9 ms·

I worked in a wework Office for about a year. At first I thought the environment was great, I loved the free beer and the community. However, once we moved out,

by baxtr 9y ago

I worked in a wework Office for about a year. At first I thought the environment was great, I loved the free beer and the community. However, once we moved out, I realized how much more productive we were in our own office. We had - more space - less noise, in terms of sound and visually (you see everybody passing by through the glass and have to force yourself not to look at them. For a while we had some posters up, but we had to remove them since wework’s company policy doesn’t like that) - less distractions: in the end, the community was nice, but it didn’t help us that much, since it was quite random, there were a lot events, almost every day, the place was always busy - climate service: we had so many issues with heating/cooling, either it was too hot or too cold, it never got really fixed - cost: their meeting room system is a total rip-off, even though basic rents are okish, the meeting rooms were a real cost sucker, in many months we’d pay almost as much for meeting rooms as the basic rent We liked the culture and the spirit, but we’re much happier in our own space now, we don’t pay for meeting rooms and we can meet our relevant community whenever we want, distractions went down, productivity up.

tbarbugli 9y ago
Same exact experience for me (in NL). I have to say that compared to all other co-working spaces I used (6 so far), WeWork is the only one that really nailed it in terms of operations. (WiFi/Internet, delivery, key-cards, ...)
zaidf 9y ago
less noise, in terms of sound and visually (you see everybody passing by through the glass and have to force yourself not to look at them. For a while we had some posters up, but we had to remove them since wework’s company policy doesn’t like that) This has been by number one issue with WeWork and I've always been surprised that more devs who work at WeWork aren't bothered by this.
- kafkaesq 9y ago
  That's what the free beer is for - to anesthetize yourself from the negative working conditions, at the end of the day.
  - kafkaesq 9y ago
    Addendum: WeWork's general office conditions and amenities do compare favorably to those of early-stage companies (not to mention most random BigCorps), overall. (Again, it's the average of the great unwashed mass of companies I'm talking about, here -- not the Big 4, and certainly not whatever hot startup you've worked for recently where everything was way nicer, and the people way cooler than anywhere else). But at the same time - if anyone's giving you free beer (as opposed to some other non-mind-altering amenity), there's always a reason for it.
- T2_t2 9y ago
  I have been to one in Sydney and one on London. I gotta tellya, Sydney was unworkable (too many people talking and wanting to talk to you) but London was a dream. The English don't chat, and there is zero eye contact. From this, I theorise that it only really works in countries that are not outgoing.
kafkaesq 9y ago
Of course self-leased speace is generally (way) better - if you can find it (at the capacity you need right now) and hire people to run it for you. WeWork's entire model relies on the fact that, while not it's not the swankest, most productivity-enhancing working spaces you've ever been in (far from it) -- it is available pretty much on tap, in at least some capacity, in key cities. Remember all those outright shitholes many companies used to work in (in their bootstrap phases) at least? Or this whole "borrowing office space from a friend, until..." thing? Or, until not too long ago, literally using coffeeshops or restaurants as meeting rooms? WeWork seems to have succeeded in making that culture pretty much go away, at least.
- pcsanwald 9y ago
  exactly. Finding less than a 5 year lease in Manhattan is extremely challenging in my experience.
  - jakemoshenko 9y ago
    They will almost always allow you to sublease though, which is its own horrible time sink to find a replacement tenant.
    - pcsanwald 9y ago
      sure, I've subleased a bunch. my experience with that is that two kinds of companies generally sublease: places that are growing and will eventually want the space you're occupying for themselves, or places that aren't doing well and will eventually fold. I've subleased from both :). it's for sure a good option if you want a very short term thing, but it's a tough spot when you probably want > 1 year but 5 is a stretch.
- deepGem 9y ago
  In cities like Bangalore, getting self-leased office space for an early stage startup is a nightmare. Either you have to take up individual houses converted as offices (borderline illegal) or you have to settle for crappy office spaces in god forsaken locations. Even for established companies, managing office real estate is a nightmare. For instance, Microsoft had leased some office space in the heart of the city and even they had difficulty expanding and finding appropriate offices in the vicinity. (They have now taken up space at WeWork as a makeshift arrangement). So yeah, while WeWork seems like an expensive real estate play, they do fill a market need.
arcticbull 9y ago
Same experience here in SF.
- guywhocodes 9y ago
  Exactly the same from Shanghai
bobx11 9y ago
Something I often see overlooked in critiques of the wework buildings: Their offices are vastly different in renter demographics, I have found after working from different offices on an ongoing basis. Even within the same city you will find a vastly different feel from building to building. Boston, New York, and San Francisco have multiple buildings that are quieter and noisier, some with mostly mature companies and some with all single person co-working renters. It's not perfect, but as a company with up to 10 people or a need to have distributed office space... I'm a huge fan over the last couple years.
inuhj 9y ago
WeWork was way too expensive at any size. We cancelled it quickly. I can't imagine it being a functional solution for any company. Churn will kill that business.
- shawnee_ 9y ago
  While agree that the pricing is not beneficial to startups themselves, churn is exactly what WeWork wants because it's what their business model is founded on. All predatory leasing systems are designed this way. In WeWork's case, as a landlord it does not care about the success or failure of any individual company; it cares only about running as many renters as it can through its overpriced bar / coffeehouse. In the process its goal is to extract as much of the founders' equity as possible through "addons" in fees and such to the rents.

by baxtr 9y ago

tbarbugli 9y ago

Same exact experience for me (in NL). I have to say that compared to all other co-working spaces I used (6 so far), WeWork is the only one that really nailed it in terms of operations. (WiFi/Internet, delivery, key-cards, ...)

zaidf 9y ago

less noise, in terms of sound and visually (you see everybody passing by through the glass and have to force yourself not to look at them. For a while we had some posters up, but we had to remove them since wework’s company policy doesn’t like that) This has been by number one issue with WeWork and I've always been surprised that more devs who work at WeWork aren't bothered by this.

kafkaesq 9y ago
That's what the free beer is for - to anesthetize yourself from the negative working conditions, at the end of the day.
- kafkaesq 9y ago
  Addendum: WeWork's general office conditions and amenities do compare favorably to those of early-stage companies (not to mention most random BigCorps), overall. (Again, it's the average of the great unwashed mass of companies I'm talking about, here -- not the Big 4, and certainly not whatever hot startup you've worked for recently where everything was way nicer, and the people way cooler than anywhere else). But at the same time - if anyone's giving you free beer (as opposed to some other non-mind-altering amenity), there's always a reason for it.
T2_t2 9y ago
I have been to one in Sydney and one on London. I gotta tellya, Sydney was unworkable (too many people talking and wanting to talk to you) but London was a dream. The English don't chat, and there is zero eye contact. From this, I theorise that it only really works in countries that are not outgoing.

kafkaesq 9y ago

Of course self-leased speace is generally (way) better - if you can find it (at the capacity you need right now) and hire people to run it for you. WeWork's entire model relies on the fact that, while not it's not the swankest, most productivity-enhancing working spaces you've ever been in (far from it) -- it is available pretty much on tap, in at least some capacity, in key cities. Remember all those outright shitholes many companies used to work in (in their bootstrap phases) at least? Or this whole "borrowing office space from a friend, until..." thing? Or, until not too long ago, literally using coffeeshops or restaurants as meeting rooms? WeWork seems to have succeeded in making that culture pretty much go away, at least.

pcsanwald 9y ago
exactly. Finding less than a 5 year lease in Manhattan is extremely challenging in my experience.
- jakemoshenko 9y ago
  They will almost always allow you to sublease though, which is its own horrible time sink to find a replacement tenant.
  - pcsanwald 9y ago
    sure, I've subleased a bunch. my experience with that is that two kinds of companies generally sublease: places that are growing and will eventually want the space you're occupying for themselves, or places that aren't doing well and will eventually fold. I've subleased from both :). it's for sure a good option if you want a very short term thing, but it's a tough spot when you probably want > 1 year but 5 is a stretch.
deepGem 9y ago
In cities like Bangalore, getting self-leased office space for an early stage startup is a nightmare. Either you have to take up individual houses converted as offices (borderline illegal) or you have to settle for crappy office spaces in god forsaken locations. Even for established companies, managing office real estate is a nightmare. For instance, Microsoft had leased some office space in the heart of the city and even they had difficulty expanding and finding appropriate offices in the vicinity. (They have now taken up space at WeWork as a makeshift arrangement). So yeah, while WeWork seems like an expensive real estate play, they do fill a market need.

arcticbull 9y ago

Same experience here in SF.

guywhocodes 9y ago
Exactly the same from Shanghai

bobx11 9y ago

Something I often see overlooked in critiques of the wework buildings: Their offices are vastly different in renter demographics, I have found after working from different offices on an ongoing basis. Even within the same city you will find a vastly different feel from building to building. Boston, New York, and San Francisco have multiple buildings that are quieter and noisier, some with mostly mature companies and some with all single person co-working renters. It's not perfect, but as a company with up to 10 people or a need to have distributed office space... I'm a huge fan over the last couple years.

inuhj 9y ago

WeWork was way too expensive at any size. We cancelled it quickly. I can't imagine it being a functional solution for any company. Churn will kill that business.

shawnee_ 9y ago
While agree that the pricing is not beneficial to startups themselves, churn is exactly what WeWork wants because it's what their business model is founded on. All predatory leasing systems are designed this way. In WeWork's case, as a landlord it does not care about the success or failure of any individual company; it cares only about running as many renters as it can through its overpriced bar / coffeehouse. In the process its goal is to extract as much of the founders' equity as possible through "addons" in fees and such to the rents.