Adam Neumann’s new startup is reworking WeWork’s old business model

“The lack of community and the disconnection that people feel is even more relevant today” than in the days of WeWork, Neumann told Bloomberg of Workflow.

Workflow’s new take on coworking spaces

Workflow will rent office space to both Flow residents and outside companies, but will focus on a different business model than WeWork to avoid repeating the startup’s now-infamous struggles, Bloomberg reported.

Whereas WeWork signed long-term leases and rented out office space in the short term, Workflow will lease out space in residential buildings that Flow already owns, and manage other spaces in partnership with landlords, according to Bloomberg.

In 2019, Neumann parted ways with WeWork after the company’s planned IPO fell apart, and by late 2023, the company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“It has been challenging for me to watch from the sidelines since 2019 as WeWork has failed to take advantage of a product that is more relevant today than ever before,” Neumann said in a statement following WeWork’s bankruptcy announcement in 2023.

“I believe that, with the right strategy and team, a reorganization will enable WeWork to emerge successfully,” he added.

Neumann had submitted a bid earlier this year to buy WeWork back, in partnership with Flow Global and other financing partners. He told BI at the time that “the future of living has working integrated into it.”

But in April, WeWork announced a restructuring plan that cut out Neumann, and by May, Neumann had backed down from his bid — though he said the company’s plan without him was “unrealistic and unlikely to succeed.”

Neumann says he’s learned his lesson

Critics didn’t just zero in on WeWork’s business model but also on Neumann’s management.

In 2019, a Wall Street Journal report detailed allegations of Neumann partying hard and taking drugs, while investors worried about possible conflicts of interest that emerged in WeWork’s S-1 filing before its failed attempt to go public.

But Neumann told Bloomberg that he’s ready to slow it down, and that investors Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, will help Flow stay disciplined.

“I know my priorities because of what I went through,” Neumann told the outlet. “It taught me so many things. But one of them was ‘Slow down.’ The other one was ‘Listen,’ and not just listen to what you want to hear — listen to what you don’t want to hear.”

Neumann also said to Bloomberg that “the lesson was learned” after Andreessen once told him the company couldn’t make plans based on assumptions.

Neumann added that he’s approaching his new venture with humility, according to the outlet.

“The common theme for the whole story is we’re learning. We’re really not sure that we know the answer, therefore we’re taking our time,” Neumann told Bloomberg. “We’re not rushing.”