Busy bees find a new Hive

Co-working spaces for young entrepreneurs

Young entrepreneurs looking for relatively inexpensive working space have a new address in Dhaka—Hive. Rubaiyat Kamal Khan, one of the founders of Hive, said this is the first co-working space in the Dhanmondi-Green Road area.
“We have three other co-working spaces—The Wave, HubDhaka, and Moar. Two of these are in Banani and one is in Mirpur. There was no one to cater to young entrepreneurs in these areas,” he explained.
“Though all of us (the partners of Hive) live in Gulshan and Banani, we have chosen to open Hive in Dhanmondi. We want to grow the ecosystem and create an engaging community in this part of the city,” he said.
Hive has been founded by four friends—Ashiq Rahman, Rubaiyat Kamal, Fuad Quader and Abir Chowdhury. All of them are working in different sectors in the USA.
Rubaiyat is an aeronautical engineer working with Boeing. Ashiq works as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. Fuad works with a Chicago-based start-up and Abir works in the federal government’s data department.
“We wanted to do something in our homeland. The idea of building Hive came from that intention,” said Rubaiyat.
Fuad said they are not permanently back in Dhaka. “All of us have ties in the USA and we cannot leave those completely. But we are very much committed to running Hive. We have an excellent team to run the operations in Dhaka,” he added.
Ashiq said the idea behind opening Hive was to create an ecosystem and help the technology, digital, freelancing and consultancy community to grow. 
“The idea is to create an open space buzzing with thriving individuals. You can work in a professional environment without it burning a hole in your wallet,” he added.
He also said that their intention was to give people a platform on which they can work with like-minded individuals, be a part of a greater community, and draw on the strengths, aspirations and motivations of the community. “We want to broaden the horizon of networking by bringing together the right people and build mutually prosperous relationships,” he sadded.
Ashiq said that in Bangladesh, people are still not very accustomed to the culture of co-working spaces. “But we are definitely going there. People have now started to understand the value of networking and working with like-minded people,” he added.
“Most importantly, they can just work from a place without having to spend a huge amount on the security deposit, buying fixtures, fittings, furniture, air-conditioning and monthly overheads. This gives them enough reason to embrace this new culture in Dhaka,” he noted.
He said that the way they have designed Hive and the rates they are charging will just give them enough to cover the overheads and expenses. “We are satisfied with that because we are not looking to make short-term profits from Hive. We have bigger plans and will unveil those with time,” he revealed.
Ashiq said Hive is “all about diversity”. They have just opened the doors. Within this short time, they have involved people from non-profit social work, marketing, IT, technology, research-based work and photography.
“So, if we see so many diversified professionals within this time, I am sure I will see all sorts of professionals working out of Hive. Hive is open for all kinds of professionals,” he said with a smile.

 

 

Busy bees find a new Hive

Co-working spaces for young entrepreneurs

Young entrepreneurs looking for relatively inexpensive working space have a new address in DhakaHive. Rubaiyat Kamal Khan, one of the founders of Hive, said this is the first co-working space in the Dhanmondi-Green Road area. We have three other co-working spacesThe Wave, HubDhaka, and Moar. Two of these are in Banani and one is in Mirpur. There was no one to cater to young entrepreneurs in these areas, he explained. Though all of us (the partners of Hive) live in Gulshan and Banani, we have chosen to open Hive in Dhanmondi. We want to grow the ecosystem and create an engaging community in this part of the city, he said. Hive has been founded by four friendsAshiq Rahman, Rubaiyat Kamal, Fuad Quader and Abir Chowdhury. All of them are working in different sectors in the USA. Rubaiyat is an aeronautical engineer working with Boeing. Ashiq works as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. Fuad works with a Chicago-based start-up and Abir works in the federal governments data department. We wanted to do something in our homeland. The idea of building Hive came from that intention, said Rubaiyat. Fuad said they are not permanently back in Dhaka. All of us have ties in the USA and we cannot leave those completely. But we are very much committed to running Hive. We have an excellent team to run the operations in Dhaka, he added. Ashiq said the idea behind opening Hive was to create an ecosystem and help the technology, digital, freelancing and consultancy community to grow. The idea is to create an open space buzzing with thriving individuals. You can work in a professional environment without it burning a hole in your wallet, he added. He also said that their intention was to give people a platform on which they can work with like-minded individuals, be a part of a greater community, and draw on the strengths, aspirations and motivations of the community. We want to broaden the horizon of networking by bringing together the right people and build mutually prosperous relationships, he sadded. Ashiq said that in Bangladesh, people are still not very accustomed to the culture of co-working spaces. But we are definitely going there. People have now started to understand the value of networking and working with like-minded people, he added. Most importantly, they can just work from a place without having to spend a huge amount on the security deposit, buying fixtures, fittings, furniture, air-conditioning and monthly overheads. This gives them enough reason to embrace this new culture in Dhaka, he noted. He said that the way they have designed Hive and the rates they are charging will just give them enough to cover the overheads and expenses. We are satisfied with that because we are not looking to make short-term profits from Hive. We have bigger plans and will unveil those with time, he revealed. Ashiq said Hive is all about diversity. They have just opened the doors. Within this short time, they have involved people from non-profit social work, marketing, IT, technology, research-based work and photography. So, if we see so many diversified professionals within this time, I am sure I will see all sorts of professionals working out of Hive. Hive is open for all kinds of professionals, he said with a smile.