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I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Now
by ngngngng 7y ago
I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Now I'm at a much smaller startup called Weave which is a really phenomenal place to work. I didn't discover until recently that it's also a YCombinator company.
edit: to clarify, hacker news has been extremely skeptical of WeWork for some time, due to this, I was extremely wary of their offer and leaned towards (and eventually chose) other options.
- nickstinemates 7y agoGood people at Weave, awesome it's working out!
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- alasdair_ 7y agoI also dodged this bullet two months ago. They were hiring like crazy in Seattle. Thanks HN!
- mcny 7y agoInsane. This story is number one on hn for me and right below it in number two is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21062231 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21062231 > WeWork, Bankers Have Discussed Laying Off One-Third of Workforce (theinformation.com) If you, the reader, have an offer from WeWork, I suggest you ask for a bigger paycheck (like real money, not funny money) for all this uncertainty.
- moltensodium 7y agoAt this point there is a non-zero and growing chance the company collapses completely. They have no plans or research or any other projects that are expected to make money, ever, and nobody seems interested in another round of fundraising. They will likely try to force the IPO through anyway at some sub $5B valuation, but even then it seems like they may not generate much interest after that cuckooville S1.
- ahi 7y agoSome of their financing demands they IPO this year I think. Could have misread something though.
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- sah2ed 7y ago> I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Did a 2-month old HN comment foretell WeWork imploding which informed your decision to decline their offer, or reading HN in general helped you determine that their offer would be close to worthless, compared to your options at that time?
- ngngngng 7y agoI edited to clarify. I was skeptical of WeWork because hacker news has been skeptical of them for quite a long time.
- codesushi42 7y agoSame here, and only by reading the headlines. A WeWork recruiter reached out to me. I laughed out loud and added it to the list of companies I would never work for. Not only do they do nothing interesting, but they are apparently unethical as well. No doubt another failed tech bro pump 'n dump scheme headed to the dustbin of history.
- ryanwaggoner 7y agoDefinitely just another failed tech bro pump 'n dump scheme headed to the dustbin of history. I seriously doubt that. I think they're overvalued too, but I predict WeWork is still going to be around in another decade. There's clearly a ton of demand for what they provide.
- hyperbovine 7y ago> There's clearly a ton of demand for what they provide. There has always been, and will always be, demand for the ability to buy one dollar for 80 cents. This is not some newfangled business model. Amazingly, it keeps cropping up again and again.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoIf you don't include the economics of the business model in the evaluation, you could say exactly the same of Juiceroo. There's clearly significant demand for juice presses.
- TremendousJudge 7y agoNot a valid comparison -- Juicero didn't really manage to sell its product, while many people and companies rent WeWork's space
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoSure, but that's because the economics of the specific way that the business model doesn't make sense is different for the two - with Juicero, they attempted to screw over the end user, while with WeWork they were trying to screw over (public) investors. Edit: or to borrow a popular saying - with WeWork, it's not the furnished rental office stuff that is the product, it's the IPO.
- kiloatl 7y agoMy company has about half a floor in a WeWork, and we're planning on moving out in the next year. I've been wondering if we'll be forced to move a bit sooner if WeWork fails
- TomBombadildoze 7y ago> I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Independently of what you read here, you saw right through this as total bullshit, right? Right?
- ngngngng 7y agoNot sure why you're being downvoted. It's a good question. Yeah I saw through it. I've seen too many people screwed out of their options to put any stock in it (heh). Funny enough, my current company seems to have pretty good odds at making me a good chunk of change from my options, but I didn't even know I got options until after I accepted the offer. Many companies flaunt it and give a weak offer accordingly. That's a pretty big red flag for me.
- seem_2211 7y agoAs a recruiter, there's an interesting relationship, whereby people use funding raised as a positive metric (oh yes, they raised $200m, this must be a good company!) Even though the less they have raised, the more valuable your equity is likely to be. It's fascinating to watch.
- cbanek 7y agoI always read the "We raised $x million dollars" as "we're not going bankrupt this year, so we can pay your salary." You're right about raising less means you get in earlier, which means you should have more return.
- scott_s 7y agoFor a startup, raising less money, and a new employee getting more equity, also generally means the position has more risk. So the reaction you see is not necessarily irrational.
- 88840-8855 7y agoI must say, I am jealous. It seems a bit unfair to me how computer engineers are getting hired and paid so well, while my economics degree is useless and I have to fight like crazy to get a job that pays WAY less than engineers get. Honestly, I studied economics because I wanted a job that pays well - that was one of the key criteria - and now I am standing with little money and a job I hate. It sucks.
- louisswiss 7y agoCheck out Lambda School
- icelancer 7y agoI was an dropout studying Economics who made the transition into data science / data analysis fairly smoothly. I'd recommend doing so. Many programmers are jealous of quantitative analysts' salaries inside tech companies. EDIT: I guess I should add I really did not care for the work and stopped after 2-3 years to start my own company. I do a lot of the same work today, but as the Founder, I obviously control the company and my workload.
- warent 7y agoI think it's worth noting that there's a lot more to it than just the money. Sure, data scientists make more than I do as an engineer, but I would feel absolutely fucking miserable doing the job of a data scientist every day.
- icelancer 7y agoIn fact, I was :) Check my bio. But if the OP is really distraught about making money in tech, they will find their economics background of use.
- syedkarim 7y agoWhat originally led you to believe that an economics degree would result in well-paying jobs?
- joachim4 7y agoHey, do you have any mail to contact you? I'm thinking about applying to that company. Thanks :)
- lpellis 7y agoHackernews is skeptical of many things though, sometimes hard to filter through the noise.
- chid 7y agoWhat are some examples where HN is too skeptical? I find that it's a good filter to view "news"
- seibelj 7y agoblockchain
- iosonofuturista 7y agoIf anything, HN is not skeptical enough about THAT.
- wpietri 7y agoAgreed! It has been coming around in recent years, surely helped by the fact that "blockchain for X" has never panned out. But it has taken a painfully long time.
- pjc50 7y agoThe famous Dropbox comment? HN is overly skeptical of startups that take something possible and simplify the UX. Although I can't think of a recent example.
- randycupertino 7y agoWhat was the famous Dropbox comment? I'm out of the loop. Thx.
- leesec 7y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 basically someone belittling Dropbox before it went on to be worth billions.
- JohnFen 7y ago> a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO When a recruiter makes that argument to me, I consider it a huge red flag all by itself, and am much less interested in working there.
- mxcrossb 7y agoParticularly when a company is only months away from an IPO. How much equity could you actually expect?
- mando75 7y agoNice, we work in the same building. Can you smuggle me some cereal? ;) Edit: I'm on the 5th floor, feel free to come party
- csomar 7y ago> a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO Is that even legal?
- dreamcompiler 7y agoWhy not? Doesn't everybody know not to believe recruiters or car sales people?
- Larrikin 7y agoHacker News helped me decide to never work for WeWork by prominently featuring this[1] article on the front page [1] https://time.com/5338287/wework-meat-vegetarian-company-environment/ https://time.com/5338287/wework-meat-vegetarian-company-envi...
- Japhy_Ryder 7y agoThat's actually a good thing. Meat is bad for the environment, your health, and it goes without saying - the animals.
- paulnechifor 7y agoYou're being ridiculous. We're literally evolved to eat meat. _Excess_ is bad for your health (such as drinking 1 liter of vegan olive oil).
- Zanneth 7y agoThere are plenty of cultures around the world who have been surviving on a plant-based diet for centuries. Saying we’re “evolved to eat” anything is what is ridiculous.
- paulnechifor 7y agoJust because you _can_ survive without eating meat doesn't prove what I was disputing: (“Meat is bad for [...] health”). I can survive without carrots, but it doesn't mean they're bad for my health.
- shaklee3 7y agoIs it weave the kubernetes cni? That does seem like a fun place to work.
- dwighttk 7y agowhat doe WeAve do?
- Ballas 7y agoWe 'ave. That's what WeWork wanted to be after the IPO.