Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by bsenftner 2679 days ago
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 irritating to those trying to work.
4 comments

> 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.
I'm not sure what that line is supposed to mean. I work in a WeWork as well and everyone seems to be working. Maybe some are worse than others...
I met my wife at work while we seemed to be working.
FWIW, I work out of a wework near my house in Shanghai. I’m a software engineer in my 30’s. Our office is on the other side of the city from where I live, and takes over an hour on the subway to get there. I don’t need to be there physically, so I arranged with my boss to work from home 4 days a week. But working from home is tough, so I work instead from the wework around the corner from my house. Your mileage may vary, but I see tons of people doing real work there. Plenty of early stage startups, but also plenty of more established businesses, even outside of tech. A guy on my floor moved his consulting company office there because the price was comparable to commercial real estate, and the convenience and flexibility were great.
Maybe the reality is that Los Angeles is a youth community of people spending mom and dad money
I was thinking of renting something in Irvine. Anyone have experience working there?
Probably this.
I also work for a company based in a WeWork space, and my experience is that most people there are working, both for startups and non startups alike.

That said, the building setup itself isn't all that great to work in, since despite the perks, actual basics of office maintenance seem to be ignored/shoved under the rug by the company. If your lifts have problems, you can't afford to give out too many ID cards, the microwaves keep failing and the bathrooms aren't cleaned properly, it doesn't matter how many arcade machines and ping pong tables you have.

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.

Probably because that’s how it’s sold? WeWork is a lifestyle brand.

It’s just interesting they took something like renting out office space and made it something like that