WeWork: The “tech” company that isn’t and other stories of co-working

BY CHRISTINA GWIRA

WeWork is pretty awesome. As someone who LOVES a good co-working space, I was super dis-heartened to hear about all the terrible things that are happening to the company. Seriously. In case you’ve never worked out of the space, let me set it up for you. Firstly: snackage. Yes, FREE SNACKS (and not like the bad, no name brand ones, the good Dunkeroos!)! Many co-working spaces don’t offer this, however, when I visited WeWork, I was met by the overflowing baskets of chips, granola bars and premium juice, all under their “honesty market” policy. In addition to that, WeWork, as with most co-working spaces nowadays, had the legendary Instagrammable wall. At the location I visited, it was the greenery wall, with the WeWork logo centered within it. Totally beautiful. I also loved the little nooks that were sprawled across the space, which allowed for up to four people to collaborate together with ample lighting, comfortable spacing, access to power and super-fast internet. It was a dream.

The problem with all of the above is this: WeWork doesn’t make money as a company. Also, WeWork, in truth, is NOT a tech company. In New York, WeWork is the largest office space tenant. WeWork doesn’t have any technological advances under its belt, there aren’t any cool patents and there are no cool inventions that the company can boast of in the tech sector. However, it has more than four (4) locations in Toronto alone, and it is things like these that are leading to its very public, very humiliating demise. Up until recently, WeWork was on its way to having a super successful, super pro$perous (see what I did there?) IPO. However, due to mismanagement from the CEO and other blunders, the IPO has magically disappeared, the CEO has been fired and the snacks are gone. But the same can’t be said for other co-working spaces… or can it?

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, co-working takes the open office concept to a whole new level. Co-working brings multiple companies from a variety of sectors to one space where they can work together. Some spaces offer hot desks: where essentially any free space in the office is a space you can use. Some spaces offer dedicated desks: “this is my desk; no one else can use it”. Lastly, some spaces offer dedicated office space within their co-working space, like an office within an office. I am part of a co-working space, located in the heart of Downtown Brampton which I’ve dubbed 41 George, and I love it. It allows me to work in a space where there are other like-minded business owners, who are hustling and grinding it out to see their companies and dreams grow.

Other co-working spaces that you should be aware of include Make Lemonade, Eureka Hub and Artscape Launchpad. Each one of these spaces has different pros, cons, looks and feels that may or may not appeal to you. Make Lemonade is by far the PRETTIEST co-working space of them all. Their yellow and pink aesthetic speaks to the fact that it’s a co-working space for women. In my experience, if you are a fempreneur (or female-identifying) and would like a safe space and female positive community to run your business or side hustle, Make Lemonade is your spot! Eureka Hub comes complete with a new patio, AMAZINGLY LARGE garage door and awesome events that pour into the everyday entrepreneur. While Eureka Hub is a bit off the beaten path for me, the vibe is really great and the beautiful four-storey space is amazing. Last but certainly not least, Artscape Daniels Launchpad. The space, albeit unfinished,  is beautiful and spacious. A membership at Launchpad provides you with not only co-working space, but also access to studios for woodworking, jewelry design, digital media and more. It is also the home of the Weeknd’s company HXUSE, which provides mentorship to creatives and entrepreneurs. In closing, co-working is a great thing for budding entrepreneurs. It helps people who would probably be working out of cafes, home or their nearest library be able to share ideas, collaborate and grow their ideas. As for WeWork, I’d love to see how they can turn this ship around, and keep thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs in a place and space of growth.