I can guess (however unlikely it may be) how Uber might some day make money through its monopoly power or use of autonomous cars and justify its valuation. I just can't imagine how WeWork could continue growing and turn a profit if it can't do it in this booming economy. The freelancers and small businesses that use it are likely the first to end their memberships and work from home or coffee shops.

I don't understand the hype around WeWork. Nothing it does is innovative or different. Its strategy and product can be easily replicated by anyone with enough cash to burn. It seems less like a business and more like a rent-seeking scam to loot money from investors until they've sold to the greatest fool they can find.

> speeds up preparations for its hotly anticipated initial public offering in the face of tepid interest from investors.

God, tell me the editor was asleep. Tell me how it can both be “hotly anticipated” yet with “tepid interest.”

Brain hurts.

WeWork are quite expensive - enough that startups will get their own offices when they reach some stability. So I’m left wondering, WeWork charge a lot and in turn they pay a huge premium for their building leases. How are they NOT making money?

"Sweeping changes" is mentioned in the first line of the article but nowhere else. What exactly are they planning to change?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory

Converting a capital intensive and inflexible office lease commitment to monthly payments and the ability to scale is very useful to many companies that manage their real estate prudently.

WW could be successful without all the rah-rah about changing the world. Like Uber, I’m sure they could afford to shed a few thousand employees (who were hired for growth) and continue to run a more sustainable business.

> We waited an unusually long time to decide on an exchange.

Sentences like these make skimming pretty hard. It made me re-read the entire article because I was confused about the who is the author.

From a point of view of a regular human, how is WeWork good for me?

I'm generally opposed to 1 company to "rule them all", and I would like to see giants to be broken down.

In case of say, Amazon, at the very least being so huge may allow (arguably) for cheaper prices and almost everything in one place, delivered conveniently. suppose that's true.

How one company owning a lot of real estate is good for me? The way I see it, if they are successful, they will spend less while charging more, even further accumulating wealth among the smaller amount of ppl. I don't see how it's good for most of us.

They aren't developing real estate market. They aren't creating new ways of building more efficiently. They aren't doing anything other than using huge sums of money to generate more money.

Congratulations WeWork! Remember: Haters gonna hate.