Hacker Dojo

Hacker Dojo is a 16,600-square-foot (1,540 m²) community center and hackerspace in Mountain View, California. Predominantly an open working space for software projects, the Dojo hosts a range of events from technology classes to biology, computer hardware, and manufacturing and is open to all types of hackers.^[1][2][3]

Organization

The Dojo is run mostly democratically by its membership under the oversight of five elected^[4][5] directors. Anybody can become a member, and hardship, worktrade and family rates are available. Member votes rarely deal with specific instances, and more work with general policy on how the Dojo should run. The Dojo is primarily financed through membership dues ($195/mo), but has historically accepted 3rd party sponsorships from Microsoft,^[6] Google, isocket, Twilio, AMS Dataserfs,^[7] and Palantir Technologies to fund expansions and renovations.

Culture

The Dojo is entirely communal space from the tools in the electronics lab to the desks to the food in the refrigerator. Anything left there is considered fair game for anybody to play with. Very few restrictions are placed upon people provided they do not detract from the experience of members or consume resources they do not replace. Any member may run an event, and event organizers are permitted to charge non-members for attendance to their event. Members are always permitted to go everywhere they wish, provided they do not consume somebody else's finite resources (such as an event's food).

Physical Space

Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, California

Original location at 140 South Whisman Road

New home at 599 Fairchild Drive

24/7 open hackerdojo reception

The Hacker Dojo was originally located at 140 South Whisman Road in Mountain View, CA. The facility started as being only 140A ^[8] but the space expanded to include 140B in October 2009, and further expanded in October 2011 to lease units C and D, thus taking over the entirety of 140 S. Whisman. The expansion party was attended by several hundred individuals, including Steven Levy.

Because of zoning violations, the City of Mountain View blocked the use of units C and D, and restricted the use of units A and B to events no larger than 49 occupants.,^[9] 140A was formerly an industrial artistic glassworking facility, though the community has put the space through a significant series of renovations.

In order to raise money to help meet building code requirements, the Dojo staged an "underwear run," on Saint Patrick's Day as a fund raiser.^[10]

Construction bids to bring the 140 South Whisman space up to building code requirements came in much higher than expected, and on Monday, October 15, 2012, the Dojo signed a lease to rent a building at 599 Fairchild Drive, also in Mountain View.^[11] Move-in occurred on February 13, 2013, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on February 27, 2013 ^[12]

Uses

The three primary uses of Hacker Dojo are for events, as a coworking space, and for social purposes.

Events

The 140B building has been turned into a place where events such as Random Hacks of Kindness, Startup Weekend, and BayThreat among others have been hosted. It also has invented and run its own events such as a reverse job fair call the Hacker Fair where candidates present booths of their previous independent or open source work to company engineers who are accompanied by technical recruiters ^[13] and the Startup Fair, where young companies have booths for investors to consider.^[14][15] Members can hold events at the Dojo free of charge, subject to approval from the Dojo events committee.

Coworking

A large number of Silicon Valley startups work daily out of the Hacker Dojo as their primary location, and Founders Institute, which is located nearby, encourages its members to work out of the Dojo ^[16]

Notable Startups With Hacker Dojo History

• Pinterest -- the two founders met and built the first iteration of the product at Hacker Dojo
• Word Lens -- acquired by Google
• Pebble Watches
• Skydera^[17]
• NetworkedBlogs^[18]
• Game Closure
• Chivaz Socks
• MicroMobs,^[19] now Wedding Party

Social

The Dojo also has movie nights and a weekly Happy Hour.

Dojo in 2013

The main electronics lab  The main classroom  Main common area  The main desk used for signins  The main space used for everything

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hacker Dojo.

• "The official Hacker Dojo Google Group"
• "Peninsula hackers find a place to collaborate in Mountain View". Mercury News. August 28, 2009
• "Hacker Dojo in Mountain View sparks ideas and tinkering". Mercury News. October 16, 2009
• "A case for Hacker Dojo". 248Creative.com. February 2010.
• "Techies Get to Work at Hacker Dojo" Wall Street Journal. 3/9/2011.
• "At Hacker Dojo, Silicon Valley techies build toward success". CNet News.com. April 4, 2011.
• "The Stanford Igniters meetup once a month at Hacker Dojo"