I've worked in places like this. I am very easily distractible by noise, but I can usually ignore people walking around me, so for heads-down productivity, headphones or earplugs for me are a must. However, I've always had headphones even in standard cubicle/office environment where it's supposedly quiet and easy to concentrate and get work done. If you find the visual aspect of people coming-ang-going distracting, you might have an issue.
For sitting down and hashing something out with your co-founders, these places are great - conference rooms and whiteboards are usually very available, and that guy across from you who usually has headphones on might actually turn out to be a MySQL expert who can answer a very obscure question in 15 seconds.
For sitting down and hashing something out with your co-founders, these places are great - conference rooms and whiteboards are usually very available, and that guy across from you who usually has headphones on might actually turn out to be a MySQL expert who can answer a very obscure question in 15 seconds.