That being said, I've thought more than once about getting a slightly bigger house than I need so I can share some space with other remote folks.
If two people end up married because they first met on your workplace-sharing site, is it really a net loss if they stopped cutting you in on a hookup fee? Or if they go on to form the next Google? Or even if they just become friends? Sure, you don't get any more money from them. But you just made two people's lives a little more interesting. That's worth something if your balance sheet includes more than just money.
I mean, don't advertise that as one of the main features if the focus is "finding interesting places to work outside your home". But something this intimate definitely has a "meet interesting new people" aspect to it.
They asked how to make it so they don't get pulled out of the loop and kevin suggested adding valuable services/features that make it worth while for both parties to keep using the service.
While it's possible that enough trust can build up over time to where people would go around SpareChair, I doubt it will be a problem for them. Even if friends of friends were to co-work at my place, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if they were insured.
How much actually useful work did you get done this week? If you didn't have to put on a performance of being at your desk for 40 hours, but were able to do 3 hours of really high-quality work, would you end up more or less productive?
In any case, yes, absolutely less productive. The time you need to communicate with other people in your team probably already amounts to at least 3 hours in your week.
Not counting the time you need to build back your mental context of the task you are working on. Why you were stuck last time ...etc.
I understand the feeling that people have that there should be a more relaxed schedule and restrictions on the location you are working from but in the end I'm unconvinced that it improves productivity. No saying that you should work 80 hour weeks and be be stressed out of your mind but the reverse is not true either.