And there is fruit water on every floor. If you come in early enough, you can watch the terrifying efficiency with which WeWork's staff cuts the fruit and puts it in the jar.

Our WeWork office is in the heart of downtown San Francisco. There are currently five WeWorks in San Francisco, with a sixth opening up soon.

1/26

The idea behind WeWork is simple: They swallow the cost of renting space in the insane San Francisco (or New York, or London, or...) real estate market, and then sublease to startups. That's how we get to be in this nifty high-rise.

2/26

The general vibe is what one colleague referred to as "startup kitsch." This is the lobby. Take careful note of the neon sign, the couches, and the "#HUSTLE" wall decor. "Hustle" is kind of WeWork's thing, given that most of its primary demographic are small startups who otherwise couldn't afford San Francisco office space.

3/26

The most basic membership at WeWork costs $450 a month (though the price changes based on the location). It gets you access to what they call a "hot desk," which means you get a card key for the building and the privilege of using their tables and WiFi.

4/26

You can also pay for your own, private office space. In our WeWork Transbay space, that starts at $975/month for a one-person private space. Either way, you get access to the full range of WeWork member benefits. For instance...

5/26

This is our reception desk. There are many like it, but this one is ours. It's not uncommon to see them playing air controller for lines of Instacart and Amazon Fresh couriers, especially on Monday mornings. There's actually a WeWork app that you can use to text-message the front desk if you need anything.

6/26

There are private phone booths to make calls, though they almost always seem to be taken up.

7/26

There are also conference rooms of varying sizes that you can book. Basically, your membership includes "credits" that you can burn to reserve the space. The bigger the room, and the longer you need it, the more "credits" it takes. The rooms themselves are done up in that "startup kitsch" style.

8/26

The main lobby also has a foosball table, because of course it does. In the background here, you can see the WeWork Honesty Market, which is basically an automated convenience store. You pay for your food via an app and a barcode scanner.

9/26

There are also ping pong tables. It's all the comforts of your average startup office, provided by WeWork. Recently, WeWork even had former champion table tennis players come in to give classes.

10/26

Each floor has its own common area, done up in that same WeWork aesthetic. This is where people hang out and eat lunch. If you spend enough time there, you'll overhear enough startup lingo to generate scripts for a whole season of HBO's "Silicon Valley."

11/26

There's a beer tap on every floor.

12/26

Each floor has its own selection of beer, from breweries both local and national. For the first few months we were at this WeWork, they couldn't fill the kegs fast enough, and people would complain they were tapped out by Wednesday.

13/26

You also get access to the WeWork kitchen. Note the mug, which says "Do What You Love." So, I guess if you're looking for inspiration with your morning coffee, WeWork is the place for you.

14/26

And there is fruit water on every floor. If you come in early enough, you can watch the terrifying efficiency with which WeWork's staff cuts the fruit and puts it in the jar.

15/26

There are some other standard office features, too. A little area on each floor provides pens, scratch paper, printers, shredders, and a paper cutter.

16/26

You also get access to special members-only events, like this wine and cheese dinner held on a random Thursday evening to commemorate the anniversary of our office. The cheese was brought in from La Fromagerie, a local San Francisco gourmet shop.

17/26

The very next morning, there was a member brunch, with mimosas, a Bloody Mary bar, and waffles brought in from a local joint.

18/26

The free food always triggers a feeding frenzy, as people from the entire WeWork space descend upon the main kitchen to grab some freebies.

19/26

Just about every day, there's some kind of event at the WeWork. Most of the time, they're networking events sponsored by startups. Sometimes they're lectures (mostly from startups and startup coaches), and sometimes they're sales pitches for services focused on startups, like banks or rental car companies.

20/26

The whole idea is to kind of simulate the culture of a big tech company, with parties and networking and perks, so you can focus on the, ahem, hustle. They go so far as to provide mouthwash in the men's restrooms.

21/26

One funny thing: Every floor of the WeWork is done up in the exact same style. It's not unheard for people to get out of the elevator on the wrong floor, walk to the wrong office, and almost sit at the wrong desk. By "people" I mean "me."

22/26

All in all, we really like working from the WeWork. As weird and disorienting as the "HUSTLE, HUSTLE, HUSTLE" vibe can be sometimes, it's nice to be so pampered. And with San Francisco office space so incredibly hard to find (Salesforce is building its own mega-tower to address this), WeWork makes working in the heart of the city possible for even small teams like ours.

23/26

There are little perks, too. When the front desk caught us working on December 23rd, when most of the other offices had gone on holiday break, they brought up a bottle of champagne for us, on the house.

24/26

But at the same time, speaking as reporters, it makes us wonder quite a bit about the sustainability — WeWork says that its big cost edge over other spaces is in the efficiency with which it packs people in. But at the same time, San Francisco real estate is expensive, and all of those perks aren't cheap, either.

25/26

Now, WeWork is piloting WeLive, a new business to bring its philosophy of serving entrepreneurs to what they call "co-living." So basically, it's that "hustle" mentality applied to living.

26/26

Here's what it's like to work in a WeWork building, the $16 billion company that simulates startup life

Our WeWork office is in the heart of downtown San Francisco. There are currently five WeWorks in San Francisco, with a sixth opening up soon.

The idea behind WeWork is simple: They swallow the cost of renting space in the insane San Francisco (or New York, or London, or...) real estate market, and then sublease to startups. That's how we get to be in this nifty high-rise.

The most basic membership at WeWork costs $450 a month (though the price changes based on the location). It gets you access to what they call a "hot desk," which means you get a card key for the building and the privilege of using their tables and WiFi.

You can also pay for your own, private office space. In our WeWork Transbay space, that starts at $975/month for a one-person private space. Either way, you get access to the full range of WeWork member benefits. For instance...

There are private phone booths to make calls, though they almost always seem to be taken up.

There are also conference rooms of varying sizes that you can book. Basically, your membership includes "credits" that you can burn to reserve the space. The bigger the room, and the longer you need it, the more "credits" it takes. The rooms themselves are done up in that "startup kitsch" style.

The main lobby also has a foosball table, because of course it does. In the background here, you can see the WeWork Honesty Market, which is basically an automated convenience store. You pay for your food via an app and a barcode scanner.

There are also ping pong tables. It's all the comforts of your average startup office, provided by WeWork. Recently, WeWork even had former champion table tennis players come in to give classes.

Each floor has its own common area, done up in that same WeWork aesthetic. This is where people hang out and eat lunch. If you spend enough time there, you'll overhear enough startup lingo to generate scripts for a whole season of HBO's "Silicon Valley."

There's a beer tap on every floor.

Each floor has its own selection of beer, from breweries both local and national. For the first few months we were at this WeWork, they couldn't fill the kegs fast enough, and people would complain they were tapped out by Wednesday.

You also get access to the WeWork kitchen. Note the mug, which says "Do What You Love." So, I guess if you're looking for inspiration with your morning coffee, WeWork is the place for you.

And there is fruit water on every floor. If you come in early enough, you can watch the terrifying efficiency with which WeWork's staff cuts the fruit and puts it in the jar.

There are some other standard office features, too. A little area on each floor provides pens, scratch paper, printers, shredders, and a paper cutter.

You also get access to special members-only events, like this wine and cheese dinner held on a random Thursday evening to commemorate the anniversary of our office. The cheese was brought in from La Fromagerie, a local San Francisco gourmet shop.

The very next morning, there was a member brunch, with mimosas, a Bloody Mary bar, and waffles brought in from a local joint.

The free food always triggers a feeding frenzy, as people from the entire WeWork space descend upon the main kitchen to grab some freebies.

The whole idea is to kind of simulate the culture of a big tech company, with parties and networking and perks, so you can focus on the, ahem, hustle. They go so far as to provide mouthwash in the men's restrooms.

One funny thing: Every floor of the WeWork is done up in the exact same style. It's not unheard for people to get out of the elevator on the wrong floor, walk to the wrong office, and almost sit at the wrong desk. By "people" I mean "me."

There are little perks, too. When the front desk caught us working on December 23rd, when most of the other offices had gone on holiday break, they brought up a bottle of champagne for us, on the house.

Now, WeWork is piloting WeLive, a new business to bring its philosophy of serving entrepreneurs to what they call "co-living." So basically, it's that "hustle" mentality applied to living.