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I'm no expert in real estate, residential or commercial, so I don't really see the big appeal of WeWork. Are there that many independent contractors and very sm

I'm no expert in real estate, residential or commercial, so I don't really see the big appeal of WeWork. Are there that many independent contractors and very small companies that need office space, currently don't have it, and would otherwise work at home? I can see renting out some space for an afternoon, a full day, or even up to a week if you're needing to meet with clients, but WeWork seems to be banking on very small teams that have no where else to work. Their spaces look nice but again unless you're really meeting with clients it seems like office space like they provide is largely a waste of money. Obviously there's something I'm missing because Softbank feels different.

harryh 7y ago
I think you misunderstand the potential scope of WeWork's business. A third of WeWork's desks are rented by companies with 1,0000+ people. IBM, Microsoft, and a big chunk of the Fortune 500 are all customers.
throwaway69173 7y ago
In short, yes. Some companies also feel it’s a good idea to house their tech workers in a cooler trendy wework unlike the rest of their employees. But the price is pretty key. At reasonable prices for what they’re offering, quantity demanded would probably go down
- skookum 7y ago
  I don't think cooler/trendier is the reason major companies with established long-term offices use WeWork. I spent a few months in a WeWork office - which was more uncomfortable than it was cool or trendy - as an employee of such a company and the reason was mundane: needing temporary space for a subset of the workforce during an office remodel. I'd wager for most big name clients the draw is the short-term/low-commitment nature of the offering rather than cooler trendiness of Class C office space that's been tarted up with a thin layer of Silicon Valley chic.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    Well, other companies provide short term rentals. It's probably more the investor subsidized pricing.

harryh 7y ago

I think you misunderstand the potential scope of WeWork's business. A third of WeWork's desks are rented by companies with 1,0000+ people. IBM, Microsoft, and a big chunk of the Fortune 500 are all customers.

throwaway69173 7y ago

In short, yes. Some companies also feel it’s a good idea to house their tech workers in a cooler trendy wework unlike the rest of their employees. But the price is pretty key. At reasonable prices for what they’re offering, quantity demanded would probably go down

skookum 7y ago
I don't think cooler/trendier is the reason major companies with established long-term offices use WeWork. I spent a few months in a WeWork office - which was more uncomfortable than it was cool or trendy - as an employee of such a company and the reason was mundane: needing temporary space for a subset of the workforce during an office remodel. I'd wager for most big name clients the draw is the short-term/low-commitment nature of the offering rather than cooler trendiness of Class C office space that's been tarted up with a thin layer of Silicon Valley chic.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  Well, other companies provide short term rentals. It's probably more the investor subsidized pricing.