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Indeed, they go there for the foosball, table tennis, coffee and self-congratulation. Sure, sure, physical proximity to other startups, mentorship, etc. - but

Indeed, they go there for the foosball, table tennis, coffee and self-congratulation. Sure, sure, physical proximity to other startups, mentorship, etc. - but frankly the impression I've got from each wework location I've been to has been of people wanting the "startup lifestyle" rather than wanting to build a business. The actual startup lifestyle is sweating in a cheap grotty office, rice, and sleeping under your desk - but I suppose that's not a palatable option for most. Yeah, I'm contemptuous - but I'd sooner invest in a frugal scrappy business than one that thinks it needs mahogany desks for its team. And yes, of course, I write this as one who did it the scrappy way, and had a reasonably successful exit.

csomar 9y ago
People want to feel trendy. They are not running "Startups" because they want to build stuff that scales. They are running mostly failed businesses that look trendy/cool, so that they can "fit in". Selling emotions is a big business. Lots of brands are relying on it.
- madaxe_again 9y ago
  Yep - hell, most businesses sell on emotion - it's a much more secure attachment than ration, and even when it comes to b2b, more often than not the decision comes down to who they like more/who gives a better vibe. That said when things go south, they really go south, as an emotional buy allows for betrayal and an emotional fall-out. Which is why I think wework is grossly overvalued and likely to follow a parabolic trajectory.
  - mcny 9y ago
    > Which is why I think wework is grossly overvalued and likely to follow a parabolic trajectory. I still think the same way about dropbox but thankfully for YCombinator as well as Drew, Arash et al reality does not follow my train of thought. (I am ashamed of the way I reacted to the original news about Dropbox and I bring it up not to shame dropbox but to caution myself from saying something like that again. The world is... weird. I mean the top story at the moment is mongo db valuation https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15508507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15508507 https://archive.fo/hxHW4 https://archive.fo/hxHW4 ) Edit: name
iamben 9y ago
Annecdotaly many of the people I meet in WeWork aren't running startups. Just small businesses that don't want to work from home, or are a few people in size and don't want to have the hassle of renting office space, renting broadband, cleaning, fridges, coffee machines, etc. Yeah, of course there is table tennis and coffee and whatever else. But it's a bit like buying a mattress. If you have to spend half your life on something, it's nice to be comfortable. If you're not building the next AirBnB and you can afford your rent and bills, having a place you actually like to go to every morning is quite nice.
- mv4 9y ago
  Softbank has an office there.
  - iamben 9y ago
    Indeed. Plenty of architects, solicitors, whatever else. It just makes life easy.
KGIII 9y ago
Raggedy couch and a suit on the back of your office door. You didn't mean to stay there until 02:00, but you're going to have to be back at 06:00 so you might as well stay there.

csomar 9y ago

People want to feel trendy. They are not running "Startups" because they want to build stuff that scales. They are running mostly failed businesses that look trendy/cool, so that they can "fit in". Selling emotions is a big business. Lots of brands are relying on it.

madaxe_again 9y ago
Yep - hell, most businesses sell on emotion - it's a much more secure attachment than ration, and even when it comes to b2b, more often than not the decision comes down to who they like more/who gives a better vibe. That said when things go south, they really go south, as an emotional buy allows for betrayal and an emotional fall-out. Which is why I think wework is grossly overvalued and likely to follow a parabolic trajectory.
- mcny 9y ago
  > Which is why I think wework is grossly overvalued and likely to follow a parabolic trajectory. I still think the same way about dropbox but thankfully for YCombinator as well as Drew, Arash et al reality does not follow my train of thought. (I am ashamed of the way I reacted to the original news about Dropbox and I bring it up not to shame dropbox but to caution myself from saying something like that again. The world is... weird. I mean the top story at the moment is mongo db valuation https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15508507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15508507 https://archive.fo/hxHW4 https://archive.fo/hxHW4 ) Edit: name

iamben 9y ago

Annecdotaly many of the people I meet in WeWork aren't running startups. Just small businesses that don't want to work from home, or are a few people in size and don't want to have the hassle of renting office space, renting broadband, cleaning, fridges, coffee machines, etc. Yeah, of course there is table tennis and coffee and whatever else. But it's a bit like buying a mattress. If you have to spend half your life on something, it's nice to be comfortable. If you're not building the next AirBnB and you can afford your rent and bills, having a place you actually like to go to every morning is quite nice.

mv4 9y ago
Softbank has an office there.
- iamben 9y ago
  Indeed. Plenty of architects, solicitors, whatever else. It just makes life easy.

KGIII 9y ago

Raggedy couch and a suit on the back of your office door. You didn't mean to stay there until 02:00, but you're going to have to be back at 06:00 so you might as well stay there.