We were a bootstrapped startup for 4 years and profitable. Towards the end of our 4th year our land lord wanted to increase our rent by 20% or have us sign a 2 year lease. We were also in the process of discussing a possible acquisition with several companies and so a month to month lease in a brand new building in SF was the easiest solution. It also didn't hurt when the companies came to visit us to see us in such…
WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
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Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is approximately the impression I have of the staff in the West Loop office as well. The place feels overstaffed.
I have visited We Work after hours for meet ups but never during the day. Could someone describe what the staff does or what they should do? Isn't it substantially a real estate company, so is it all leasing/sales plus some facilities work?
Then there's a night crew that comes in and cleans the building.
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#33I guess I don't understand why any startup would pay 300-500/per desk. While I'm building I look to cut all expenses across the board and leave only the bare minimum required to function and create effectively. Can someone give an anecdote on when a shared workspace like this was beneficial to their startup's growth?
I've used a coworking space in Tokyo for approximately 2 years, including my entire tenure at Starfighter. It costs approximately $350 per month. A++ would use a coworking space again. I have visited the WeWork office that Erin and Thomas work out of in Chicago, and it is better equipped than my office and has a variety of features which make it better for doing the kind of work that I'm routinely doing, including a)…
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#34Not a fan of the ad block detection. I'm probably not going to click on bloomberg links any more. I already stopped clicking fortune links. I'd appreciate if there was a weight against sites that used that personally.
How should the author of this article be compensated for writing it- if not through ads?
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#35There are a LOT of people working there. What's really surprising to see is how many of them are non-profits. The company I work for can swing it because we are a very profitable consulting company. But I don't get how the non-profs do it.
And there are always at least three people behind the reception desk. I don't ever see anyone actually using the reception desk, but there are three people manning it just in case. I did a loop around the halls and found no less than 4 custodians working at the same time. It's not like there is anything dirty going on. Everyone is working with computers.
I mean, there's free beer in the kitchen. How can this not be expensive? My CEO told me what he was paying for rent not too long ago. It was ludicrous. We could rent a warehouse in the city I actually live (Alexandria) and have 10 times as much room, and still have enough left over to renovate and make the warehouse into a "livable" office space.
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#36Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#37I guess I don't understand why any startup would pay 300-500/per desk. While I'm building I look to cut all expenses across the board and leave only the bare minimum required to function and create effectively. Can someone give an anecdote on when a shared workspace like this was beneficial to their startup's growth?
PS: If anybody else is Portland based, come by and have coffee with us ;-)
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#38jeez this article and the washington post article on hiring being in a 6 yr low is really freaking me out. I'm currently in a coding boot camp while working as a waiter parttime. should I be worried?
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#39I guess I don't understand why any startup would pay 300-500/per desk. While I'm building I look to cut all expenses across the board and leave only the bare minimum required to function and create effectively. Can someone give an anecdote on when a shared workspace like this was beneficial to their startup's growth?
WeWork provided a good / cheap alternative for a small group of ppl.
Re: WeWork Is Cutting About 7% of Staff
#40I'm surprised most of the comments here are on the merits of shared workspaces instead of the potential overstaffing of WeWork. They have opened a couple of campuses in Denver in the last couple of months, and i was surprised to see about a 2:1 company to WeWork staff ratio. I won't pretend to know the list of the staff's responsibilities, but i can say that often times they appear to be hanging out in the general ar…
That is approximately the impression I have of the staff in the West Loop office as well. The place feels overstaffed.