I'm no expert in real estate, residential or commercial, so I don't really see the big appeal of WeWork. Are there that many independent contractors and very small companies that need office space, currently don't have it, and would otherwise work at home?

I can see renting out some space for an afternoon, a full day, or even up to a week if you're needing to meet with clients, but WeWork seems to be banking on very small teams that have no where else to work. Their spaces look nice but again unless you're really meeting with clients it seems like office space like they provide is largely a waste of money.

Obviously there's something I'm missing because Softbank feels different.