When I say "we", you say "work".
We!
Work!
We!
Work!
That’s the charismatic CEO of WeWork,
Adam Neumann
If you’re doing something that has intention
or meaning in it,
you cannot fail.
The feeling you have right now of being together,
the feeling of being happy - that’s what WeWork is!
It is an idea that's shared by a lot of startups,
that your work should be more than just something
that you do 9 to 5, Monday through Friday
but really a calling or a mission,
or something that you feel truly compelled to do.
WeWork believes that they’re not just selling a workplace,
but a community.
They really think of this idea of the community
as something not measurable but very effective
in giving the workplace a sort of spark of energy.
And Neumann has a term for this intangible energy.
I'm pretty sure he would call it "the power of 'We'".
This is the story of how WeWork turned work into a lifestyle
and wants to change the world next.
The co-working giant WeWork is amongst
the most valuable startups in the world
but 2019 hasn’t started as the company may have been hoping.
Now WeWork is not working for SoftBank.
The Japanese conglomerate announced Monday it’s investing an additional $2 billion
in the co-working startup.
It's a step back from the $16 billion investment that would have given
SoftBank a controlling stake in WeWork.
The significantly smaller investment from Japan’s SoftBank leaves WeWork more vulnerable
to a potential economic downturn
or a slump in lease prices.
Still, WeWork is plowing ahead
and announced in January it’s rebranding itself as
the We Company with the ambitious mission “to elevate the world’s consciousness”.
That kind of sounds like a self-help cult now so what does the We Company do?
The We Company will consist of three main verticals,
WeWork, WeLive, which for now is just two buildings
for communal living,
and WeGrow - which is a $42,000 a year elementary school in New York.
When Miguel and I started this company, the intention was - can we change the world?
The idea for WeWork emerged from the upbringings of Neumann and his co-founder Miguel McKelvey.
They both spent part of their childhoods in communal living.
It was really community and bringing people together that we were both attracted to.
The doors to the first WeWork location opened in 2010.
They started by renting out desks and famously small "fish-tank" offices to freelancers
and entrepreneurs on a monthly basis.
But the WeWork model has always been about lively communal spaces.
Most WeWorks will have staff called titles like, Community Manager
and they have a pretty big say in the culture of a place,
they maybe organize happy hours or speaking events or lunch time meetings that people
can come to and sort of network with each other.
WeWork wants people to interact and to achieve this they monitor how people use their spaces.
We keep tremendous amount of data.
Things people usually don’t talk about.
Like when they get up and how often do they go to the coffee or actually literally
connect with other people.
WeWork has an in-house social media app used to book rooms and rate working spaces,
like you would an Uber driver.
This app, paired with data-harvesting sensors, which are spread around selected offices,
allows WeWork to observe behavior.
Based on that, they can make design tweaks and roll them out in their next building.
And they have a steady stream of buildings in development to test those ideas on.
They've put a lot of energy into growing super, super fast.
In 2014 WeWork opened its first international location in London.
Fast-forward five years and they have 400 locations in 26 countries.
They’re now the largest private tenant in Central London, Manhattan and Washington D.C.
And while it continues to expand at breakneck speed,
WeWork has also shifted its focus
to much larger enterprise customers.
The largest companies in the world have been approaching us, and saying hey, can you bring
this community into our company.
More than 30% of WeWork’s members now work at companies with 1000 or more employees
And I think this is gonna be a tricky thing for WeWork, trying to balance the entrepreneurial
energy that's a big part of their brand, with the stability and revenue that comes from
these Fortune 500 and large companies.
But despite all the changes, the company still markets itself as
“a community of creators”.
You’re a creator and you’re a creator and we’re all creators.
WeWork couldn’t be happier than to give you the $50,000.
It’s yours!
That’s Neumann at one of WeWork’s Creator Awards events.
The company launched the elevator pitch competition in 2017,
and opened it up to people outside of WeWork’s network.
They distribute $20 million annually in prize money
to “anyone with an idea and a plan”.
And it’s just another way that WeWork is trying to build its brand.
Like they really see this, I’m sure, as a marketing expense.
And that brand recognition is important
as the newly renamed We Company branches outside of office spaces.
That's success...
I'm not convinced yet that they're going to have that sort of effect on the way we live.
But yeah in terms of the way that they affect our expectations about our workplace,
I do think that they've already probably made some big changes in what companies expect
and what employees expect.
The core of We Company’s business is still about adding value to the real estate they’re leasing.
If that’s enough to weather an economic slowdown remains to be seen.