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WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

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Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#371

Post by pbreit »

cj wrote: post #229
gwbas1c wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but I predict WeWork is still going to be around in another decade. There's clearly a ton of demand for what they provide There's also a TON of rent-a-desk places. The big questions are: - What's the benefit to a large corporation doing this instead of lots of small companies? (The economies of scale need to outweigh the large corporate overhead.) - What's WeWork's secret sauce or first mover advantage?

>What's the benefit to a large corporation doing this instead of lots of small companies? (The economies of scale need to outweigh the large corporate overhead.) I like this way of thinking. WeWork isn't doing anything "new" - coworking spaces have existed for years. What's the upside of having a giant corporation owning all coworking spaces, versus having many small and independent small businesses running and opera…

WeWork already serves a big number of multi-location tenants (we are one) which I think will continue to grow and be the vast majority of of its businesses. Huge advantage.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#372

Post by codesushi42 »

tgtweak wrote: post #369
alainchabat wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what are the other companies you'll never work for?

Hijacking this spot to highlight newrelic as a company I used to evangelize and now will go out of my way to recommend against (I consult startups as a virtual CTO). They used to have a brilliant offering (Application level monitoring with all associated hosts included) then they deprecated the host monitoring and jacked the price up on every one of my clients while simultaneously threatening them to collect based on…

We need an HN thread that highlights companies to never work for and why, like this example. Thank you sir.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#373

Post by jjeaff »

warent wrote: post #275
88840-8855 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must say, I am jealous. It seems a bit unfair to me how computer engineers are getting hired and paid so well, while my economics degree is useless and I have to fight like crazy to get a job that pays WAY less than engineers get. Honestly, I studied economics because I wanted a job that pays well - that was one of the key criteria - and now I am standing with little money and a job I hate. It sucks.

I'm a software engineer and I wrestled with this for a long time too. It seemed bizarre that we should be getting paid what we do and I had an intense experience of being an imposter. Eventually it clicked with me that the work I'm doing directly affects millions of people on a daily basis, or it affects a smaller number of people in a big way that's unique and hard to reproduce. Viewed from that angle, it makes a lo…

That's a nice justification. But it doesn't really have much affect on your salary. It's simply that there is a lot of demand for software engineers of a certain skill level and not a ton of supply.

The moment your same exact job can be replaced by a worker willing to do it for less is the moment salaries start to fall.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#374

Post by keerthiko »

gwbas1c wrote: post #217
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> but I predict WeWork is still going to be around in another decade. There's clearly a ton of demand for what they provide There's also a TON of rent-a-desk places. The big questions are: - What's the benefit to a large corporation doing this instead of lots of small companies? (The economies of scale need to outweigh the large corporate overhead.) - What's WeWork's secret sauce or first mover advantage?

> - What's WeWork's secret sauce or first mover advantage?

Softbank $$$

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#375

Post by RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u »

DebtDeflation wrote: post #199
paggle wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm sorry, but while there is some logic to the co-working idea, I don't see any serious demand for co-living. Quite frankly, I find the idea of having on-premise yoga instruction, cafes, bars, shared hot tubs, shared kitchens, etc. so you never have to leave your apartment building (except, presumably, to go to WeWork) to be absurd.

Then Korea[0] is not for you.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officetel

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#376

Post by doomrobo »

silasdavis wrote: post #363
SirensOfTitan wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The superfluous perks are a red herring, they’re not why WeWork doesn’t work. Regus filed for bankruptcy after the dotcom collapse for similar reasons WeWork is struggling: taking a bunch of long term leases and re-leasing them out as short term leases to economically vulnerable businesses is a recipe for disaster.

Why is it? If there is a steady supply of economically vulnerable businesses and you charge a relative markup?

Because they have long-term liabilities with short-term income agreements. If there's market downturn, all those companies that were their customers disappear. But the bank doesn't disappear and We still owes them their monthly mortgage payment.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#377

Post by tgtweak »

codesushi42 wrote: post #366
alainchabat wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what are the other companies you'll never work for?

Facebook is one, and a week doesn't go by without me being contacted by one of their recruiters touting their advancements in poker playing AI. Whoopee.

The funniest part is when they reach out almost immediately after eliminating a candidate, for the same job. Like their recruiters aren't even coordinated. I'm sure they farm some of that out.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#378

Post by tgtweak »

codesushi42 wrote: post #372
tgtweak wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hijacking this spot to highlight newrelic as a company I used to evangelize and now will go out of my way to recommend against (I consult startups as a virtual CTO). They used to have a brilliant offering (Application level monitoring with all associated hosts included) then they deprecated the host monitoring and jacked the price up on every one of my clients while simultaneously threatening them to collect based on…

We need an HN thread that highlights companies to never work for and why, like this example. Thank you sir.

Sounds like good fodder for an Ask HN.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#379

Post by jjeaff »

88840-8855 wrote: post #253
ngngngng wrote: post #17

I'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 must say, I am jealous. It seems a bit unfair to me how computer engineers are getting hired and paid so well, while my economics degree is useless and I have to fight like crazy to get a job that pays WAY less than engineers get. Honestly, I studied economics because I wanted a job that pays well - that was one of the key criteria - and now I am standing with little money and a job I hate. It sucks.

Reminds me of a controversy at my University. They were advertising a new English professor position, starting salary $37k. They also had an opening for an economics professor position starting salary $85k.

My economics professor addressed the reason for the difference in class very simply. He noted there were over 350 applicants for the English prof position. Only 3 people applied for the economics position.

So if anything, $37k was too high for English and $85k was not nearly enough for econ.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#380

Post by empath75 »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #206
codesushi42 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

WeWork seems to have bought every single ad placement at some dc metro stops. Smacks of desperation.
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