affiliated with the university, D2P’s Robus says he’s hopeful the impact of ideas developed inside the building will be felt throughout the Madison area.
“D2P needs people from outside of campus to join these project teams and future companies because that’s the only way they’re going to be successful,” Robus says. “They can’t spin out successfully with just a bunch of university people running them.”
Putting different startup-supporting groups together in one building does not instantly make it a gestalt. Robus says that in the months since the legal clinic and Madworks accelerator arrived, he hasn’t experienced a lot of “water cooler moments.” He says that could change with time, but it also reflects the fact that some of the tenants in @1403 had known each other and worked together prior to moving in.
Smith says that since relocating the two organizations she co-founded, @1403 has started to create more buzz, on and off campus. But the building is not at capacity, she says, and it will begin to develop an identity as more people and ideas pour in.
“It’s like any entrepreneurial venture,” Smith says. “You think you know what you want it to be like and then as the market forces take over, it will change.”
