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“WeWork isn’t really a real estate company. It’s a state of consciousness, a generation of interconnected emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs.” -Adam Neumann.

“WeWork isn’t really a real estate company. It’s a state of consciousness, a generation of interconnected emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs.” -Adam Neumann.[1] Even after hearing that media raved about him/WeWork, analysts were bullish and investors pumped Billions. Startup media are generally happy with their funding related news as it is glamorous. And due to the funding noise, Startup ecosystem has forgotten that a Startup is a Business and a Business should make money, else it's just a hobby. [1]:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/business/the-wework-manifesto-first-office-space-next-the-world.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/business/the-wework-manif...

asdfman123 7y ago
I don't even know who their target audience was. Many people who work from home do so because they enjoy the privacy of working from home. People who want more social interaction go to coffee shops, and plenty of people do both. I don't see who would want to pay a few hundred bucks a month to work on a conference table surrounded by strangers.
- whaaaaaat 7y ago
  Please don't give your opinion on something you don't know anything about. You've clearly never even seen the inside of a WeWork because the majority of them were office spaces. The audience was small companies who preferred short time leasing, which in large cities, there were plenty of. Every wework I've been to in Manhattan has been completely full. There are 1-5 person offices, and sometimes single larger spaces, and you rented the "offices", which were just rooms. It's not like it's just a table where people sit together, that's crazy. It's office space. The benefit was you could get a place for a few months and then move somewhere else if your company isn't stable yet and you don't want to sign a year lease.
  - jfengel 7y ago
    As I understand it, the goal was also to network with other small businesses using the same space. The spaces were set up to encourage people to find opportunities to work together -- cross-marketing, sharing resources, new ideas. Kind of an incubator, without the financial support or design. Not inherently a bad idea, though it's full of Silicon Valley optimism where one serendipity produces tons of money while a lot of other things just fail to gel -- but some people get paid regardless.
- ummonk 7y ago
  It is the office space equivalent of elastic cloud computing. Definitely a solid market, but you gotta be diligent about the bottom line costs.
- conradev 7y ago
  A lot of people do this – coworking spaces are a huge thing, especially when they can host small companies who can't afford their own office. Outside of smaller independent coworking spaces and WeWork's existing customer base there is IWG which does the same (albeit more sustainably): https://www.iwgplc.com https://www.iwgplc.com
- rchaud 7y ago
  I can't help but think that Neumann's taret audience was deep pocketed old-generation investors who've worked in corner offices for decades and fell hook, line and sinker for the "gig economy is the future" spiel.
  - psv1 7y ago
    Example - IBM rent WeWork space in London for some teams even though they have a London office.
flukus 7y ago
I don't understand how that doesn't trip the bullshit detectors of anyone that still has money to invest in the first place. That's language I'd expect from someone flogging a pyramid scheme.
- Abishek_Muthian 7y ago
  They know, they just do it to inflate the valuation & exit at the right time i.e. before the company goes down; The investor just before that is the real looser.
- Breza 7y ago
  Most investors are smart enough to recognize BS and pass. But they don't issue press releases announcing "We just decided not to invest in this much-hyped startup." It only takes one deep pocketed investor to buoy a deeply flawed startup for a while.

asdfman123 7y ago

I don't even know who their target audience was. Many people who work from home do so because they enjoy the privacy of working from home. People who want more social interaction go to coffee shops, and plenty of people do both. I don't see who would want to pay a few hundred bucks a month to work on a conference table surrounded by strangers.

whaaaaaat 7y ago
Please don't give your opinion on something you don't know anything about. You've clearly never even seen the inside of a WeWork because the majority of them were office spaces. The audience was small companies who preferred short time leasing, which in large cities, there were plenty of. Every wework I've been to in Manhattan has been completely full. There are 1-5 person offices, and sometimes single larger spaces, and you rented the "offices", which were just rooms. It's not like it's just a table where people sit together, that's crazy. It's office space. The benefit was you could get a place for a few months and then move somewhere else if your company isn't stable yet and you don't want to sign a year lease.
- jfengel 7y ago
  As I understand it, the goal was also to network with other small businesses using the same space. The spaces were set up to encourage people to find opportunities to work together -- cross-marketing, sharing resources, new ideas. Kind of an incubator, without the financial support or design. Not inherently a bad idea, though it's full of Silicon Valley optimism where one serendipity produces tons of money while a lot of other things just fail to gel -- but some people get paid regardless.
ummonk 7y ago
It is the office space equivalent of elastic cloud computing. Definitely a solid market, but you gotta be diligent about the bottom line costs.
conradev 7y ago
A lot of people do this – coworking spaces are a huge thing, especially when they can host small companies who can't afford their own office. Outside of smaller independent coworking spaces and WeWork's existing customer base there is IWG which does the same (albeit more sustainably): https://www.iwgplc.com https://www.iwgplc.com
rchaud 7y ago
I can't help but think that Neumann's taret audience was deep pocketed old-generation investors who've worked in corner offices for decades and fell hook, line and sinker for the "gig economy is the future" spiel.
- psv1 7y ago
  Example - IBM rent WeWork space in London for some teams even though they have a London office.

flukus 7y ago

I don't understand how that doesn't trip the bullshit detectors of anyone that still has money to invest in the first place. That's language I'd expect from someone flogging a pyramid scheme.

Abishek_Muthian 7y ago
They know, they just do it to inflate the valuation & exit at the right time i.e. before the company goes down; The investor just before that is the real looser.
Breza 7y ago
Most investors are smart enough to recognize BS and pass. But they don't issue press releases announcing "We just decided not to invest in this much-hyped startup." It only takes one deep pocketed investor to buoy a deeply flawed startup for a while.