Comment by rcconf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rcconf | Hacker News Reader

I work at WeWork and I love it. The value comes from being able to network and have a place to meet and socialize while contracting. I don't really value WeWork for the space, but for the people. I find coworking spaces like WeWork to be quite an amazing place to socialize. As you age, it becomes more difficult to make friends and when working at 1 company, you usually surround yourself with the same people.

At WeWork you get to meet people from many different backgrounds and companies. I met a friend who owns an insurance company (on a Microsoft stack.), another that owns a tech company for efficient travel to work (on a React stack), a group of people who have monthly subscription box companies (Shopify + CMS) and then an individual who owns an investment firm (various advice on how startups are doing in the city.)

Each individual brings something to the table and I've learned a lot from them. We hang out on weekends and drink beer together. Socializing is critical for human happiness. That's the value add for WeWork for contractors in my opinion, the space is secondary.

There are competitors, I've tried a few, but I found the WeWork space to be more professional. It costs more, but you get more in my opinion (in terms of space.) The other coworking spaces are kind of ugly, or they don't have constant events like WeWork. I'm sure this point varies heavily depending on the city. I'm sure monthly rate helps with keeping the space fresh.

I am unsure about the valuation here, but I would consider WeWork and coworking spaces the best thing to ever happen to my social life. I went from a rather introverted person to being quite extroverted and growing emotionally. This had many other factors, but WeWork contributed.

I very much see it as Crossfit. The WoDs[1] cost $0 and the equipment cost is relatively trivial - you can get this stuff almost anywhere and do it on your own. However, membership at a Crossfit box[2] commands a huge premium due in large part to the social aspect.

At Crossfit or fitness events, you also hear athletes[3] introduce themselves as X from Y Box. I can't help but be reminded of when I hear religious people introducing themselves as X from Y Parish/Mosque/Synagogue. It can become a central part of your identity and one of the first labels you apply to your self.

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[1] That's Crossfit for workout of the day

[2] That's Crossfit for "gym"

[3] That's Crossfit for someone who does Crossfit

Too many people think religion is something only found in a church.

On a sidenote, I'm reminded how many ex-Googlers blog about leaving Google akin to how someone talks about leaving a religion. Very cult-like, almost.

I get the idea though, that ex-googlers talk about leaving Google for the same reason Harvard grads/dropouts like to work that into their conversations.

Agreed. Less cult, more prestige brag.

How do you if someone went to Harvard?...don’t worry, they will tell you!

Indeed. The more interesting question would be how many Googlers internally talk of people leaving Google as though they've left a religion vs those who meet it with a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Would you say that things like coworking spaces and exercise classes have replaced the church as the place to socialize with the community?

You honestly value WeWork as a workspace, so I have a question: given the loss rates of WeWork, are you willing to pay 50% to 100% more money in the future for the space? What is your feeling about the willingness of others in the space to pay the increased rates?

Was talking about this with some other folks and the moat for co-working space so seems pretty small, just because they are designed for mobile workers. (And hence designed for transience.)

Sounds like an advertisement; I don’t believe one word.

To believe or not to believe is up to you, but my experience was like that and I haven't been paid to say so (not affiliated either).

WeWork has a lot of competitors that do the same. The last start-up I worked for used to get almost free space from a local college and it would have many companies working inside of it. Similar vibe, similar folks as far as I could tell.

That's great it worked for you but i'm skeptical of it being its own business. Seems more like a side "we have extra space" type of business to me. But time will tell.

Within 200yds of the Workspace we're currently in (London), there's at least 6 different coworking spaces, including a WeWork. If I expanded that to 400yds, it'd probably include 2 more WeWorks + others.

Is that place with the big Google cube? Indeed there are quite a few of these co-working places there.

Good question, dunno. This is Shoreditch, Silicon Roundabout area. Almost every 3rd building has a co-working space now. I'm just waiting for Tesco et al to get in on the act.

Yep, that's the one!

I was in an accelerator space before. Most people are just acquaintances who would say hi to each other but didn't have time to have deep chat. Compared with that, I made friends with the colleagues and the relationship lasted longer.

So I'm not sure how many true friends you can actually make and maintain in a co-working space.

This is true. I remember more dog’s names than people’s names from my old WeWork. On the other hand, they do claim dogs are man’s best friend so maybe WeWork needs to double down on the dogs.

You paid to join a frat.

Frats make everybody pay to join.

And you pay to be at WeWork ;-)

The frat analogy is actually really good here (ignoring all the negative things associated rightly or wrongly with fraternities here to not cloud the issue).

With a frat, you are paying for housing plus a social network with events. With wework you are paying for office space plus a social network with events.

Much like frats the value of that network is highly dependent on the people and varies wildly from place to place or even the same place over time.

For some people frats are great. They have experiences and make connections they wouldn’t otherwise make. For some people they suck and provide no or even negative value

But much like a frat, don’t think the social network that WeWork provides is in anyway unique or incapable of being produced elsewhere. Also don’t think for a minute that you can scale that experience or make it repeatable across locations and cultures. Because like a frat this is ultimately built on people, not Carafes of Cucumber water with bullshit slogans about “hustle” carved into them

Wework is an office space company and right now it’s social network is not proprietary advantage. Making the IRL social network more digital may be a way to solve that, But so far they don’t seem to be doing that

You have to pay to join anything

They have not opened yet here, but I have signed up for them. As they charge slightly less than the market rate for office space here in my city so I see it as renting office space and getting a complimentary frat membership.

My experience at wework was also very positive. got to meet some attorneys at an adjacent office and grew quite friendly with a few startups down the hall. They also take care of all the events throughout the work week, and open it up to every company in your office. This results in a lot of interesting conversations that I otherwise would not have had.

What was the efficient travel to work company? Sounds interesting.

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