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WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

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Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#341

Post by lmm »

wsinks wrote: post #314
goldcd wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well there's a clear advantage for b2b. Say you're a pretty large company and suddenly decide you want to open a dozen 'offices' in a dozen different countries. You just have to deal with one provider, one set of infrastructure etc. Plus if you decide you then want to consolidate to half-a dozen offices, it's easier to scale some up and some down. However companies like Regus have existed for ages - so not quite sure…

Weird hypothesis, but is what WeWork brings to the table that Regus doesn't is Silicon Valley brand recognition? Not that I'm in the market for office space, but I haven't heard about Regus until this comment.

Honestly as a programmer they have a name and reputation for providing nice offices that I can rely on. I recently agreed to take a job halfway around the world (interviewing via video chat), and when they asked if I had any questions about the office I was able to say "no, it's a WeWork and that's good enough for me". Surely that's got to be valuable to that tenant company.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#342

Post by patio11 »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #251
dehrmann wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineer? Harder to say. Data scientist--that's easy. Stackbucks is very good at looking at demographic data and recognizing where future demand will be new new locations. They basically mark gentrification.

Starbucks has a long list of failed stores. They aren't that good at picking locations. They just saturate and keep what doesn't lose money.

Do you work in commercial real estate? My father does, and would pick them and Walgreens as the most effective scaled siting operations in the US.

Optimizing for absence of failed stores would be an interesting utility function for them to have, but since they own substantially all of the stores (and therefore don't have franchisee relationships to consider, where volatility for a partner might impact you disproportionately to economic loss), that would be a suboptimal utility function. They should calibrate their risk appetite to maximize profits; occasional failed stores are just a search cost.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#343

Post by freddie_mercury »

jchallis wrote: post #84

WeWork's Bond Prices are falling rapidly.These are the only financial instruments that measure market appetite. Someone thinks they might not be paying back the money they are borrowing. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wework-ipo-debt/wework-bo...

You added the editorial "rapidly", which doesn't appear anywhere in the article linked because the fall isn't rapid.

It fell 1.1%, which is not rapid, especially for something that was already rated a junk bond.

And without any data on the bond's previous price volatility it isn't impossible to say whether 1.1% is worse than it had, say, the week before.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#344

Post by megaremote »

88840-8855 wrote: post #253
ngngngng wrote: post #17

I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Now I'm at a much smaller startup called Weave which is a really phenomenal place to work. I didn't discover until recently that it's also a YCombinator company. edit: to clarify, hacker news has been extremely skeptical of WeWork for some time, due to this, I wa…

I must say, I am jealous. It seems a bit unfair to me how computer engineers are getting hired and paid so well, while my economics degree is useless and I have to fight like crazy to get a job that pays WAY less than engineers get. Honestly, I studied economics because I wanted a job that pays well - that was one of the key criteria - and now I am standing with little money and a job I hate. It sucks.

> I studied economics because I wanted a job that pays well

How did you ever make that connection? Have economists ever been paid well?

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#345

Post by Viliam1234 »

chid wrote: post #295
lpellis wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hackernews is skeptical of many things though, sometimes hard to filter through the noise.

What are some examples where HN is too skeptical? I find that it's a good filter to view "news"

Articles warning against buying bitcoins were highly upvoted for years, and bitcoin costs several thousand dollars now.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#346

Post by megaremote »

metalliqaz wrote: post #92
cgearhart wrote: post #56

I had concerns earlier this year when I interviewed at WeWork—which was the worst interview experience I’ve ever had. I applied for a data science role. The first two hours of the on-site were painful—they seemed to be asking questions tailored to be outside my experience. The third interviewer came into the room and said, “I, uh, just looked at your resume and I have to ask, why do you want to be a backend engineer?…

WeWork is basically a real estate company. Why would they need a data science engineer?

Are you kidding? Is there any industry that can not be helped by data science?

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#347

Post by [deleted] »

alasdair_ wrote: post #104
ngngngng wrote: post #17

I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Now I'm at a much smaller startup called Weave which is a really phenomenal place to work. I didn't discover until recently that it's also a YCombinator company. edit: to clarify, hacker news has been extremely skeptical of WeWork for some time, due to this, I wa…

I also dodged this bullet two months ago. They were hiring like crazy in Seattle. Thanks HN!

[deleted]

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#348

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

patio11 wrote: post #342
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starbucks has a long list of failed stores. They aren't that good at picking locations. They just saturate and keep what doesn't lose money.

Do you work in commercial real estate? My father does, and would pick them and Walgreens as the most effective scaled siting operations in the US. Optimizing for absence of failed stores would be an interesting utility function for them to have, but since they own substantially all of the stores (and therefore don't have franchisee relationships to consider, where volatility for a partner might impact you disproporti…

I've seen a Walgreens that was closed in less than a year because of poor location despite being across the street from a Rite-Aid. They aren't perfect either.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#349

Post by hilbertseries »

rtkwe wrote: post #186
buboard wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the way you described it, it's like a cult lost its leader

Yeah somewhat. Though instead of it's leader it lost it's appeal and the cult leader had to go into hiding. WeWork is still a decent business idea just no where near the crazy valuations it was given.

Given how much money wework has lost this year, I think it remains to be seen if they’re a decent business.

Re: WeWork’s Adam Neumann Steps Down as CEO

#350

Post by mando75 »

ngngngng wrote: post #17

I'm so glad I read hacker news. I almost took a job at WeWork just 2 months ago with a recruiter working very hard to convince me I'd be rich when they IPO. Now I'm at a much smaller startup called Weave which is a really phenomenal place to work. I didn't discover until recently that it's also a YCombinator company. edit: to clarify, hacker news has been extremely skeptical of WeWork for some time, due to this, I wa…

Nice, we work in the same building. Can you smuggle me some cereal? ;)

Edit: I'm on the 5th floor, feel free to come party

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