For many people, college is the most memorable time of their lives. Is Adam Neumann about to re-create it for adults?
From a new report in Fortune:
Neumann emerged on stage yesterday in a suit, rather than a T-shirt, I’ll note, and told us that the noncompete and nonsolicit agreements he signed with WeWork expire in October, as our own Anne Sraders wrote yesterday. But what exactly happens after that? Neumann offered a hint: “I think Flow has only two choices: compete or partner.”
Which route he plans to take remains a mystery.
Adam Neumann announced his new startup, Flow, last year. Flow is a chain of apartment buildings designed to foster a sense of community.
Neumann, always an ace fundraiser, pulled in $350 million from Andreessen Horowitz. With an expiring noncompete and a fat bank account, Neumann has some interesting options.
WeWork is currently trading at just $0.27 a share. The entire company is worth a mere $564 million.
Neumann could easily buy WeWork. All it would take is a little debt financing or some additional cash from Marc Andreessen.
Then, Neumann has a total institution. Like a college, you could eat, sleep, work and socialize all in the same place.
Call it FlowWork. Hey, Neumann is the branding genius, not me.
It might look like this:
8:00am: Wake up in your FlowWork apartment, a little hung over from building cocktail hour last night.
9:00am: Work a few floors down in a soaring, loft-style space.
12:00pm: Lunch in the FlowWork cafeteria. Ooh, lobster rolls!
1:00pm: Crank through some e-mails.
5:00pm: Time for Zumba at WeSweat! Located just three floors down, you really have no excuse not to show up.
7:00pm: Ahh, the cocktail hour. From the building roofdeck, you see dozens of other FlowWorks along the horizon, each pulsating with bass.
8:00pm: Tapas for dinner! What a great idea! That FlowWork chef never runs out of surprises.
9:00pm: A little Netflix on your midcentury modern sofa.
10:00pm: Time to bed down in those buttery smooth WeSleep sheets! Ahh, what a day!
This is not as farfetched as it sounds. Neumann’s original WeWork already had a co-living unit called WeLive.
Why not put the two together?
Young people would clamor for this. Americans report fewer friends than in the past. Old forms of community, like church and office, are on the wane.
It also might be a way for companies to finally get workers back in person. Subsidize blocks of employees all living in the same FlowWork!
Neumann’s return to the company that threw him out would be epic. And given WeWork’s powerful brand and low price, it would also make business sense.
I can’t wait for Neumann’s comeback!
What do you think is next for Neumann and WeWork?
Leave a comment and let us know!
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Photo: “WeWork Coworking Space, 333 Seymour, Vancouver” by GoToVan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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