Company: V12 workingspace GbR
Founders: Jessica Ferri and Viet Anh Nguyen
Date founded: February 2025
Industry and company: Real estate & office rental

What drives you? What is your motto?
Courage beats perfection – those who start grow along the way.

What is your start-up about and what makes it special?
We have transformed a listed city villa in Wiesbaden into a modern workspace. V12 is not an anonymous co-working space, but a lively place. Our USP: historical charm meets smart working environments and a strong community.

What are your first successes?
We inspired the owner, transformed the city villa in record time, and created V12, a place that connects people and allows them to grow. It feels great to see the villa come back to life today – through the people who shape their future here every day.

What is your professional background?
We are architects who mastered every team project together during our studies and dreamed of starting our own office. After years in more traditional company structures, self-employment was the logical next step. Today, we create spaces where new things can emerge. 

What prompted you to start your own business?
We could have simply worked on the city villa as an architectural project. But we saw more: the opportunity to create a completely new concept for its use—co-working in a historic villa, an offering that is virtually unique. A place for exchange, progress, and community. Instead of handing this vision over to someone else, we decided to start our own business. Because we believe that architecture must have an impact—and we want to take responsibility when we see potential.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?
Family and friends gave us support, and founders from our network openly shared their learnings. And the villa's property owner believed in our vision—his trust and openness made the path to founding the company possible in the first place.

How did you experience your first days as founders? Our idea became
reality in the very first days as founders. When the first tenants moved in, we realized that we had not only designed spaces, but created an environment where people come together and the future is created – our concept became a living space.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge was financing the equipment and marketing, as well as the tight schedule between setting up the website, booking and management system, delivery and installation of the furnishings, and the opening. This only worked thanks to good coordination and initiative.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
We rely on social media, which not only advertises but also tells stories – real stories, real people. To this end, we create encounters: events, workshops, networking meetings. This is how V12 can be experienced. And this is exactly what creates organic reach and genuine, sustainable visibility.

How did you finance your start-up?
A mix of equity capital and bank loans. Bold, but solidly planned.

What dream would you still like to realize?
We would like to turn our V12 workspace into a label. A new regional meeting place that promotes inspiration and exchange between different professions.

Please complete the following sentence: If we had more time, we would... create
more spaces for encounters and inspiration.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?
Start before everything is perfect. Unlike us, find mentors, build networks in advance—they open doors that capital alone cannot open.