After his very public ousting from WeWork, not much has been had been heard from former co-founder Adam Neumann. That is, until the end of last year when he announced his new multifamily real estate focused startup, Flow. But even after the announcement that they had received a $350 million investment from venture capital firm A16Z, little was known about what the company actually did. Now a new video has emerged of him speaking with A16Z founder Marc Andreessen where he explains a bit more about his new venture. He explained that he wants to “elevate the experience” of renting an apartment and “find a way to share a portion of the value” with the resident themselves.
Neumann explained that his strategy has four pillars: a “branded technology first management company,” an asset management investment firm that owns the building, a financial services company, “a mechanism that is going to take some of the value and share it with the value creators.” The hope is that incentivizing renters to create a better experience will create a “flywheel” that will entice more people to rent there. The hope is that renters will feel more like owners and “want to plunge their own toilets. This renter satisfaction will not only cut down on plumbing bills, it will lower turnover and make buildings more valuable, according to Neumann. There is still much to be learned about exactly how Flow will make the renting experience better but at least now we know a little more about what one of the most successful PropTech entrepreneurs plans to do with the investment from one of the most successful venture firms.
