MatchBOX Studios at 10. A Q&A on a startup’s startup

Amanda Findlay is stepping in as executive director of MatchBOX, 10 years after it helped usher in an age of coworking spaces in downtown Lafayette.

• Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, presenting Robert Cray in concert Tuesday, April 23. For tickets for that and other shows, go to longpac.org.

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MatchBOX coworking studios at 10. A Q&A with a startup’s startup

This week, MatchBOX marks its 10^th anniversary in downtown Lafayette with a change in leadership, too.

Jason Tennenhouse, who was among the founders for MatchBOX’s coworking studio and entrepreneur/startup support programs in a former auto body shop on South Sixth Street, is stepping aside as the nonprofit’s executive director. Amanda Findlay will move into that role, moving up from managing director.

“MatchBOX was built to raise up new leaders in our community and create new opportunities for growth,” Tennenhouse said. “I am immensely proud of the progress we've made over the past decade, and I believe now, as we celebrate our 10th year of our coworking studio being open, is a good time to personally practice what we’ve taught thousands over the years about starting and spinning things out and making room for some new leadership.”

Findlay has been with MatchBOX for nine of those 10 years, the past five as managing director.

Amanda Findlay, left, talks with MatchBOX member Cortland Starrett at the coworking studio in downtown Lafayette. (Photo provided)

Ahead of a 10-year celebration and reunion for members of MatchBOX planned for Thursday at the coworking studio, Findlay takes stock here in the past decade.

Question: Give an elevator pitch for the uninitiated: What is MatchBOX Coworking Studio?

Amanda Findlay: MatchBOX is a 501c3 non-profit coworking, acceleration and maker studio. The coworking is an 11,000-square-foot shared workspace in the historic Stein Building in downtown Lafayette. It’s a beautiful and inspiring space for anyone who needs an office, a community, meeting rooms, wifi. The acceleration component is a lineup of courses and cohorts designed to help people start and grow businesses. And the making happens in our makerspace and media studio where we supports dozens of fabrication, prototyping and content creation processes.

Question: How have things changed over the first decade?