In today’s newsletter: Branch founder and CEO Atif Siddiqi on swapping North Loop offices for a virtual HQ, Jessie Diggins aligns with David Mortenson and what went wrong with Northstar Center.
Thinking about ditching the 9-to-5 for contract work or to start a business of your own? Consider these findings from the first so-called Solopreneur Report, a survey of 1,400 independent workers across North America, produced by workplace payments platform Branch and Mastercard.
- Seasoned professionals: Only 5% of the independent workers surveyed were Gen Z; the rest were fairly evenly split among Millennials, Gen X and baby Boomers.
- Building a base takes time: 79% earn less than $100,000 annually.
- Still, they’re optimistic: 75% believe their future is bright.
- Limited access to capital: 66% of solopreneurs finance operations through personal capital, 35% rely on credit cards for business funding and only 11% say they have access to traditional loans.
- Cautious innovators: 84% say they are comfortable with new technology but as a path to efficiency rather than experimentation.
Takeaways: Branch founder and CEO Atif Siddiqi sees opportunities for software and fintech platforms aimed at gig workers to market efficient tech solutions and offer accessible loans. It’s useful intel for big companies as well, Siddiqi said, as they increasingly leverage independent workers. “We’re seeing Uber-style platforms emerging in new industries, like nursing and logistics.”
Employees spread out
After more than a decade in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, Branch became a fully hybrid company three years ago. Many of its leaders live in the Twin Cities, but Siddiqi moved to Austin, Texas. The company now has 230 employees in 37 states and serves more than 1,300 business clients including Uber, Instacart and Dunkin. Revenue is up 1,200% in the last three years.
Zooming from his home office, Siddiqi said running a remote-first company has been a learning experience. There are quarterly in-person meetings, often in Minneapolis. And leadership gets together (sometimes in warmer locales) as often as every six weeks. “The big thing for us is written communication,” Siddiqi said. “We document everything.”
Branch just appointed Matt Peterson as CFO. He’s guided multiple companies to IPO, including Fastly in 2019. Peterson lives in Utah.
The struggle is real
I wanted to believe the hype around Northstar Center. As we emerged from the pandemic, that $96 million downtown Minneapolis remodel was held up time and again as the blueprint for the future: a mixed use development with apartments, offices, hospitality and retail. I attended the grand reopening event in late 2024, and while the eighth floor event space, with an outdoor deck in full view of the Foshay, was impressive, I left perplexed by the gimmicky details like a retro “general store” that seemed unlikely to attract shoppers (it didn’t). Fast forward to last week: My colleague Katie Galioto reported that the space has been tough to fill and Taconic Capital, the New York-based investment firm that owns Northstar’s 17-story office tower is looking to sell.
I’ll be curious if this is a hot topic at the Minneapolis Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District’s 70th Annual Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19, where we should hear the latest numbers on downtown occupancy.
