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Uploaded: Friday, July 13, 2012, 4:30 PM
Updated: Monday, July 16, 2012, 10:12 AM
Hacker Dojo launches Kickstarter campaign
Nonprofit needs $125K to meet city codes for Whisman Road building
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
Mountain View's open community of computer programmers and engineers could very well be forced out of town if Hacker Dojo can't make a slew of fixes to its Whisman Road building within the next five months.
The Dojo has raised half of the $250,000 it needs to install such things as fire sprinklers and ADA-compliant bathrooms. Much of the funding came from Google, Microsoft, AT&T, Palantir Technologies and and venture capital firm Andreesson Horowitz. The rest may come with a little help from the same place many of the Dojo's members have gone to scrape up cash: Kickstarter.
After launching the campaign on Kickstarter on July 11, the Dojo raised $5,000 from over 100 individuals in two days.
"We're really optimistic and humbled by the support the community has given us," said the Dojo's development director Katy Levinson.
A slew of upgrades to the former industrial building at 140 Whisman Road are required by city and state building codes, including a fire sprinkler system, illuminated fire exit signs, proper staircases and four bathrooms upgraded to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act. A fire alarm installed earlier this year was the bare minimum needed to remain open temporarily.
The Dojo does hope to see more funds from corporate donors, as much as $100,000, Levinson said. The Dojo's goal on Kickstarter is $30,000.
The challenge of fund-raising for the Dojo may be surprising given how much money flows into the startups that get up and running with help from the Dojo, including media sharing website Pinterest.
"My company is currently profitable and our app has been downloaded almost 3 million times," says Otavio Good, owner of Word Lens, on the Dojo's Kickstarter page. "I'm not sure we would have made it anywhere without help from the Hacker Dojo community and the general Silicon Valley tech community."
"It's a little frustrating because you know there are people who could come in here and make this problem go away," Levinson said. "But that's not how the world works."
It's not that investors haven't expressed interest. It's that most want something in return.
"We've had investors ask, 'Can we invest in Hacker Dojo?" Levinson said. Because usually in Silicon Valley "if you want to help something you take equity in it. But if you invest in a nonprofit you will get a percentage of no profit. That's the hard thing around here."
With the upgrades, the Dojo hopes to re-open two spaces totaling over 5,000 square feet the Dojo is leasing but which the city forced them to close last year because of the need for fire safety upgrades. One space will be used for a design lab, the other for events. The Dojo will also be able to stop turning away guests at events, now limited to 50 people.
Despite the smaller space, Levinson said the Dojo membership keeps growing, with record membership dues every month.
"Its just cramped," Levinson said of the space.
Among the rewards offered for their generosity, donors may receive a commemorative power strip, as the fire marshal ordered the Dojo to unplug many of them in a recent visit when he saw two plugged into each receptacle, Levinson said.
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Posted by Old Ben, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Jul 13, 2012 at 4:45 pm Way to go, Mayberry, er, uh, MOUNTAIN VIEW! Do everything you can to stifle this bright and shining thing that inspires creativity and innovation! Just keep doing what you're doing, Mountain View, and very soon you'll be Flint, Michigan, or better yet, Camden, New Jersey.
Don't forget to shovel money at HSR (How to Scam Revenue) while you're at it, and micromanage every attempt at new enterprise. YOU CAN DO IT!
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Posted by Mauricio, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 13, 2012 at 7:11 pm If there was no Mountain View i the first place, there wouldnt be a Hacker Dojo, so [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]
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Posted by Old Ben, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Jul 13, 2012 at 9:23 pm Ever heard of Menlo Park, Mauricio?
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Posted by Ole, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2012 at 5:23 am I guess the underwear run thingy didn't quite raise awareness enough. Better try the full monty thing next.
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Posted by Tim, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2012 at 7:11 pm +1 for the first comment!
It's very annoying to see that the City of Mountain View seems to do everything possible to stifle this innovative place!
Looks like the City of Mountain View is forgetting what drives their massive tax revenue -- innovation does!
How about an exemption for Hacker Dojo?
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Posted by sean, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 15, 2012 at 11:21 am
sean is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Tim, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the "Dojo" but from what I gather its a place for "Pirates, and Hackers". The uploading of illegal copyrighted material and hacking of websites to gather personal information from protected servers. For $100 a month you get 24 hour access to this place, how great and innovative can it be? Also why should "they" get a pass? Do me a favor and go to Yelp and read the reviews, I have known a couple people who paid for 1 month access but maybe you have not, this is not place you think it is.
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Posted by Geo, a resident of another community, on Jul 15, 2012 at 4:50 pm Sean, you have Hacker Dojo wrong. It's a community center for creatives, hackers, and thinkers.
In tech parlance, hacker refers to someone who self-learns and creates innovative solutions to hard problems. It has nothing to do with computer crime, other than that the very first people who figured out how to break into computers were also self-learning and creating innovative solutions to hard problems.
This is not the place *you* think it is.
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Posted by sean, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 15, 2012 at 8:05 pm
sean is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Geo, to each their own.When they had the stupid underwear run members were posting when most of Mountain View was hating.I will be happy when the "Dojo" closes.BTW you a member?
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Posted by maya, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 16, 2012 at 2:30 pm Mountain View is the best town to live in! Hope Dojo raises the funds to fulfill its obligation to the city codes, and continues to thrive here in Mountain View. We've got an amazing community. A peaceful, tech loving community. Best Luck!
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Posted by the_punnisher, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jul 16, 2012 at 4:14 pm This [censored] is one of the reasons I left MV to work at Cray Research. MV had some PITA city officials then as well. " Our way or the Highway " was the motto then and it looks like it still is..
MV USED to have some pretty good " hardware shops ". The last time I visited, my old haunts were gone....
Dojo, just find a better place just North, South, East of MV.
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Posted by NoNeckJoe, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 16, 2012 at 5:38 pm +1 To Geo at least attempting to set Sean straight.
@Sean: This isn't a "to each their own" kind of thing. We are talking about facts here. The way you are portraying the Dojo is entirely incorrect. I work for a network security company and the kinds of things the Dojo folks are working on puts them squarely in the "good guys" camp. You appear threatened by them because you have no idea what's going on there. What about the "reviews on Yelp"? They have 4 stars. Sounds like it's not the scene for a few people that gave it low reviews...but I see nothing on Yelp (or anywhere) supporting your theory of nefarious activity occurring there.
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Posted by Local Supporter, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jul 16, 2012 at 10:59 pm Why is the building owner not responsible for bringing the space up to code? Are there higher requirements due to a larger community? If I were to lease the space for a new startup, would I be required to update the bathrooms? Seems a bit odd.
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Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 17, 2012 at 11:34 am Build space used for offices or events have different fire safety requirements than space used solely for warehousing. With a large number of people and wiring all over the place, the Dojo really needs to get up to code for its current space usage.
As far as ADA compliance, who knows. Its like Obamacare, no one person knows all of what is in there.
A few years ago, I had office space in a two story building on Villa St. There were steps to the second floor but no elevator. We were still required to make the bathrooms on the second floor ADA compliant, though no wheelchair could get to the second floor.
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Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 17, 2012 at 11:43 am @Sean - the term "hacker" has several meanings. Yes, one of them refers people who break into computers to steal passwords and credit card numbers. Do you really think that such criminals would form a public association? [Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]
The other meaning for hacker is someone who writes code for fun. The term derives from a "hack" writer, but with a positive connotation.
The Hacker Dojo is a place for people to meet to talk about and work on code and to plan the next bizzilion dollar start-up. If you feel the need for a pejorative, you can think of it as a social club for nerds.
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Posted by sean, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 18, 2012 at 8:12 pm
sean is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online @Local Supporter, NoNeckJoe, and USA.....Why you guys take this so serious and feel the need to bash? You think all the people at the Dojo are "innocent" and have "good intentions", you my friends are the ignorant ones. Throw around words like connotation, pejorative, nefarious, and my favorite "next bizillion dollar start-up".Then post comments that are removed cause "[Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]" and im the dumb one? I back the city of Mountain View and no exception should be made for any business or "social clubs for nerds", All the same to me.
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Posted by Bung, a resident of the Cuernavaca neighborhood, on Jul 19, 2012 at 7:23 am I love how the paranoids comment without ever having gone there. Check it out sometime, instead of just spouting hate based assumptions.
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Posted by USA, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 19, 2012 at 10:34 am "its a place for "Pirates, and Hackers". The uploading of illegal copyrighted material and hacking of websites to gather personal information from protected servers."
"Why you guys take this so serious and feel the need to bash?"
You're joking, right?
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