed.
"I can't say I've _ever_ heard of a startup deciding to voluntarily shut-down because of negative feedback from co-working peers. It would be ridiculous." -
You're right, but the danger is when the self-censorship happens in the subconscious part of mind, such that you don't even realize it has happened.
I think a simpler explanation is that co-working spaces are really an expensive luxury, and are favoured by people who want a lively and social workplace rather than those who are super-focussed on thrift and productivity. Startups who spend money on unnecessary things and whose employees are not unusually driven are statistically less likely to succeed.