As a recent Amazon alumnus and new entrepreneur, I’d like to offer some observations about how people (particularly software developers) inside big companies view the startup scene and clear up some of the misconceptions that startuppers have about software developers inside big companies. Finally, I’d like to propose one solution for how to entice those people who work inside a big company but have an interest in startups to actually make the leap.

It might surprise some people to hear it but there is a strong entrepreneurial tendency among software developers at big companies. We (software developers) are naturally curious about new technologies yet most of our day jobs don’t allow for us to learn and experiment with these technologies and the ideas they generate. As a result, almost everyone I worked with at Amazon was involved in one or more side projects and most of these people hoped their side projects would turn into something more.

During my last couple of years at Amazon, I developed a very strong desire to pursue something more entrepreneurial and so I made an effort to start attending many of the startup events around town. I felt like an outsider at first and when I explained to people that I still worked at a big company their responses made me feel that I wasn’t taking entrepreneurship seriously since most of them never believed that I would leave the safety of my day job.

But here’s a secret, the only reason I didn’t make the leap to entrepreneurship earlier wasn’t the pay cut. The bigger leap was moving from a place where I was surrounded by people just like me to something that was much more isolated. I needed to land someplace that would help me learn about all of the issues surrounding startups but more importantly I needed time to think about and try different ideas.

So what would the perfect landing pad be for someone leaving a big company? It would be a place where you could go everyday to find an open desk with fast network access and be surrounded by other people who are at the same stage in the process of thinking and building.

It would look a lot like a coworking space combined with some of the mentorship resources of programs like TechStars and YCombinator. It would have open enrollment as well as a maximum length of stay to provide a sense of urgency. It would encourage collaboration and team building and rapid prototyping.

It would be an ongoing series of Startup Weekends and hackathons. It would be a place where experts would come to give talks about new technologies and trends.

And it would be completely free.

So how much would this cost? Let’s estimate $500 per person per month for space, internet, and office supplies (note: every hacker already has a computer setup they would want to use). If you had a space that could accommodate 100 people and you limited each person to a maximum stay of 3 months, you could get 400 more entrepreneurs into the funnel every year for a cost of around $600k.

I think this place could exist mostly without rules or boundaries but I might propose two modest suggestions:

1. One day a week, everyone has to give a presentation of what they are working on
2. One day a week, everyone has to work on someone else’s project (Reverse 20% rule)

Please tell me why we couldn’t build this place in Seattle or why this idea wouldn’t work.