Darren Westenhaver - Hamlet Coworking

Voices of Impact with Ryan France

A Cure For The Headaches Of A Long Office Commute

It’s been said that some of the greatest entrepreneurs create products and found companies as a way to “scratch their own itch.” That seems to be a theme that is interwoven throughout Darren Westenhaver’s entrepreneurial journey.

Darren grew up in the Pacific Northwest, working alongside his father and brother in the family lumber business. A business he turned down the opportunity to run, after college, instead opting to map the family DNA and start Your Vision Video.

For nearly a decade, Westenhaver and his company helped other businesses “tell their story through video and multi-media.” Along the way, working with the likes of Intel, Nike and Hewlett Packard.

A move to Salt Lake City?—?to help with the 2002 Winter Olympics?—?brought about new challenges and opportunities. A self-proclaimed “Apple nerd,” Darren quickly realized that there was nowhere suitable to buy or have his Apple products serviced.

So, what's an entrepreneur to do? Well, he negotiated an exclusive license with Apple and built Simply Mac, a “premier partner store” that now has over 50 locations nationwide.

But this is where the story takes a wild turn. A turn that caused Westenhaver to sell the rapidly growing business, not long after successfully launching a second location. A series of events that landed his family in Austin Texas. And within five years, found him sitting in a seat at the McCombs School of Business, pursuing a Masters of Science and Technology Commercialization.

It was during his time in grad school, though, that the seeds of Darren’s current business began to sprout. Tired of the debilitating daily commute into downtown Austin, he founded Hamlet Coworking, a network of shared and private office spaces for startups, remote workers and growing teams. But more importantly, providing a convenient solution for people who want to work closer to where they live.

In this episode of Voices of Impact, Darren and I discuss the origins of the coworking movement. We talk about community, product validation and the opportunities that stem from filling obvious gaps in the marketplace. Darren shares his experience building & selling multiple businesses and the valuable lessons he learned along the way.

Interview Post & Transcript: http://www.voicesofimpact.com/darren-westenhaver