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WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

reuters.com

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Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#101

Post by papito »

akulkarni wrote: post #95
papito wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. You don't need marketing and sales people if you have a free-tier product that markets itself. Michael Stonebraker, the guy who took Postgres from academia and into the real world, talks about how he applies this with VoltDB https://www.se-radio.net/2013/12/episode-199-michael-stonebr... Only on a tangent - it's an otherwise fascinating episode from a database wizard.

It seems like you are agreeing with me? :)

Oh.. I guess I do! Waiter, more coffee...

Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#102

Post by goatinaboat »

notyourday wrote: post #22

So this is what I do not understand: they burn through money like crazy. For them IPO was not a path to liquidity for stock holders, rather it was a way to do the next raise. The large market basically said "Nah, can't get that money on those terms. Sorry". Their only private source of funding is Softbank. How are they going to raise more money for opex? Go back to Softbank and get another pile of cash at even higher…

WeWork’s plan was to raise at least $4Bn from IPO which would unlock $6Bn in bank loans, before the end of the year. Now they have a $10Bn hole in their budget which coincidentally is almost exactly the same size as SoftBank’s investment in them. They are in a lot of trouble if SoftBank doesn’t double down, and do it soon. Q4 starts tomorrow! And $10Bn may be more than the entire company is worth!

Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#103

Post by PMan74 »

puranjay wrote: post #36
dcchambers wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many engineers does WeWork actually employ though? From everything I've read on here they're not really a tech company. I can't imagine that, even if it all goes up in flames, there will be many SWEs looking for new jobs from this. Uber is another story. They've got a sizeable engineering force.

I honestly think Uber has over-invested in engineering. The problem they're trying to solve isn't so complicated that it needs their current engineering force. They don't have to add new features at as rapid a pace as a true software-focused company like, say, Stripe.

From an external viewpoint stuff like building your own internal chat application seems like a "too many engineers with too little to do" kid of decision.

https://eng.uber.com/uchat/

Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#105

Post by untog »

dcchambers wrote: post #6
mharroun wrote: post #4

Incoming layoffs... between wework and uber the market will be "flooded" with talent. I wonder if having wework on your resume is a good or bad thing.

How many engineers does WeWork actually employ though? From everything I've read on here they're not really a tech company. I can't imagine that, even if it all goes up in flames, there will be many SWEs looking for new jobs from this. Uber is another story. They've got a sizeable engineering force.

Compared to Uber they're still small. But I recall an article not so long ago talking about the tracking WeWork had installed in their offices that gave them startling insights like "people tend to drink more coffee in the mornings". They've been just as guilty as any of hiring a bunch of developers just so they can call themselves a "tech company".

Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#107

Post by Paperweight »

rdiddly wrote: post #99
S_A_P wrote: post #19

What I don't understand is how do things get this far down the road before a good old fashioned sanity check happens? I have got to think that Soft Bank knew/knows the valuation was off. The fact that they pushed on means they either intended to try and get away with it/take the money and run as I cant believe incompetence is the reason here. How did this get so far along??? As for Adam N, I have to think some part o…

Everyone has a vested interest in continuing to believe that which they already believe. To change your opinion requires acknowledging that your old opinion, the one you perhaps espoused publicly and persuaded others into believing, was wrong. It's embarrassing. So most people tend to put that reckoning off until the last possible moment, even in defiance of hard evidence in some cases.

Then do other people now trust you less because you were wrong, or do they trust you more because you correct yourself?

Re: WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

#109

Post by djsumdog »

S_A_P wrote: post #19

What I don't understand is how do things get this far down the road before a good old fashioned sanity check happens? I have got to think that Soft Bank knew/knows the valuation was off. The fact that they pushed on means they either intended to try and get away with it/take the money and run as I cant believe incompetence is the reason here. How did this get so far along??? As for Adam N, I have to think some part o…

I think Uber will pop within the next 5~10 years. I'm surprised they still have investors at this point. So much was banking on the self-driving model, which I honestly think is 10~15 years away from being viable (and for half the cost of the research, cities could just start laying down rails with all their roads .. would be way easier .. and a solved problem).

We're due for another venture backed capital burst. DropBox, Lyft, Uber .. the article posted on here a earlier about Counterfeit Capitalism comes to mind. There are too many companies trying to 'get there first' at all costs and squeeze out everyone else.

I honestly wonder if we're going to see another 2000 era dotcom burst for many of these smaller companies. I'm curious how taxi companies will retake their local markets once the big ride sharing companies are gone.

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