[Traster]

If it were strategically important for the company the company should have bought the properties. It's a direct conflict of interest - and one that has been serious enough that they've ended up having to build an entire corporate strategy to deal with. Also, this is not the only conflict of interest: WeWork bought part of an artificial surfing wave pool in 2016 and the only reason anyone can find to do that is the CEO likes surfing.

[sprafa]

If this is true then I’m increasingly surprised at how bad VC returns must be for them to think this is a good investment.

[maxerickson]

It's perhaps the other way around. VC returns are so good that they can make lots of mistakes.

[rficcaglia]

No it’s not: “achieved an overall return of 11.1% for the year.” https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/10/15/1621269/0/...

See also: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/01/the-meeting-that-showed-me...