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"that will mark a sort of end of an era. At the height of the unicorn boom, big tech companies could" Except WeWork isn't a tech company.
by acchow 7y ago
"that will mark a sort of end of an era. At the height of the unicorn boom, big tech companies could"
Except WeWork isn't a tech company.
- pearjuice 7y agoThey have successfully marketed themselves as one and apart from a relatively small group, the common denominator perceives them as such.
- ianferrel 7y agoTheir troubles with an IPO suggests that they have not successfully marketed themselves to the broader investor class.
- acchow 7y agoAccording to wikipedia "WeWork investors as of 2014 included J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, T. Rowe Price Associates, Wellington Management, Goldman Sachs Group, the Harvard Corp., Benchmark, and Mortimer Zuckerman, former CEO of Boston Properties" They basically convinced a bunch of non-tech investors that they're a tech company.
- ackbar03 7y agoI'm pretty sure the banks invested just to get a shot at collecting fees for ipo work
- MR4D 7y agoActually, they haven’t. They hold themselves out as Real Estate Agents & Managers. You can see their SIC & NAICS codes here: https://siccode.com/business/wework-46 https://siccode.com/business/wework-46
- alphast0rm 7y agoBen Thompson wrote an interesting article "What Is a Tech Company?" on Stratechery [1] recently where he discusses the trademark characteristics of tech companies and makes a convincing argument as to why WeWork is not one: So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics: - Software creates ecosystems. - Software has zero marginal costs. - Software improves over time. - Software offers infinite leverage. - Software enables zero transaction costs. ... - WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business. - WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent. - WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time. - WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out. - WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses. Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way. [1] https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/ https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/
- 0xffff2 7y agoPlease don't use indentation for quotes. The side-scrolling makes it completely impossible to read on mobile, and nearly impossible to read on desktop. >So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics: > >- Software creates ecosystems. >- Software has zero marginal costs. >- Software improves over time. >- Software offers infinite leverage. >- Software enables zero transaction costs. > >... > >- WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business. >- WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent. >- WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time. >- WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out. >- WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses. > >Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way.
- chinhodado 7y agoI can't believe HN doesn't have a solution for this after all this time. It's a tech forum ffs.
- 0xffff2 7y agoEh, HN does have a solution for quotes; the way I formatted it. There's no technical solution for humans applying the wrong tool to the job. The mono-spaced non-wrapping style works well for code. I find it inexplicable that so many people persist in using it for quotes.