It's Chapter 11, not a good thing but hardly the end of the company. We work should survive this, this doesn't mean the business isn't viable
WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
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Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#32I'd used WeWork offices for solo work with no issues, so I didn't do sufficient diligence when I booked a conference room at one for a confidential client meeting. The room's walls were all clear and so thin that any conversation above a quiet murmur was easily heard from the hall outside. I asked the onsite manager for a more suitable room, but she told me they were all like that there. I ended up sticking the easel pad on the room's conference table and we spent the afternoon whispering to each other as we huddled around it.
Not checking things out in advance was on me of course, but it never dawned on me that their meeting rooms would be designed by people who'd apparently never been in a meeting before. In any case that was the last time I set foot in a WeWork.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#33I'd used WeWork offices for solo work with no issues, so I didn't do sufficient diligence when I booked a conference room at one for a confidential client meeting. The room's walls were all clear and so thin that any conversation above a quiet murmur was easily heard from the hall outside. I asked the onsite manager for a more suitable room, but she told me they were all like that there. I ended up sticking the easel…
> In any case that was the last time I set foot in a WeWork.
Why? From your description, it sounds like they were serving one of your use cases perfectly well, but was not a good fit for your other use case.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#34big if true. IMO wework defined a whole era of startups / working in tech, offering a cool environment with the flexibility to grow, shrink, or change locations as needed. it was also a great place to have an office for networking purposes. even though it's had its fair share of controversy, I'd be sad to see wework shut down.
Buildings like WeWork have always existed. I remember being a teen and being shown the new 'office concept' in the early 2000s where you could just tap into an office buildings internet infrastructure so you didn't need to rent your own T1 lines, you'd get a phone system and fax machines and all that for one flat fee. If WeWork goes bankrupt, the investors will get wiped out but some other company will buy the buildi…
WeWork doesn’t own the buildings, they lease space in them. The companies that own the buildings still have the problem of finding tenants, and WeWork let them access smaller tenants and thus a more diverse client portfolio than commercial real estate owners can normally be bothered to service.
Leasing to WeWork is a ‘gig economy’ side-hustle for a big office building owner to monetize more of their space, same as driving for Uber works as a side hustle for humans who want to monetize more of their time, or Airbnb lets homeowners side hustle to monetize their spare room.
Question is if without WeWork those buildings would continue to offer those services directly, sign on with a competitor platform, or do something else.
Maybe now WeWork has shown the opportunity, building owners would be prepared to leverage the platform to access the short term tenant base without requiring that WeWork lease the space first.
After all, you don’t have Uber pay to lease your vehicle or AirBnb sign a lease on your spare room before you join up to their platforms.
All of which suggests that WeWork actually has a pretty strong case for renegotiating their leases - they have their subletting revenue they can split with the property owner as leverage.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#35big if true. IMO wework defined a whole era of startups / working in tech, offering a cool environment with the flexibility to grow, shrink, or change locations as needed. it was also a great place to have an office for networking purposes. even though it's had its fair share of controversy, I'd be sad to see wework shut down.
Regus / Spaces (the "hipper" version of Regus, same parent company) existed long before WeWork. They're not as nice because they're run as an actual business but they do exist around the world and are perfectly fine places to get work done.
I had the pleasure of dealing with Regus / Spaces trying to enforce their contract and collect payment for office rent even though I couldn't go to their offices due to COVID and lockdowns (this was during the peak of it in April of 2020). I have to disagree that this company is perfectly fine to do business with, after so many calls and emails with them over this absurd matter and their egregious business practices during a time of crisis, which they threatened collections on but luckily never pursued (at least that I'm aware).
Keep in mind this is their standard business practices, no matter what hardship or act of God that's preventing you from paying them.[0]
Their stock is down nearly 50% over the past 5 years, even 17% below where it was during the crash in 2020, so they aren't a gleaming example of success either.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#36I'd used WeWork offices for solo work with no issues, so I didn't do sufficient diligence when I booked a conference room at one for a confidential client meeting. The room's walls were all clear and so thin that any conversation above a quiet murmur was easily heard from the hall outside. I asked the onsite manager for a more suitable room, but she told me they were all like that there. I ended up sticking the easel…
> In any case that was the last time I set foot in a WeWork. Why? From your description, it sounds like they were serving one of your use cases perfectly well, but was not a good fit for your other use case.
Probably because he would end up having to spend the same money on a place with better conference rooms. Why pay for two co-working facilities, just so you can use one that has quiet meeting spaces?
WeWork was less about getting work done, and more about LARPing the experience of working for a FAANG and flexing someone else's money.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#37Pretty sad. I hope someone picks up the pieces and keeps the company going. Say what you will about the company and it's leadership, but WeWork as a service was splendid. Yes, there's lots of other short-term office providers, but I never found a competitor that executed on the vision of a world-wide lattice of places from which to work. Having a place to work vastly opened up my vacation cycles. Instead of travellin…
Unless you're willing to pay a ridiculously high premium for this, the benefits WeWork's provided you still doesn't work as a business model.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#38Pretty sad. I hope someone picks up the pieces and keeps the company going. Say what you will about the company and it's leadership, but WeWork as a service was splendid. Yes, there's lots of other short-term office providers, but I never found a competitor that executed on the vision of a world-wide lattice of places from which to work. Having a place to work vastly opened up my vacation cycles. Instead of travellin…
> hope someone picks up the pieces and keeps the company going WeWork is considering filing for Chapter 11 protection. They're not going for liquidation.
Doesn't the bankruptcy court liquidate pieces of the company on behalf of the creditors if that is part of the agreement that is reached?
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#39It seems I need to find a new place to work, so sad.
How about from home?
I go to WeWork because I intentionally rent as small an apartment as possible.
I don’t like being in the same space all the time and I don’t like working from coffeeshops (most of my work is meetings and requires a bit of privacy).
I’d be more likely to find an in office job than work out of my apartment again.
Re: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says
#40I'd used WeWork offices for solo work with no issues, so I didn't do sufficient diligence when I booked a conference room at one for a confidential client meeting. The room's walls were all clear and so thin that any conversation above a quiet murmur was easily heard from the hall outside. I asked the onsite manager for a more suitable room, but she told me they were all like that there. I ended up sticking the easel…
> In any case that was the last time I set foot in a WeWork. Why? From your description, it sounds like they were serving one of your use cases perfectly well, but was not a good fit for your other use case.
I like this question. Why would a person stop paying for something that doesn’t fully suit their basic needs? Obviously if a configuration that worked didn’t exist at WeWork, surely it couldn’t exist anywhere at all?