Welcome to Axis ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank, Ideas Bank here. I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Facebook's latest fumble and China's other trade war.

But first, WeWork gets ready for its close-up. So about two hours

before the stock markets open this morning, WeWork filed for its long-anticipated initial

public offering. And what that really means is that every mom and pop investor will now be able

to buy into the co-working space operator sometime after Labor Day. The big thing to know here

is that WeWork is,

well, it's big. It's got over 500 locations in 111 cities in 29 countries. Over half a million

people work in its facilities and revenue has doubled year over year. WeWork didn't invent the

idea of co-working spaces, but it has supercharged them and has basically become shorthand for such facilities, kind of like Kleenex is for tissues or Xerox is for copiers.

WeWork also has something else that's big, losses, which is one reason why it is so controversial among potential investors.

The company's net loss was $904 million for the first half of 2019.

Yeah, just six months.

And its operating loss was over $1.3 billion.

Now, WeWork will argue, as lots of high growth companies argue, that the losses are

because it keeps adding new locations.

In other words, it's investing for growth.

And that the upfront cost of opening a new

we work are high, but the long-term payback can be profitable. The company also argues that in the

case of recession, it might be okay because any lost membership would be replaced by companies

with pricier leases elsewhere, companies seeking to cost-effectively downsize. The bottom line here,

this is expected to be the largest IPO for the remainder of 2019, and the next big test of Decacorns privately held

...