Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Cat Johnson – Coworking Marketing Maven
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak – Competitive Advantage
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Jeremy Fennema – Tech Innovation Alchemist
WeWork’s highly anticipated IPO will likely set a precedent for the coworking industry as a whole. Green Street Advisors analyst Danny Ismail said that learning more about the profitability of the business will likely have an impact on other coworking companies as well, such as top competitors IWG, Convene, Industrious, Knotel, and Breather.
IWG is the largest office company in terms of space and currently operates 60 million square feet globally through various flexible office brands. IWG’s Regus has already been through multiple recessions and even filed for bankruptcy in 2003, just three years after going public.
“We have the biggest network, so we are the biggest beneficiary from WeWork,” said Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG. “That’s a market that’s deemed to be very competitive. It is the home of WeWork, so by WeWork and others talking more in the market, it generates more business for us.”
Convene offers flexible offices across 30 locations and CEO Ryan Simonetti believes that if WeWork’s IPO does well, it will uplift the rest of the coworking industry.
Industrious sets itself apart by teaming up with landlords to manage its flexible offices, which has made building owners feel more secure leasing out their space in case of an economic downturn.
New York-based Knotel currently has 200 locations globally, $160 million in funding and caters its services to established companies rather than SMEs.
Breather has 500 locations and differentiates itself by making its short-term offices and meeting rooms bookable on-demand — think Uber.
