I work in WeWork (not for them, my company uses them) and I think that they provide tremendous value. I don't see how they are middleman at all. Having worked at many startups and small companies over the years I know that finding a good space to work is difficult. WeWork is making it very easy and provide a lot of services on top of that which make it worthwhile. Are they unique? No, but that doesn't mean they don't provide value.