7 ms·

This is some dense shit. I can't imagine how working for WeWork feels like, right now. I have worked for companies where all the employees were eagerly waiting

This is some dense shit. I can't imagine how working for WeWork feels like, right now. I have worked for companies where all the employees were eagerly waiting for the day the company will go public. It was seen as a pivotal moment both financially and professionally. In any rational world that's a landmark moment. A significant milestone for founders, investors and early employees. For WeWork it has been the complete opposite. They filed to go public and everything is going south since then. Must be surreal that what seemed to be the start of a bright future may be very well the start of a dark end.

jonknee 7y ago
WeWork has been an obvious fuckup to even casual observers for years, if people inside the company couldn't see this I really don't know what to say.
- brianpgordon 7y ago
  All the more reason for employees to be excited about the opportunity to finally see liquidity for their shares.
  - jonknee 7y ago
    Well my point is it should have been obvious the shares were absolutely worthless.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    A lot of people convinced themselves that if they could just make it to the IPO at least they’d have a lucrative way off the shipwreck. Oops.
- pat87 7y ago
  It’s hard to see things when your salary depends on you not seeing said things.
- ImprovedSilence 7y ago
  I can see how their leadership is a bit bush league and they are potentially overvalued, but it’s not obvious to me that their basic value proposition sucks or is that far off the mark.
  - jonknee 7y ago
    They sell things for less than cost at scale, what basic value proposition is that? Read that S-1, it's an absolute hot mess.
    - munificent 7y ago
      > They sell things for less than cost at scale, God, I love this phrase so much. It's such a brilliant stab at many of these recent unicorns. "Oh you think they can burn money fast, well watch how fast we burn it! We're number one!"
      - mrguyorama 7y ago
        "We lose money on every transaction but we'll make it up in volume!" was literally the rallying cry of the DotCom boom/bust. It's not new
- edm0nd 7y ago
  The "no meat" policy is what did it for me. The company is such a virtue-signaling joke. https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/13/technology/wework-meat-ban/index.html https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/13/technology/wework-meat-ban/...
  - cowmoo728 7y ago
    You know I would have thought it's the billion dollars per year of cash burn and the borderline theft of the CEO leasing assets to his own company instead of the meat, but ok.
    - edm0nd 7y ago
      WeWoke
rz2k 7y ago
Possibly like Zynga in 2011[1]. Though CEOs seem to get additional chances even if they have blow up investors multiple times, I wonder if a publicly taking the upside potential away from employees cuts future access to talent. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3220819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3220819
Tiktaalik 7y ago
> I can't imagine how working for WeWork feels like, right now. Focus on stealing office supplies.
- SXX 7y ago
  Bart, it's not about how much stock you have; it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building with. (c) Simpsons
  - whoisjuan 7y ago
    I love that episode because I'm sure that's how it was in the Dot-Com Bubble. People basically taking everything they could. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arENYYkYBts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arENYYkYBts
dbuder 7y ago
Much like with Uber, I have no sympathy for the employees and in fact I would take a lot of convincing to hire anyone who had more than a short stint at either.
marrone12 7y ago
I feel bad for everyone who had to exercise and pay taxes on a high strike price that will keep them underwater at the 15B valuation.

jonknee 7y ago

WeWork has been an obvious fuckup to even casual observers for years, if people inside the company couldn't see this I really don't know what to say.

brianpgordon 7y ago
All the more reason for employees to be excited about the opportunity to finally see liquidity for their shares.
- jonknee 7y ago
  Well my point is it should have been obvious the shares were absolutely worthless.
- ghaff 7y ago
  A lot of people convinced themselves that if they could just make it to the IPO at least they’d have a lucrative way off the shipwreck. Oops.
pat87 7y ago
It’s hard to see things when your salary depends on you not seeing said things.
ImprovedSilence 7y ago
I can see how their leadership is a bit bush league and they are potentially overvalued, but it’s not obvious to me that their basic value proposition sucks or is that far off the mark.
- jonknee 7y ago
  They sell things for less than cost at scale, what basic value proposition is that? Read that S-1, it's an absolute hot mess.
  - munificent 7y ago
    > They sell things for less than cost at scale, God, I love this phrase so much. It's such a brilliant stab at many of these recent unicorns. "Oh you think they can burn money fast, well watch how fast we burn it! We're number one!"
    - mrguyorama 7y ago
      "We lose money on every transaction but we'll make it up in volume!" was literally the rallying cry of the DotCom boom/bust. It's not new
edm0nd 7y ago
The "no meat" policy is what did it for me. The company is such a virtue-signaling joke. https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/13/technology/wework-meat-ban/index.html https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/13/technology/wework-meat-ban/...
- cowmoo728 7y ago
  You know I would have thought it's the billion dollars per year of cash burn and the borderline theft of the CEO leasing assets to his own company instead of the meat, but ok.
  - edm0nd 7y ago
    WeWoke

rz2k 7y ago

Possibly like Zynga in 2011[1]. Though CEOs seem to get additional chances even if they have blow up investors multiple times, I wonder if a publicly taking the upside potential away from employees cuts future access to talent. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3220819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3220819

Tiktaalik 7y ago

> I can't imagine how working for WeWork feels like, right now. Focus on stealing office supplies.

SXX 7y ago
Bart, it's not about how much stock you have; it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building with. (c) Simpsons
- whoisjuan 7y ago
  I love that episode because I'm sure that's how it was in the Dot-Com Bubble. People basically taking everything they could. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arENYYkYBts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arENYYkYBts

dbuder 7y ago

Much like with Uber, I have no sympathy for the employees and in fact I would take a lot of convincing to hire anyone who had more than a short stint at either.

marrone12 7y ago

I feel bad for everyone who had to exercise and pay taxes on a high strike price that will keep them underwater at the 15B valuation.