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The Big Story: Inside the Third Space Economy

Today, I’m writing about third spaces. If you’re not familiar, this is the term that gets thrown around when describing places people hang out that are neither work nor home.

The topic is pertinent to me because for the last two-plus hours, I’ve been posted up at a French bistro in my neighborhood known for its strong Wi-Fi and overall lack of judgment on people who struggle with work-life balance. It is after 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I am desperately trying to claw my way back to “inbox zero,” which for me means inbox approximately 300.

Mom/Dad, I know you’re reading this, so please know that this establishment is literally across the street from my apartment. And also, people should generally fear me, not the other way around. But you already know this. 🇮🇹

Okay, so — third spaces. This is very much a late-stage capitalism phenomenon. We work so much that many of us are either a) at home or b) at the office. As you move into adulthood, the options in column C — what used to be sports practice, Girl Scouts, friends’ basements — all but disintegrate. You fall into a familiar rhythm: home, sleep, work (gym, if you’re me), repeat. Forever and ever, amen.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg first coined the term “third place” in his 1989 book The Great Good Place. He defined it as a neutral, accessible social space outside of home (the “first” place) and work (the “second”). Somewhere you can just be.

Here’s the problem: third spaces are vanishing. A New York Times piece notes the steady decline of places like diners, community centers, and even local dive bars, driven by rising rents, changing consumer habits, and a society that increasingly optimizes for convenience and productivity over connection.

Another analysis from The Atlantic pointed to the fact that many of today’s “third spaces,” like gyms or boutique coffee shops, still implicitly require spending money to belong, making them less accessible and more transactional. And this isn’t even getting into the absolutely out-of-control proliferation of pay-to-play social clubs.

And yet, people are craving these places. Spots that fall somewhere between scrolling on the couch and drowning in a Google spreadsheet. As more of our identities become wrapped up in our obligations, it’s easy to lose sight of the stuff that fills us up outside those two lanes. For a lot of us, that stuff is random and inconsequential.

Me? I like the vertical stair climber at Equinox. I like to do that until I’m nearly nauseous, and then I like to stop. I like clearing out my inbox at 10 a.m. at a French bistro. Apparently. I like going to a coffee shop to read a book on a rainy day. I like an art gallery. I like going to talks and lectures.

Lately in New York, there have been some especially creative community builders programming the kind of third spaces we’re all aching for. One of them is Lectures On Tap, which is easily one of the most ingenious concepts I’ve seen in recent years. The founders curate talks from academics, experts, and artists multiple times a week. They rent out bar spaces and invite people to come learn something new. They sell out nearly every time.

The Decentralized Science (DeSci) NYC community is another example. A few months ago, I went to a talk on “how not to die” and realized I was doing a piss-poor job of that — but I was entertained nonetheless. Pioneer Works in Red Hook is another standout. They host all kinds of discussions and experiences. Their indoor space is a cathedral of wood and light. Outside, you can sit around a fire, drink a craft beer, and talk about whatever strange thing you just witnessed. There are also telescopes!

So why do we crave these “other” pockets, where we don’t have work obligations or family obligations, and we can just exist? The question sort of answers itself, doesn’t it?

But if we want to go deeper, third spaces offer a psychological and even physiological reprieve. They support mental health, provide social support, and foster belonging, especially in cities where social isolation can run high. Moreover, researchers have found that the absence of third spaces correlates with lower civic participation and weaker community ties.

From a business perspective, I do think there is a lot of money to be made in curating and managing spaces like these. The team at “Lectures On Tap” consistently sells out $30-$40 tickets across multiple cities, multiple times a week. Meanwhile, the once-defunct, now-revived ‘90s brand Members Only is literally opening a bar-slash-nightclub in the West Village next month. They invited me. I happen to think Members Only jackets are cool, so I will 110% be there.

Sometimes people ask me: if I could own any business in the world, what would it be? I think about the perfect little coffee shop in my old Brooklyn neighborhood, called The West. It opened before 7 a.m. and played folk music during the day. I’d work there for hours. At night, it became a wine bar with live music. It had a little outdoor garden. It’s the kind of place you could stay for eight hours and never feel weird about it.

That’s the kind of place I’d want to own. A simple concept with decent cash flow from morning to night, where people can just chill.

But back to third spaces and why we need them. Increasingly, life feels binary. My family and friends (who are also my family) are Priority 1. Close behind is my career, which I take seriously and genuinely love. But then what? What about my weird interests and hobbies? Where do I go to exist just as a human? Ta-da: third spaces.

And yes, this newsletter always includes a business angle. So here it is: brands are wising up to the fact that filling a void in someone’s emotional life is a phenomenal marketing strategy. Is it a little dark? A little vapid? Very “late-stage capitalism,” as the cool kids in Bushwick say? Sure. But it works. People are searching for something. Often, they don’t even know what. Give them the space for it — and I’d bet the money will follow.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Big Bear AI Gets the Meme Treatment, Apple’s COO Retires, and Elon is Crabby

Every weekday, my co-host Shay Boloor and I cover the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live.

We covered a ton of ground on Wednesday’s show — here’s the breakdown:

⇢ 2:20 Stocktwits’ Editor in Chief Tom Bruni rolls on through with a midweek roundup.

⇢ 2:55 Copper tariffs caused futures and mining stocks to make moves, but Bruni says the hype was relatively short-lived.

⇢ 7:00 CoreWeave x Nvidia news, plus the market reacts to the former’s CoreScientific all-stock pickup. $CRWV ( ▼ 4.04% )  $NVDA ( ▼ 3.5% )  

⇢ 13:15 Traders chase Big Bear AI in hopes of finding the next Palantir — is anything there? $BBAI ( ▼ 5.98% )  $PLTR ( ▼ 9.36% )  

⇢ 21:15 Apple COO Jeff Williams is retiring, which is a big deal because people thought he might succeed Tim Cook. $AAPL ( ▼ 0.14% )  

⇢ 24:50 Meta is building the AI Avengers — is Zuck winning the personality contest? $META ( ▼ 2.07% )  

⇢ 28:28 Earnings season kicks off next week, and we’ll hear from some of the banks, Netflix, and Pepsi. Are cost-cutting measures and more RIFs ahead? Also, tariff updates! $NFLX ( ▼ 2.49% )  $PEP ( ▲ 1.75% )  $BLK ( ▼ 0.67% )  $WFC ( ▲ 0.12% )  

⇢ 32:29 Momentum trades: Netflix and Spotify are on “generational runs.” Could it be due to the durability of entertainment & escapism? $NFLX ( ▼ 2.49% )  $SPOT ( ▼ 1.2% )  

⇢ 39:00 Nvidia becomes the first company to reach a $4 trillion market cap while we’re on the air. The first company to hit $1 trillion was Apple back in 2018.

⇢ 40:56 Elon is crabby this week. He told tech analyst Dan Ives to “Shut up” on X. $TSLA ( ▼ 1.75% )  

⇢ 43:00 Lucid Motors sets new EV battery record. Go the distance between NYC and Chicago without a recharge! $LCID ( ▼ 2.29% )  

⇢ 47:45 Hims & Hers rises on news that it will bring a generic semaglutide to Canada. $HIMS ( ▼ 6.48% )

Now Here’s a Chart

Via @deedydas on X: “Anthropic was at $1B in annualized revenue at the beginning of the year and is $4B now in mid-2025. OpenAI is at $10B. This kind of revenue growth has never been seen before by any company in human history.”

Reading List

• Linda Yaccarino departs as boss of Musk's X (BBC) $TSLA ( ▼ 1.75% )  

• Meta offered Apple’s head of foundation models more than $200M to jump ship (9to5 Mac) $META ( ▼ 2.07% )  $AAPL ( ▼ 0.14% )  

• Amazon Prime Day Sales Off 41% First Day, Brand Adviser Says (Bloomberg) $AMZN ( ▼ 1.5% )  (Editor’s note: I think this might just mean people are buying stuff … all the time?)

• SEC's 'crypto mom' says tokenized securities are still securities (Yahoo! Finance)

• SoFi Expands Access to Private Markets with Funds from Cashmere, Fundrise, and Liberty Street Advisors (SoFi Blog) $SOFI ( ▼ 6.11% )  Client

• Nutella with your Corn Flakes? This cereal giant’s stock rallies on word of a $3 billion deal (Investopedia) $KLG ( ▼ 0.17% )  

• More M&A: PTC stock soars as Autodesk weighs takeover bid (Investing.com) $PTC ( ▲ 0.75% )  $ADSK ( ▼ 0.14% )  

• Bay Area tech CEOs seen arriving at 'summer camp for billionaires' (SF Gate)

• Jeanie Buss to Oversee Lakers for Years Even After Record Sale (Front Office Sports)

• Philadelphia strikes a tentative deal with union over a stoppage that caused a backlog of trash (Fast Company)

Now Playing: “Save It For Later” (Cover) - Eddie Vedder

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

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Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.