WeWork:估值50億美元的創業公司

Rich Price for Four-Year-Old Office-Sharing Company With Big Ambitions

雄心勃勃的辦公室共享服務提供商

CASSANDRA GIRALDO FOR THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL

【用戶們在位於紐約的WeWork公司大堂。】

WeWork Companies Inc., a provider of shared office space, believes it can be as transformational to its industry as upstarts like Airbnb Inc. and UberTechnologies Inc. are in travel and transportation.

WeWork提供辦公區域共享服務，這家公司相信他們會成爲這個行業的改變者。就好像Airbnb跟Uber在旅遊跟交通行業所做的那樣。

The four-year-old company, which divvies up rented office space and sublets largely to startups, said on Monday it closed a $355 million funding round. The dealvalues the company at about $5 billion, said people close to the matter.

這間成立四年的公司主營業務是承租大面積的辦公區域進行分割，然後分別轉租給初創企業。本週一，WeWork剛剛結束新一輪3.55億美元的融資。據知情者透露：該公司估價已接近50億美元。

The valuation puts the small New York-based company in the sameleague as social book marking site operator Pinterest Inc. and media and Internet company IAC/Inter Active Corp .

該估值將這個位於紐約的小企業送進了由視覺社交網站Pinterest與媒體與互聯網公司IAC/InterActiveCorp所組成的成功俱樂部

Adam Neumann, WeWork's 35-year-old co-founder, hopes to make the company a hot house for new business formation—by bringing together entrepreneurs who share space,office services and, potentially, ideas.

35歲的WeWork聯合創始人亞當·諾依曼希望通過讓一起工作的創業者們互相交流創意、分享辦公區域與行政服務；逐步將WeWork發展成初創企業們的溫室。

"We hAPPen to need buildings just like Uber happens to need cars, just like Airbnb happens to need apartments," Mr. Neumann said in an interview.

在一次會談中，諾依曼先生提到：“我們亟需寫字樓就好像Uber亟需汽車，Airbnb亟需公寓一樣。”

The latest financing was co-led by funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price AssociatesInc., clients of Wellington Management, and Goldman Sachs Group, according to WeWork. Investors from prior rounds including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Harvard Management Benchmark also participated, according to WeWork.

據WeWork透露：本輪投資由上市資產管理公司T. RowePrice領投，前投資者JP摩根大通、哈佛資產管理公司、標杆資本跟投。

"If Ishowed you their cash-flow statement, you would not compare it to a real-estatecompany," said Henry Ellenbogen, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price. "You'd compare it to a brand or tech company—maybe Chipotle or Uber."

T. RowePrice的基金經理，亨利·埃倫博根說道：“如果你看過他們（WeWork）的現金流量表，就不會認爲他們是一間房地產企業。你應該用連鎖企業或者高科技企業來做比較，比如Chipotle或者Uber”

Unlike its closest competitors, WeWork has a new-era sheen, its own mobile app, and deliberately chose to place properties in hot areas like Washington, D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood.

與其直接競爭對手相比，WeWork顯得更爲新潮。它不但擁有自己的移動應用（APP），還特意在城市的中心區域選擇物業，例如華盛頓特區的Shaw旁邊。

Viewedas a traditional real estate venture, WeWork's valuation wouldn't be nearly as rich, Mr. Neumann acknowledges.

諾依曼先生強調：如果被視爲一家傳統的房地產企業，WeWork很難達到這樣的估值。

Still,WeWork's investors are "really not looking at the real estate," he said. Theysee it as a force for upending small-business office rentals with a new model providing sleek furnishings and plenty of collaboration.

“WeWork的投資人並不看重房地產業務”諾依曼先生補充道，“我們的投資人認爲WeWork這種爲微小企業提供現代化的辦公傢俱和交流渠道的創新，顛覆了傳統的辦公樓租賃模式。”

ann said the company's app, which serves as an internal directory and allows WeWork customers to communicate idea and applicants, also providesinformation on events like regular happy hours—touchstones of the workcommunity it aims to foster.

諾依曼先生還介紹了公司的移動應用。 WeWork的APP類似一個內部企業列表，同時和用戶交流他們的想法與申請。這個APP同樣提供活動組織信息推送服務，比如用來培養團隊關係的happyhours。

WeWork said its December revenue puts it on an about $150 million annual revenue run rate. It also said the month's annualized operating income puts its valuationat roughly 100 times income. It expects to grow significantly in years ahead, which would lower that ratio. Landlords typically trade between 18 times and 20 times earnings, according to Jed Reagan, an analyst at real estate consultants Green Street Advisors.

房地產諮詢公司“GreenStreet Advisors”的分析師傑德·里根指出：由WeWork 的12月份收入可知年化穩定收益率（annual revenue run rate）約爲1.5億美元；同樣由月均年化營業利潤可以粗略的估算出WeWork的市值大約爲其收入的100倍，隨着WeWork未來可以預期的增長，這個比率將會降低[13]。與WeWork相比，傳統地產行業的市盈率大約在18-20倍之間。

RegusPLC, the shared office space company that offers more traditional office spacethan WeWork, has a market capitalization of about $2.8 billion and 2013 operating profit of about $150 million. Regus went public in 2000, and its market value today is about half its dotcom-era peak at more than 360 pence a share.

同樣提供辦公區域共享服務的格雷斯集團公司是一家傳統類型的辦公樓租賃公司，這間公司目前市值28億美元，2013年度業務利潤大約1.5億美元。格雷斯公司在2000年上市，目前市值僅爲網絡泡沫時期（dotcom-erapeak）的一半，大約每股360便士。

WeWork said it has leased about 1.6 million square feet in New York, making it the fastest expanding company by footprint in the city since 2010. In all, itexpects to have about 3.5 million square-feet globally by the end of 2015,total space larger than the Empire State Building. Also in the works is livingspace, akin to a high-end dorm for 20-something workers, people briefed on thecompany's plans said.

WeWork表示：紐約是他們增長最快的城市。自2010年以來，他們在紐約已經出租了160萬平方英尺（約15萬平方米）的辦公面積。預計2015年底，WeWork的全球出租面積將超過帝國大廈的總面積，達到350萬平方英尺（約33萬平方米）。Wework的工作人員在介紹公司計劃的時候提到：“對於20多歲的職場新人來說，工作空間同樣是生活空間。WeWork向他們提供類似於高級公寓的辦公環境”。

Dozens of firms offer space to those willing to pay a premium for a desk or of ficenestled among startups and some mature companies.

很多初創公司和一些成熟企業都不介意爲了舒適的辦公環境多付些錢。

Pricedepends on location. In the company's Financial District headquarters, it charges $400 a month for a desk and $1,400 a month for a small two-person office, well above the area's rate for such space.

當然價格取決於位置。在WeWork位於金融區的總部。一個工位每月需要支付400美元，而一間容納兩人的小辦公室則需要花費1400美元/月。這個價格已經高於本地區的同等物業了。

News Corp , which owns The Wall StreetJournal, is a customer.

華爾街日報的擁有者，新聞集團也是WeWork的用戶之一。

CASSANDRA GIRALDO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

【WeWork聯合創始人，35歲的亞當·諾依曼】

Israeli-born Mr. Neumann looks more like one of his startup tenants than a traditional landlord. He has shoulder-length wavy hair, shuns atie and keeps the top two buttons of his shirt undone.

與傳統的房地產商人形象不同，以色列出生的諾依曼先生看起來更像是一個租用他物業的創業者。他留着齊肩的捲髮，不繫領帶並解開了襯衫領口的兩個釦子。

His office, in a WeWork hub in New York City's financial district, stocks an arrayof liquor, and he sometimes implores guests to do tequila shots, visitors to his office ke Airbnb and Uber, WeWork has a large fixed expense— rent paid to building owners— and the company may be as vulnerable in a downturn as any other co-working firm, said skeptics.

諾依曼先生那間存了不少好酒的辦公室位於紐約金融區，他喜歡請來訪的客人喝杯龍舌蘭。質疑WeWork模式的人指出：不同於Airbnb與Uber，WeWork存在大量的固定資產開支，例如房租。當經濟處於下行趨勢的時候，WeWork會變得像其他的合作公司那樣脆弱。

The business is a risky one in which its costs, fees paid to landlords, are fixed,but its revenues from startups and established businesses can fall quickly whenthe economy slows.

WeWork商業模式的弱點質疑就是成本。他們付給房東的房租是固定的，但是在經濟放緩的情況下，從初創企業與微小企業獲得的收入卻會快速下滑。

"The small-to-medium-size businesses, they get particularly impacted in arecession," said Jon Halpern, who ran shared office space firm HQ Global Workplaces in the early 2000s.

曾在2000年早期運營一家辦公區共享公司-“HQ GlobalWorkplaces”的喬恩·哈爾彭指出：“被經濟下滑影響最劇烈的就是中小型企業。”

HQ grew rapidly in the run-up to the dot-com bust. But in the recession that followed, its value plummeted. It ultimately sold itself to Regus.

隨着互聯網泡沫的興起，喬恩的HQ公司價值不斷上升；然後隨着經濟下滑的到來一落千丈，最後不得不賣給了格雷斯集團公司。

CASSANDRA GIRALDO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

【在紐約公司總部的WeWork會員聚會。】

As for his company's next steps, Mr. Neumann said he is focused on growing the business. He plans to expand WeWork from its current 23 locations to 60 in thenext year.

對於WeWork的下一步計劃，諾依曼先生將會專注於發展。他計劃在明年將WeWork的物業規模從23處擴張到60處。

Landlords who have discussed the matter with WeWork executives say they have said it is planning an initial public offering sometime in the next two or three years.

WeWork公司高管表示：未來兩到三年內，WeWork計劃IPO。