11–20 of 183 posts
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
I mean those aren't the only two variables that determine the value of a real estate company. I feel like that signal, absent context, tells nothing. It's the same way that you can infer little about a line from only one point on it.
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
Try telling a Bostonian that Dunks isn't a lifestyle choice...
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
WeWork is not being valued by its investors as an office rental company. It's made the case that it is a business services marketplace, selling vendors' insurance and HR and legal and servers to as large as swath of the small business sector as it can grab with its fancy offices. It wants to own the app store for enterprise services.
It hasn't fulfilled that promise yet, not even close, but it's not an unreasonable proposition. Is it possible to capture a big, fragmented market with kitschy decor? Will the services marketplace be as fruitful as it thinks? These would be interesting questions to explore.
"Boston Properties Inc., the country’s largest publicly traded office landlord, owns five times the square footage that WeWork manages and has a market capitalization of $19 billion." This seems to me to be a pretty big warning sign that the company is overvalued.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
Sure, sure, physical proximity to other startups, mentorship, etc. - but frankly the impression I've got from each wework location I've been to has been of people wanting the "startup lifestyle" rather than wanting to build a business.
The actual startup lifestyle is sweating in a cheap grotty office, rice, and sleeping under your desk - but I suppose that's not a palatable option for most.
Yeah, I'm contemptuous - but I'd sooner invest in a frugal scrappy business than one that thinks it needs mahogany desks for its team.
And yes, of course, I write this as one who did it the scrappy way, and had a reasonably successful exit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Comparing WeWork to traditional office landlord is like comparing Starbucks to Dunkin' Donut. Please don't go to Starbucks because its coffee is better or cheaper (it's neither), but as a lifestyle choice. Similarly, people don't go to WeWork because they need a desk.
I went to WeWork just because I needed a few month-to-month desks quickly. WeWork has excellent execution but I don't think of them as a lifestyle or luxury brand. If someone else can provide me the same ballpark product for 20% less then I would likely switch. There's a lot of room for competitors to move into the market.
Paywall . . .
javascript:window.location.href='https://m.facebook.com/l.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);