Adam Neumann Is Launching a New Coworking Service That Isn't WeWork: 'I Had Time to Reflect' WeWork filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Canada in 2023.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Adam Neumann cofounded WeWork in 2010 and stepped down as CEO in 2019 after an unsuccessful IPO attempt.
- According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, Neumann is now starting a service to rival WeWork: Workflow.
Adam Neumann was once the face of WeWork, a coworking company he co-founded in 2010. When WeWork tried to go public in 2019, its status as the most valuable startup in the U.S., with a $47 billion valuation in January 2019, came under scrutiny from investors who examined the company's losses and lack of a plan for profitability.
WeWork's first attempt to go public failed, and its valuation plummeted to $9 billion in 2021; the company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Canada in 2023 and emerged from it in June.
Though Neumann stepped down from WeWork in September 2019, he's not done with real estate yet. According to Bloomberg, Neumann is starting a service rivaling WeWork: Workflow.
Related: WeWork Co-Founder Adam Neumann Wants to Be Your Landlord, Again
Adam Neumann. Credit: Photo by Shahar Azran/Getty Images
Where WeWork promised coworking spaces with perks like free beer, Workflow has a different, more sophisticated aesthetic.
"I am the kind of person who actually learns more from their mistakes than their successes," Neumann said in an April interview with CNBC. "I had time to reflect."
Workflow falls under Neumann's broader real estate company, Flow, which focuses on luxury housing. Neumann founded the company in 2022; Flow received a $350 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz in August 2022 pushing its valuation above $1 billion. On Thursday, Neumann announced Flow House in Miami, a 466-unit, 40-story condo complex to come next year, with baseline prices for a studio condo beginning at $450,000.
Unlike WeWork, which incurred losses by drawing revenue from short-term leases while being bound to long-term ones, Workflow relies on spaces within Flow's residential buildings. So Workflow could have fewer long-term lease expenses that cut into profits.
Neumann also stated in the CNBC interview that "when people like being in a building, they stay. When people stay, it increases occupancy and the value."
Andreessen Horowitz explained its investment in Flow by stating that it met a pressing need in real estate. The venture capital firm also threw its support behind Neumann.
"For Adam, the successes and lessons are plenty and we are excited to go on this journey with him and his colleagues building the future of living," Andreessen Horowitz cofounder and general partner Marc Andreessen wrote on the firm's website.
