WeWork
WeWork provides flexible coworking spaces and office solutions for individuals and teams. Founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, the company expanded to approximately 600 buildings across 125 cities worldwide, raising $12.8 billion in financing from investors including the SoftBank Vision Fund. After a tumultuous path, WeWork went public in 2021 through a merger with BowX Acquisition Corp.
The Story
WeWork Inc. is an American company headquartered in New York City that provides coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Over the following 10 years, the company raised $12.8 billion in financing at valuations as high as $47 billion, mostly from the SoftBank Vision Fund, led by Masayoshi Son. In September 2019, the company filed documentation to become a public company and revealed issues with corporate governance.
Key Facts & Metrics
Platform
Company Timeline
2010 — Founded WeWork
WeWork was founded as a real estate company.
2021 — WeWork Milestone
Significant milestone in WeWork's growth.
Episodes Featuring WeWork
Advice Line: What’s Your Value?
Guy Raz brings together four legendary founders—Miguel McKelvey (WeWork), Alexa Hirschfeld (Paperless Post), and Chomps co-founders Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali—for a special mashup tackling one of the hardest challenges in entrepreneurship: communicating your value proposition. Three founders call in with distinct dilemmas: Megan Downey struggles to prove the ROI of time-intensive pop-up demos for her reusable gift wrap, Amanda Ballweg can't make her dog enrichment cards make sense to online shoppers, and Mark Goldfarb needs to hire help without sacrificing the artisanal quality that defines his premium pesto. Each conversation reveals how to translate intangible benefits into clear, compelling messages that customers instantly understand. You'll learn why leading with the problem you solve beats listing product features, how to turn live experiences into scalable content, and why hiring for belief matters more than résumé prestige at the early stage.
Advice Line with Miguel McKelvey of WeWork
WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey dispenses unfiltered advice to three founders at growth plateaus. A high-end pants maker learns to embed her "why" everywhere, a grief care business discovers AI-optimized content could be its new growth engine, and a history merch brand $750K strong realizes polished Instagram is losing to raw storytelling. Miguel's prescription: tell your story so relentlessly that customers can't forget you exist.
