The Future Is Not Fixed: Factory at a Crossroads (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

Take a walk through Berlin right now. You’ll see it in the defiant splash of graffiti over an AI-generated mural, in founders hunched over prototypes at midnight, in artists learning to code. It’s not clean. It’s not linear. It’s real. With the influx of business behemoths, tech startups, and international talent to the city in recent years, even its long-standing image as “poor but sexy” has evolved. This is the cultural climate we’re living in—a time of constant evolution, rethinking, and reshaping. The future isn’t a fixed destination; it’s a living, breathing process. And we’re right there in the thick of it.

An honest look at our journey

At Factory, we’ve made some big shifts. Remember Görli? We closed it, choosing instead to refocus on the Factory campus in Mitte as a more intentional home base. That decision wasn’t made lightly; it was part of an ongoing process of refining our purpose and our space. And right now? We’re somewhere in between. We’re still dreaming, still building, but still confident in our vision to create space for innovation for our community members. We don’t see ourselves as a finished product, but as a living platform that listens and evolves due to changing demand.

Think of it like a skyscraper or a bridge. The strongest structures aren’t those built to be rigid. Even the biggest and most impressive structures have to endure wind, earthquakes, or acts of God. A bridge designed to resist every single gust of wind with unyielding force would ultimately snap. Instead, the most resilient structures are engineered to bend and sway, absorbing the external forces rather than fighting them head-on. The wind won’t knock them over; their flexibility is their strength. We see Factory Network in the same way. Rather than being a finished, rigid product, we’re a living platform, constantly adapting, listening, and creating space for innovation, capable of swaying with the shifts around us.

What’s inspiring our way forward

As we navigate this crossroads, we’re keeping a close eye on the signals emerging from the broader tech and cultural landscape. We’re inspired by:

• OpenAI letting anyone create their own AI tools, democratizing innovation without the need for a dev team.
• Art collectives transforming into venture funds, blurring the lines between creativity and capital.
• Cities like Lisbon and Seoul actively doubling down on cultural-tech ecosystems, understanding the power of their fusion.
• The rise of community-led education platforms, like Replit or On Deck, proves that learning can be agile and grassroots.
• Creators building companies faster than traditional accelerators can even keep up.

Our aim is not to copy these models, but to use them as powerful indicators of where the world is heading. They speak to a future that is more accessible, more collaborative, and more focused on rapid iteration.

Where this leaves us

So, where does this leave Factory? We’re not here with a slick pitch deck or a new, definitive playbook. Instead, we’re here with our ears to the ground. We’re prototyping ideas, hosting conversations, and redesigning our spaces to see what truly resonates with our community. There’s an undeniable energy here in Berlin, and we want to use it wisely—not to scale indiscriminately, but to stay in motion, to remain agile, and to continue fostering genuine connection and innovation.

Our invitation

We don’t know exactly where this journey is going, and that’s the point. The future isn’t fixed, but it’s absolutely ours to shape. If you’re an experimenter, a builder, a re-thinker—if you’re navigating your own crossroads and embracing the beautiful messiness of creation—come find us. Let’s design our new futures together.