Adam Neumann's new startup Flow is WeWork for housing, and also solves remote work isolation

The future of living has working integrated into it.

Two years ago, ultra-A List venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) made its largest investment ever, $350 million, in a residential real estate startup called Flow. The founder is Adam Neumann of WeWork fame/notoriety. The concept is rental housing with the same special tech/community sauce WeWork had.

Yes, WeWork went from one of the best startup stories ever to bankruptcy.

But WeWork was the undeniable pioneer of flexible office space powered by cool community and modern tech. And they just survived bankruptcy.

The issue was always WeWork’s lofty tech valuation for subleasing office space it made appealing, but (mostly) didn’t own.

The Flow playbook resolves this by owing the rental housing buildings it’s leasing to people. These economics may limit lofty valuations for investors, but the concept is quite appealing for consumers.

It brings a high-end condotel ownership vibe to rental housing. Think cool hotel-like lobbies with lots of community spaces and amenities. This includes co-working, which addresses the isolation many still feel working at home.

Let’s be real, everyone wants to work at home. It’s better overall. But also everyone wants community. So the Flow concept addresses both.

Two other things Flow is doing with their rental properties that I like:

First, they make some properties available daily, weekly, or monthly. This further adds to the desirable hotel vibe.

Second, they’re going for vertical integration on their rental concept: own the buildings, the tech, the community elements, and the brand that creates the special aura.

All founders and CEOs must have at least one superpower, and for Neumann, it’s the ability to create a special aura around a brand.

Flow hews closely to WeWork’s community building superpowers, and I agree with Neumann’s recent statement that “the lack of community and the disconnection that people feel is even more relevant today” than it was in the WeWork pre-pandemic heyday.

And speaking of high-end condotel ownership vibe, Flow will soon sell condo units of its own making.

For more on the Flow vision overall, check out what a16z said when it invested 2 years ago. It holds up well.

Will this vision add up to Big Tech-like valuations for a residential real estate startup?

If any team could do this, it would be a team like Neumann funded by a16z.

But even if Flow doesn’t reset housing valuations, consumers can still win when teams like this reset how rentals and condos are marketed and managed.

Check out the Flow site and tell me you aren’t at least intrigued.

I’ll do a follow up post on Flow’s condo concepts.

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Reference:

– Adam Neumann’s new startup reworks WeWork’s old model (BI)

– Flow lead investor Andreesen Horowitz on Flow’s vision (a16z)

– Flow website has some killer photos and properties (Flow)

– AP & Wired Briefings on WeWork entering and exiting bankruptcy

– Flow goes global in Saudi Arabia (Bloomberg)

– Flow to sell first luxury condo units in 2025 (Realtor.com)