Michael and Johnny look at WeWork - what made it special, how it failed so spectacularly. Michael discusses how he would have positioned WeWork and the potential he saw with the idea.
In the Pre-Show & News of the Week, we look at Yelp layoffs, Facebook finally innovating again during this crisis, when we expect to go back to ‘normal’ post COVID-19, bandwidth issues with internet services and Michael running for President of the USA.
Recorded Date: Sunday, April 12, 2020
Ideas of the Week
- How can we recapture the lost potential of WeWork with a fraction of the cost?
- Switzerland for the Internet of Things space - handle the fragmentation of the IoT space
- Is there potential for the Internet of Things for Smart Offices?
- Can you be the $1 billion WeWork company? Can you recreate a brand and a suite of lifestyle apps?
- Can companies offer their staff additional unique perks via the use of IoT devices in the office? What is missing in the office?
Time Stamps
- @0:01:26: Yelp Lays off over 1000 of its staff
- @0:13:22: Facebook Donates Portals
- @0:20:32: When we will get back to “normal”
- @0:26:17: Bandwidth issues with internet services
- @0:29:00: Michael runs for President
- @0:31:28: Main Topic - WeWork
- @0:34:15: What made WeWork work?
- @0:47:14: Selling the Kool-Aid
- @0:57:40: How much of WeWork’s failure can be attributed to the rise of non-profitable VC dependent startups?
- @1:05:10: Ideas of the Week
Highlights
- Facebook releasing lots of interesting features/apps to help people cope with this current pandemic crisis -> opportunity for them to innovate more than they have
- It took a crisis to make Facebook this usefully innovative again
- Did WeWork just get unlucky that they tried to IPO when people were finally coming to their senses regarding these Silicon Valley unicorns?
- Space is more valuable than anything but time & WeWork started with this - physical space and a brand that communicated community and a new approach to working
- Should WeWork have IPO’d in 2017 when the environment was much more friendly to tech IPOs?
- When we get our next idea, we will think 100x and go get 100x VC money. Who needs a million dollars when you can get a billion dollars?
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