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>but what's stopping a building owner from offering hot desks + coffee themselves? That is not at all what WeWork offers. I'm typing this from a Regus office s

>but what's stopping a building owner from offering hot desks + coffee themselves? That is not at all what WeWork offers. I'm typing this from a Regus office space (probably the best known incumbent), and having worked out of WeWork offices at other times, the difference between the two experiences couldn't be more stark. A lot of companies try to claim to be "tech companies" when they're really just doing some mundane thing, in the same way as ever, but with a "tech" sheen on the website. (Maybe some green kanji characters scrolling down a black background, that sort of thing.) WeWork really is different. I've seen some of the tech they deploy to improve the density ratio of the buildings, and to track different aspects of their customers' experience, and on and on. I'll grant that there aren't many barriers to entry in a small-scale, "hey, here's a desk and hot coffee" local market -- but very few companies can create the kind of global footprint that WeWork now has, which is a big part of the main strategy, going after the office needs of the Global 2k.

zaidf 8y ago
I've used both Regus and WeWork and would pick Regus over WeWork any day. I am so much more productive at a more laid-back, quiet (both sound and visual noise) environment than the hustle and bustle that WeWork takes pride in. WeWork calls this energy, I call it noise.
- chasely 8y ago
  Seconded. I'm at WeWork now, and had to upgrade offices just so I could be somewhere that was quieter. Once my contract is up I'll be looking for a more out-of-the-way office where I don't need to put on headphones several times a day.
  - subdane 8y ago
    Thirded. WeWork has horrible sound design.
mxschumacher 8y ago
for reference, IWG's market cap (the parent of Regus) is $3.8bn
josephjrobison 8y ago
I hear you on that end of tracking customer experience. That being said, they trump up their internal social network as part of their valuation, but it barely gets used in my WeWork and I can see globally that it doesn’t get used much except for selling and some reference requests. It’s used at a rate of like less than one posting a month per person.
FigureTheGreat 8y ago
>very few companies can create the kind of global footprint that WeWork now has If other companies were able to lose $900m/yr and still operate I bet they would be able to create that type of global footprint
- jaredhansen 8y ago
  Yes, but that's a rather large if, isn't it now? Access to capital is a moat all its own.

zaidf 8y ago

I've used both Regus and WeWork and would pick Regus over WeWork any day. I am so much more productive at a more laid-back, quiet (both sound and visual noise) environment than the hustle and bustle that WeWork takes pride in. WeWork calls this energy, I call it noise.

chasely 8y ago
Seconded. I'm at WeWork now, and had to upgrade offices just so I could be somewhere that was quieter. Once my contract is up I'll be looking for a more out-of-the-way office where I don't need to put on headphones several times a day.
- subdane 8y ago
  Thirded. WeWork has horrible sound design.

mxschumacher 8y ago

for reference, IWG's market cap (the parent of Regus) is $3.8bn

josephjrobison 8y ago

I hear you on that end of tracking customer experience. That being said, they trump up their internal social network as part of their valuation, but it barely gets used in my WeWork and I can see globally that it doesn’t get used much except for selling and some reference requests. It’s used at a rate of like less than one posting a month per person.

FigureTheGreat 8y ago

>very few companies can create the kind of global footprint that WeWork now has If other companies were able to lose $900m/yr and still operate I bet they would be able to create that type of global footprint

jaredhansen 8y ago
Yes, but that's a rather large if, isn't it now? Access to capital is a moat all its own.