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WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

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Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#21

Post by prawn »

badestrand wrote: post #8

I don't really understand the WeWork valuation of $20 billion. I guess they buy all their properties so they greatly profit from the rising property prizes in capitals around their world. I work a lot in coworking spaces and they usually don't seem like a cash cow for the owners. Now WeWork seems to target the B2B and luxury segment of coworking with prices 1,5x-3x of the competitors'. Interesting strategy. So is the…

I've co-owned a small co-working space for about a year now. It's been a good decision, financially. Nothing extravagant, but I certainly have no regrets and I'd invest in another if the opportunity came up.

One thing that I think helps is that historically, consulting rooms have been a big desk in a 4x4m room with 1-2 client chairs facing the tenant. In a co-working space, you could accommodate 3-4 desks/tenants in the same area, especially if you're open plan. Generally speaking, you can charge 3-4 people for a desk more than you can charge a single user for a room.

More business than ever is online, and shared boardrooms suffice for meetings, private client calls, etc. Most people now get by without loads of filing and other storage space so a fairly standard desk (smaller than what we used 10-20 years ago) does the job.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#22

Post by puranjay »

badestrand wrote: post #8

I don't really understand the WeWork valuation of $20 billion. I guess they buy all their properties so they greatly profit from the rising property prizes in capitals around their world. I work a lot in coworking spaces and they usually don't seem like a cash cow for the owners. Now WeWork seems to target the B2B and luxury segment of coworking with prices 1,5x-3x of the competitors'. Interesting strategy. So is the…

I gave up on coworking early this month. I've been using a coworking space for nearly 2 years, tested out various spaces and realized that they're just bad for productivity.

Far too many people at coworking spaces seem to be there for networking, or are simply not serious enough about work.

I moved to a 'business center' (like Regus) which has a much quieter and more professional environment. Couldn't be happier.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#23

Post by hammerbrostime »

Having run Meetups for the last ~4 years or so, with my current one being a nice size (~100/month attend), I can tell you the absolute biggest challenge for myself and for others is getting a good affordable/free space to run the events. As WeWork has so much prime real estate, I can easily see the Meetups being a natural feeder to get more people exposed to their spaces, and also to create community events for those that rent. Seems like a nice opportunity for synergy here. Hope it goes well. Two great NYC companies!

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#24

Post by donw »

potatolicious wrote: post #9
m52go wrote: post #4

I haven't followed Meetup in much detail, but it seems like they lost their way. "Meetup" has become a common noun in many circles tech-related and beyond...i.e., most people know about meetup.com and what it does. But despite this ubiquity, what happened? I stopped going to meetups a while ago because most just didn't seem worthwhile. A lot of people I know did the same. If this trend persisted across the service, d…

I think it's just fundamentally a hard product. Most people aren't motivated enough to organize events with enough regularity and quality for a community to form. In my experience most Meetup groups are pretty dead. That leaves the people who have something to gain - "new in town" groups run by real estate agents, tech meetup groups run by recruiters, etc etc. These communities tend not to develop a long-term followi…

Sports- or activity-based meetups tend to be the best of the bunch, as do expat gatherings when you have just relocated to a new country.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#25

Post by blueprint »

m52go wrote: post #4

I haven't followed Meetup in much detail, but it seems like they lost their way. "Meetup" has become a common noun in many circles tech-related and beyond...i.e., most people know about meetup.com and what it does. But despite this ubiquity, what happened? I stopped going to meetups a while ago because most just didn't seem worthwhile. A lot of people I know did the same. If this trend persisted across the service, d…

I still go to meetups.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#26

Post by tluyben2 »

TL;DR is WeWork just an open office but for (way too many imho) many companies/people in one space?

Are Wework spaces similar across the world? I have to work in a central London one sometimes and I find it horrendous; it is almost literally good for nothing; way too noisy and loose for meetings (even in the closed spaces; they are glass and not soundproof) or actual concentrated work (with noise cancelling headphones it is bearable). At lunch, because most of the space is open and attaches to the central area, it smells like as mix of whatever people are eating which can be interesting (kebab onion with garlic sauce mixed with pizza mixed with fish mixed a spicy curry smell) and lingers for a long time. Nice looking wooden floors so when people wear heals you can hear them literally everywhere when they walk around (programmers who are supposed to be focused with noise cancelling headphones all look up every single time; noise, all glass, heals (probably female) so they look). Beer opens at 4 pm so drinking commences at that time too. Too many people allowed in there so if you didn't strictly book rooms they are all full and meetings cannot ever go over time.

It is more a clubhouse than an office. I could not really work there for long stretches so I wonder if all these places are the same as a formula or this one is just unique that way.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#27

Post by btown »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #16

I liked Meetup, I didn't like it enough to pay for it. It wouldn't give me information without paying so I stopped using it. I also note that they terms of the acquisition have not been mentioned. If it is an all stock transaction it could be an example of Wework exploiting their astonishing valuation to buy companies with stock. This was something that happened a lot in the dot com boom and didn't end well. The othe…

A canonical example of how all-stock deals can go horribly, horribly wrong is the sale of Dragon Systems (the voice recognition software), whose founders lost everything when the acquirer declared bankruptcy mere months later: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/business/goldman-sachs-and...

Dragon was advised by Goldman Sachs, whose compensation was fixed regardless of the deal terms (and regardless of the sustained performance of the combined entity) so long as the deal closed - all too common in the world of investment banking. Essentially, the seller's advisors had every financial incentive to skimp on doing due diligence on the buyers; had they received compensation in the same form as the founders, the outcome might have been very different. One hopes that Meetup received better advice than Dragon did!

(Disclosure: I work for Belstone, a tech-enabled merchant bank where we attempt to align ourselves much more closely with the companies we advise and partner with. Feel free to reach out via the email in my profile if you want to learn more about what we do - we're hiring for software engineering and associate positions!)

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#28

Post by sitkack »

I wish them luck. Meetup itself is stagnant kludge that could have been innovative, other than their stylesheet revamp like 8-10 years ago, Meetup has innovated on zero.

I am sure WeWork will use the platform to drive bodies to their physical locations which is a smart move.

Re: WeWork is going to acquire Meetup

#29

Post by jasonbarone »

hammerbrostime wrote: post #23

Having run Meetups for the last ~4 years or so, with my current one being a nice size (~100/month attend), I can tell you the absolute biggest challenge for myself and for others is getting a good affordable/free space to run the events. As WeWork has so much prime real estate, I can easily see the Meetups being a natural feeder to get more people exposed to their spaces, and also to create community events for those…

Bingo. I also run a small Meetup with ~50/Meetup. WeWork (among other coworking spaces) have welcomed my Meetup, for free. Meetups commonly bring in new customers and free drinks/pizza that are then promoted to customers as in-house food, entertainment, and learning. It's a win-win-win.
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