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The Rise of the WeWorking Class

nytimes.com

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Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#71

Post by skohan »

bsenftner wrote: post #46
dalbasal wrote: post #33

What a long winded article. I don't really understand the fascination/surprise at wework and similar. It's just office space, packaged in a way that suits a few underserved markets. Flexibility is valuable, and was previously underavailable. It also turned out that a lot of the "work-from-home" people would like office space, if it's nice and they can afford it. What is so surprising or notable here? A slightly quirk…

I ran a competing CoWorking space in Los Angeles. WeWork is the opposite of the no-frills aesthetic: they have lots of perks, fun perks, they are not cheap, and having any one perk is conspicuous. WeWork is how people not in larger youth communities meet to get laid. That is it. WeWork is a youth community of people spending mom & dad money, conspicuously in a play-like-work space, not really working, and being super…

I have not been to a WeWork, but this is the vibe I got from their advertising: the one that pops up for me on YouTube features a group of good looking millennials, dressed office-chic, walking confidently and shaking hands in slow motion with auspicious music in the background.

The entire message is aesthetic: there's no dialog or text at all, let alone an argument as to why WeWork would benefit your organization. It struck me as more like lifestyle-brand advertising than anything.

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#72

Post by stickfigure »

rekshaw wrote: post #9

A recent executive mandate declared the company a “meat-free” organization. When I interviewed McKelvey not long after the Summit, he had a very fuzzy time trying to explain the meaning of the “eight pillars” of its CultureOS and the relationships among them. But when he noticed that the P.R. representative happened to be carrying a single-use plastic water bottle, he admonished her to be mindful of her own consumpti…

Does this mean you cannot bring meat into the kitchen, or just that they've found a socially acceptable way of keeping provided food costs down?

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#73

Post by burger_moon »

geofft wrote: post #38
notacoward wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're answering a different question than was asked. When did it become acceptable to politely suggest a different personal choice? Since always, as you say. When did it become acceptable to disrespect them for a personal choice? Pretty recently, and should have been never. That includes the personal choice to rationalize that kind of condescending priggishness online. What kind of person gets their jollies…

The article doesn't have enough detail to conclude whether "admonished" meant politely or with disrespect.

In what situation would you walk up to a stranger and tell them to be mindful of themselves for carrying a plastic water bottle and it's not disrespectful. Mind your own business maybe?

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#74

Post by dsr_ »

RankingMember wrote: post #35
dsr_ wrote: post #10

I wonder if WeWork has already started an espionage (excuse me, business intelligence) program or whether that's a future development. Consider: an ordinary landlord knows how many desks you have, how many people show up on an average day, and how much garbage/recycling you put out. WeWork has operatives who can measure what percentage of your employees' days are spent at their desks, what they like to do for fun, wh…

Sounds like a good way to create an opening for a WeWork competitor to swoop in and eat their lunch. Companies get a whiff of that kind of level of tech monitoring even being a possibility and any CSO will have them scrambling for the door.

Since that didn't happen with Facebook, Google or Amazon, why would you think it would happen with WeWork?

(WeWork is valued around $22,000,000,000, about the same as GOOG's IPO.)

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#75

Post by tonyedgecombe »

scandox wrote: post #32
puranjay wrote: post #13

I recently moved to WeWork after nearly half a decade of working in plainly inferior coworking spaces. It's early days, but I wouldn't be wrong to say that this is probably the first time in my career that I haven't felt, well, "unmoored". I freelanced through college, then through grad school, then I worked for a couple of years from home before moving to coworking spaces. At all these coworking spaces, despite thei…

So would it be fair to say it's like freelancing but you feel like you're part of a corporation? Like freelancing with the social and motivational aspects of working at say Google or whoever?

Presumably without the politics and bullshit you get in a corporation.

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#76

Post by eeZah7Ux »

BucketSort wrote: post #19
rekshaw wrote: post #9

A recent executive mandate declared the company a “meat-free” organization. When I interviewed McKelvey not long after the Summit, he had a very fuzzy time trying to explain the meaning of the “eight pillars” of its CultureOS and the relationships among them. But when he noticed that the P.R. representative happened to be carrying a single-use plastic water bottle, he admonished her to be mindful of her own consumpti…

When did it become acceptable to straight up disrespect someone to their face for their personal choices? Although I'm 29, I still remember a time where there was at least the pretense of civility. Civility was the oil that kept this machine running smoothly, now it's sputtering left and right. We don't even use formal names like Mr./Ms. as much as we once did, if at all. I felt that was an important part of creating…

> disrespect

What disrespect? Where was that?

A whole comment thread developed without anybody questioning the alleged "disrespect"...

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#77

Post by cryoshon »

moonbug wrote: post #58

It's like no one's ever heard of Regus.

that's because i think regus is a real place for people who want a small office and who don't want to pay for extra frills.

i was very pleased renting from regus, and i got an entire small office to myself and my friend for the price of membership with no dedicated space that you'd be paying at wework or similar

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#78

Post by AlwaysRock »

In a WeWork currently. It's fine. Better than the last coworking space I was in but I still don't understand why any company would stay in a WeWork for longer than a year unless they only need 1 or 2 desks. The price is just not worth it. Offices are small and loud (glass boxes).

But hey I didnt have to buy a fridge or desks when I opened this office so that's nice.

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#79

Post by eeZah7Ux »

porpoisely wrote: post #69
dalbasal wrote: post #33

What a long winded article. I don't really understand the fascination/surprise at wework and similar. It's just office space, packaged in a way that suits a few underserved markets. Flexibility is valuable, and was previously underavailable. It also turned out that a lot of the "work-from-home" people would like office space, if it's nice and they can afford it. What is so surprising or notable here? A slightly quirk…

It's just paid PR for WeWork. WeWork must have a great PR team and most importantly investors with significant contacts because they get great press. http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Disguising PR as articles is really dishonest.

Re: The Rise of the WeWorking Class

#80

Post by schnevets »

rb808 wrote: post #68
bsenftner wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran a competing CoWorking space in Los Angeles. WeWork is the opposite of the no-frills aesthetic: they have lots of perks, fun perks, they are not cheap, and having any one perk is conspicuous. WeWork is how people not in larger youth communities meet to get laid. That is it. WeWork is a youth community of people spending mom & dad money, conspicuously in a play-like-work space, not really working, and being super…

> WeWork is how people not in larger youth communities meet to get laid I never knew, maybe they should advertise this more.

Glad to know I can add to the "Unicorns that trick people into thinking they are going to get laid" list that I started during the rise of Facebook.
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