Investing in Flow • Hacker News Board

Re: Investing in Flow

#31

Post by ethanbond » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

UmYeahNo wrote: post #2

Anyone know what this magical idea is? Color me skeptical, but the deliberately vague strawman arguments in the post read between the lines to be something like: "If you're a homeowner we want to your equity and if your a renter we want your rent". I don't harbor any illusions that flow wants to help anyone but themselves. I have no idea what flow actually is, but if it's something like "airbnb but permanent on the b…

Apartment buildings with amenities and probably an app to unlock your door. Incredible.

Re: Investing in Flow

#32

Post by adamsmith143 » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

kumarvvr wrote: post #5

> Adam is a visionary leader who revolutionized the second largest asset class in the world I was of the opinion that Adam made a serious and flawed business decision of taking long term leases with borrowed money, but selling short term fluid leases for revenue leading to books that are incredibly risky. At the time of collapse, the sky high valuation was basically a branding exercise, rather than actual business va…

>How is that A16z is oblivious to the fact that astronomical valuations were tempered after scrutiny of the business of WeWork?

Do they care? If they cashed out on Masayoshi Son's money then it was still a great deal for them.

Re: Investing in Flow

#33

Post by sethjr5rtfgh » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:05 PM UTC

mangecoeur wrote: post #16

kumarvvr wrote: post #5

> Adam is a visionary leader who revolutionized the second largest asset class in the world I was of the opinion that Adam made a serious and flawed business decision of taking long term leases with borrowed money, but selling short term fluid leases for revenue leading to books that are incredibly risky. At the time of collapse, the sky high valuation was basically a branding exercise, rather than actual business va…

Adam should write a book “how to fail upwards in silicon valley” What is infuriating is that there is so much great work done by great people on building strong resilient and affordable towns which are a pleasure to live and work in, but the easy VC money flows to the wierdo charlatans instead.

[dead]

Re: Investing in Flow

#34

Post by rchaud » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:07 PM UTC

TradingPlaces wrote: post #25

I see a lot of confusion over why anyone would want to take a stake in an Adam Neumann biz. Some guesses… VCs are looking for return, and quickly, which is why they have glommed on to crypto projects. In the old model, you invest money, wait 5-10 years, and get a payoff when the company goes public or gets sold. With crypto, there is a much more immediate payoff with unregistered securities, AKA “tokens”. And then ma…

There are few industries as cynical as venture capital. They won't ever invest in projects explicitly designed for public welfare because "the economics don't work" or "the innovation isn't there".

But they will invest eye-watering sums into financing student newspapers for the middle-aged (Substack) or 'turn your car into a public taxi' businesses, knowing that 90% of them won't amount to anything.

Re: Investing in Flow

#35

Post by captainregex » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:08 PM UTC

Easy for AH- they charge fees on the capital they deploy. Adam and his BS are ultimately the problem of your poor grandmother’s teaching pension getting invested in a noted charlatan.

Re: Investing in Flow

#36

Post by buro9 » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:08 PM UTC

This is almost certainly going to be a rent-seeking venture that attempts to sell "freedom of movement" by having something that feels like student accommodation for adults and small families... a kind of shared living space that can be rented month-to-month with some perks like community spaces and services, pre-furnished, etc. To sell a lifestyle.

Of course that comes at a cost, one that very few people can afford. At least, it will be unaffordable to most. It is always true that more people than one realises is actually awash with money (thanks to the prior generation benefiting from incredible growth of their assets) and for them this freedom of movement by renting on a rolling short-term basis and upping on a whim will allow them to further access high paying work.

I'm really not sure that what housing needs is for large-scale VC money to be poured in (and the corresponding expectations of return on that).

Will it be profitable? Yes. Is it ethical? No.

Re: Investing in Flow

#37

Post by antiverse » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:09 PM UTC

Just flag it, it's not worth the effort to get into this. For anyone not aware of the context, look into the recent NIMBY bullshit by Andreessen.

Re: Investing in Flow

#38

Post by bmitc » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:10 PM UTC

That's a lot of words to find out exactly zero about Flow and what it's doing, for which the buried link to the website also does nothing to explain.

Also, it's kind of rich to hear a billionaire wax poetic about the woes of the real estate market. According to a quick search, he of no surprise owns several properties, including a $177 million property.

Re: Investing in Flow

#39

Post by Ecstatify » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:10 PM UTC

WeWork 2.0 - Elizabeth Homes Edition.

The disclaimer at the end is nearly half the length of the post.

Re: Investing in Flow

#40

Post by OmarIsmail » Mon, Aug 15, 2022, 2:10 PM UTC

dangerlibrary wrote: post #26

phphphphp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is almost certainly some variation on co-living

"Why have 3 roommates in a house when you could have 300 roommates and live in a recently, cheaply converted commercial building designed to be a clone of the Googleplex?"

That actually sounds pretty cool! If that's _not_ what Flow is, I hope somebody does roll with that idea.