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WeWork Employees Caught Spying on Competition (nypost.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The battle in the red-hot co-working space business is heating up. WeWork, the No. 1 player in the sector, allegedly sent two spies to infiltrate rival Knotel -- to steal info and some customers, Knotel claimed. The spies showed up at seven Knotel properties in Manhattan last month in a "systematic attempt to pilfer Knotel's proprietary information and trade secrets," according to a cease-and-desist letter the smaller company sent to WeWork. The Post has obtained a copy of the letter. The corporate espionage rookies may have pulled off the caper except, in a totally random happening, a Knotel employee recognized one of them as a friend of a friend, according to sources close to Knotel. While the pair used fake names to gain entry, according to the letter, a call to the Knotel worker's pal got the spy's real name -- and a couple of social media inquiries turned up the fact that he worked for rival WeWork, sources said. The letter to WeWork asks for a reply by Oct. 13 -- but so far Knotel hasn't heard a peep from its rival, according to CEO Amol Sarva. While inside the Knotel offices, visited Sept. 12-14, the luckless spies posed "as the founders of a fast-growing startup" and said they needed space for their six-person company, according to the letter.
Have they actually done anything wrong? I'd be very surprised if hotel chains, airlines etc. didn't send people to try out the opposition from time to time.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Someone please explain in a few words, what kind of "sector" that is supposed to be.
So, this company, whose service is providing chairs and tables and coffee, just bought a $850 million building? What. The. Fuck??
I don't respond to AC's.
i think it is where they come up with new buzzwords.
"and a couple of social media inquiries turned up the fact that he worked for rival WeWork,"
Face -> palm.
What's the maximum punishment they can expect for pilfering?
Something to do with prostitution I think.
It's normal for businesses to shop at rivals and compare. What exactly did they do other than go to get an idea of costs, facilities and atmosphere of a competitor? This seems like a big no story and an attempt to make one company look bad for no reason.
I think they are in the business of finding space to cram a bunch of temp-workers in for an overnight call center, which will go out of business before it is time to pay taxes and then it will lease that same space to a small start-up which believes strongly that work can't be done remote, and requires space-holders to sit in cubes to function. Basically short-term landlords targeting business.
I think it's like Starbucks but instead of selling you overpriced coffee they charge you rent. And then sell you overpriced coffee.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
facility management, office renting
I was wonder the same thing. If it's so "hot", I've never hear of it
A Red-hot co-working space is where black-smiths get together and do blacksmithing things. WeWork innovated and allowed metal smelting and disrupted the market.
Knotel is going to be even more innovative and disruptive in the co-working space sector by allowing metal casting too.
But there is a startup called "TheyWork" that will also do plastic molding and off-shore the work to co-working spaces in China and other South-East Asian countries. They have an IPO coming up and I expect the share price to hit $350 by years end.
They are losing bucket loads of money from operations but as the CEO stated, they are ramping up to allow even more people work.
A huge competitor called "SweatWork" is interested in being even more disruptive and innovative and joining in the business. They have an app that allows you to see the workers sweat in the shop.
Very creative!
It's Maker Space for would be entrepreneurs
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
If you have a small business that's just getting started and will hopefully be expanding quickly, there are two ways to get a place to work:
1) Rent an office, and then when you hire more people you have to move to a bigger office so you're always either paying for more space than you need today or spending time moving; arrange people for all the things that are required for a usable office like cleaning, setting up a network, etc...
2) You call WeWork and say "I want offices for two people in your Boston building". You get the offices, and there are shared conference rooms that you can reserve as you need them. WeWork takes care of cleaning, the network, a cafeteria, etc (which you are paying for as part of your rent, but at least you don't have to worry about setting it up). When you expand, you tell WeWork you now need a third room, and they give you more space, so your existing people don't need to move (or only move around in the same building), and you don't need to waste your time dealing with the real estate market.
Number two is significantly more expensive in dollars, but number one is significantly more expensive in your time investment; if you are a well funded startup, you don't mind spending a lot of money, but you'd rather spend your time working on your business rather than worrying about office space. If you are a poorly funded company, or a large enough company that you are using large blocks of space and can afford to hire someone to deal with the details, #1 is the better choice, which is why the classic real estate market is in no danger of vanishing.
In the famous words of my Chinese restaurant, i would describe it as mildly spicy, NOT red-hot. Clickbait; next!
Let me get this straight... competitor A complains that competitor B paid them for services rendered in order to find out what services they actually offer. Competitor A calls it espionage, while competitor B calls it market research.
This happens every day in every other line of business. Get over yourselves, competitor A.
p.s. The cynic in me thinks this is a viral marking stunt by BOTH companies.
I've never [heard] of it
You just did, which means the viral advertising worked.
Co-working space business, WeWork, Knotel...
Never heard of that or either companies before today.
How is that news for nerds? Oh, right. That's not even Slashdot's motto anymore.
#DeleteFacebook
We are reaping the rewards of years of very low interest rates and the Fed printing money.
With all that super cheap money floating around, people are gambling in the hopes of hitting it big real quick.
The folks who sold that building made a nice sum of money off of this current popularity in tech. These companies are being stupid with their capital because it's so easy to get. There are plenty of people who'll throw money at things.
This morning, I watched how the CFO of GM argued how GM is a tech company.
It's 1999 all over again. Hopefully, the Fed will raise rates soon and slow this shit down. In another year, the economy will slow, earnings will drop and we'll see a huge sell-off. It'll be 2000-2001 all over again.
The rental agreement should prohibit poaching tenants, other than that enjoy WeWorks rent payments since obviously they had available capacity. What may get tricky is rate setting. I had fun with a serviced office where rates would fluctuate depending on market or attempt to sign longer term agreements. Obviously the office surveyed market though donâ(TM)t know how, and this might help WeWork assess their pricing and popularity.
Leave it to millennials to think they've invented something new.
I'm struggling to figure out just what "trade secrets" there might be in a co-working setup. The billing system? The facilities? The sort of coffee they have? The network setup? The way they control print costs?
It's hard for me to imagine just what a co-working group has to really hide that's so proprietary.
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
In case you thought apartment rents were high, WeWork charges about $400/month for a "hot desk" with coffee. Contrast: Planet Fitness charges $10/month for a "hot treadmill" with showers. Maybe you don't spend 30-40 hours/week at the gym, but still....
It's a synergized working environment to achieve advanced cyber results while optimizing office space to achieve maximum just-in-time productivity curves and dynamic staff allocation that adjusts to holistically fit customer-adaptable technology with cutting edge business needs. The future is in human clouds and your staff can be cloud-ready today!
Table-ized A.I.
This morning, I watched how the CFO of GM argued how GM is a tech company.
What's more valuable, a car, or a computer system that can drive a car better than a human being?
How would you describe a company that is trying to manufacture the latter for mainstream use?
Finally, a comment that explains everything in terms I can understand!
-your local MBA
Someone please explain in a few words, what kind of "sector" that is supposed to be.
Hipster Bullshit.
Hope that summarizes it well enough, to include their "red hot" marketing crap.
Didn't the original Bob Newhart Show take place (mostly) in a shared office environment? Bob was a psychologist, I know there was a dentist. Maybe a lawyer too? I can't remember.
I'm not sure you could call it 'synergy' in the workplace. But there was lots of funny scenes, I bet that would be marketable in today's shared office environment.
"Just as there is nothing so unreal as reality TV, there is nothing as unsocial as social media." - Alistair Dabbs
So.. Commercial Subleting?
It's not as common in the last couple of years because so many prices are now available online, but I've talked to people going through the aisles of stores checking prices and availability of items that were working for a competitor. I've also seen jobs posted for doing it.
In a competitive leasing business like this that doesn't rely on some patent or otherwise protected product, you can either compete heads up with all of your "secrets" plainly written in your fliers, likely because you've made better deals on properties and support infrastructure, or you're doomed.
We are working on AI translators that convert back and forth between English and MBA.
Example:
MBA: "Our organization has adamantly decided not to tolerate any memos, emails, or documents which reduce our reputation among potential clients."
English: "Bash us and you're fired!"
Table-ized A.I.
I visit their websites and see what's going on and to see what prices they charge and I discount my prices to be blow theirs. I sometimes visit their stores and buy a product and see what discounts they give in store.
I know others competitors spy on what I do as I've had complaints from wholesaler that I'm too cheap blah blah. So I made this post on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/aquat...
If you're not paying attention to your competition, then you're not running your business properly.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
getting the reports from marketing after they had paid a contractor to go take a competitors training class. If the corporate crown jewels can be stolen by taking a tour, yikes how far tech has fallen.
Do you have a newsletter to which I can subscribe?
Ricky Gervais is writing it now.
So after deducting the coffee, then, it's about $200/month. Doesn't sound that bad.
A hot treadmill plus laptop, if they keep the music down, is the perfect healthy office environment, surely?
Wow. You filled every square in my Buzzword Bingo sheet, except the center one ("AI").
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
Much better than Starbucks. Beer. And its "free".
I'll be happy to supply you with a whole can of Folgers for $199.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Hah! I'm still waiting for "synergy" and "blockchain".
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Whoa, that's a Bingo!
Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress
I was calculating on it being 5 coffees of at least $2 retail value per working day. :)
Your employer isn't even using lube.
I'd bring in a french press and grounds.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Co-working spaces have all the drawbacks of the open office
1)Noise
2)A network that can slow dramatically after X number of people connect
3)Noise
4)The first people in grab the best desk
This morning, I watched how the CFO of GM argued how GM is a tech company.
You may now view GM as a tech company, but the development and production of something as complicated as a modern day car is a pretty damn technical. Sure, there are still a lot of components that aren't electronically controlled, but cars have for decades been full of parts that qualify as "tech industry" parts.
"Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
Number two is significantly more expensive in dollars
Not necessarily. It depends on what you need. Private offices for dozens of workers might be more costly, but in that case you are paying for a turnkey, all inclusive(ish) solution and flexibility (co-working spaces are typically rented monthly or shorter terms vs. annual or multi-year leases for traditional space).
But if you only have a few people, or just need desks (vs. private offices), you may come out cheaper in a co-working space. At the bottom end, for businesses that need little space, a co-work could be much more economical. Especially when you consider that in a traditional lease you may also have to pay for utilities (power/water if often included, but might not be, and internet service usually will not be), rent or buy furniture, and so forth.