[alphast0rm]

Ben Thompson wrote an interesting article "What Is a Tech Company?" on Stratechery [1] recently where he discusses the trademark characteristics of tech companies and makes a convincing argument as to why WeWork is not one:

  So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics:

  - Software creates ecosystems.
  - Software has zero marginal costs.
  - Software improves over time.
  - Software offers infinite leverage.
  - Software enables zero transaction costs.

  ...

  - WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business.
  - WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent.
  - WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time.
  - WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out.
  - WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses.

  Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way.

[1] https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/

[0xffff2]

Please don't use indentation for quotes. The side-scrolling makes it completely impossible to read on mobile, and nearly impossible to read on desktop.

>So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics:

>

>- Software creates ecosystems.

>- Software has zero marginal costs.

>- Software improves over time.

>- Software offers infinite leverage.

>- Software enables zero transaction costs.

>

>...

>

>- WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business.

>- WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent.

>- WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time.

>- WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out.

>- WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses.

>

>Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way.

[chinhodado]

I can't believe HN doesn't have a solution for this after all this time. It's a tech forum ffs.

[0xffff2]

Eh, HN does have a solution for quotes; the way I formatted it. There's no technical solution for humans applying the wrong tool to the job. The mono-spaced non-wrapping style works well for code. I find it inexplicable that so many people persist in using it for quotes.