why WeWork is a constant source of `NEWS` on HC?
WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
201–210 of 551 posts
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#202I'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 wa…
> 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?
Not 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.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#203Can anyone explain why we're seeing so much WeWork content in the news? Is it because they have so many customers in the tech industry?
I think it's because it's a totally crazy story. WeWork is the Florida Man of startups.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You've got to wonder what kind of a person is it that can get so far in building a successful behemoth like this... Makes you wonder if being a CEO is really worth 400X the average salary of the plebs or if it's all just luck and smooth talking.
It isn't, corporate leadership is effectively a tournament and CEO and executive salaries are the prize for winning it. The point of having a high prize is to get a lot of people to compete for it, not to reward the winners for the effort they've put it (which may only be slightly more than the runner up, while the reward is several times what the runner up gets). Like, do you think the best golfer in the PGA tournam…
I don't think your analogy proves the point you think it does and is in fact a pretty great argument for why CEOs should be paid less and taxed more. A large part of the success of both athletes and CEOs is up to circumstances and chance, as well as the other competitors who may be deficient in a number of ways. Being less incompetent than your peers doesn't mean the same thing as being competent.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#205Can anyone explain why we're seeing so much WeWork content in the news? Is it because they have so many customers in the tech industry?
It was one of the largest startups by valuation (no more)...
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#206I'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 wa…
Same 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.
Definitely 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.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#207I'm guessing the "Non-Executive Chairman" position will just be a temporary one until they can come to agreement on how much money they need to pay him to go away. Professor Galloway called this the other day. His next prediction is that We will sell off all the bullshit vanity projects like WeLive and WeGrow along with the other nonsense Adam bought (like the wave pool company so he can practice surfing at work). Th…
I don't think they will shut down WeLive. The entire premise of WeWork, and WeLive, is that they can sell you more than real estate -- they can sell you a "tribe." There are so many reports in recent years about growing social isolation and loneliness, that if something can be successfully packaged into a simulacrum of a community, it will be a hot item indeed. That's the only way WeWork can justify its stratospheric…
My guess is that they will restructure the whole thing to leave Neumann in charge of and owning some sort of parent WeGroup, which holds all the random stuff and can continue to aim for raising the level of global consciousness or whatever, with the actual office leasing business, WeWork, being a subsidiary, with a single share class, a professional CEO, and a much more sensible story. Floating the WeWork subsidiary (at a valuation much less than the SoftBank highs) will let the parent company raise cash, which Neumann can then spend on cosmic alignment etc.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#208Doesn't that ... devalue the company? they re now a real estate company without a spiritual leader
They were always a real estate company, they just didn't get to IPO under the SV hype because as it got closer people looked closer at the company and realized the valuation was ridiculous and the CEO was lining his own pockets acting as landlord to his own company. Now that that's happened and it's all come out he has to step down.
Why "SV" hype? WeWork was founded and HQd in New York.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#209Not to generalize, but if you relied on Hacker News for recruiting you could wind up in all sorts of wonky, dubious or failed companies. Like people were such sweethearts for Juul and Alt Schools. They’re also really skeptical of Google, which for all its faults is, without a doubt, the single best deal for employees in the history of the world, at least since the time that anyone was legally or culturally allowed to…
Oooh, you had me up until the "libertarian ethos" part.
Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO
#210I'm sure I'll get downvoted for this, but I actually just signed up to be a (thankfully month-to-month) WeWork customer for a HotDesk today in Phoenix, and it's actually been a pretty great experience: Great space, nice people, reasonable IT, I was up and running and working within 30 minutes of doing my tour. And yes I've had a cup of the famous We Kombucha.
This particular location just opened 3 weeks ago and is apparently already at 70% capacity with a mix of enterprises and startups. Even my Hotdesk membership can't start officially until Oct 1 because they're apparently sold out (though walking around there's plenty of space).
Based on these surface observations, the core business at least seems "plausibly profitable". But all the crazy side businesses like co-living just seems like overexpansion to me.
I'll politely decline as an investor, but I'm happy to sign up as a lowest-tier, month-to-month customer.