Move, which can deal with making residences into workspaces, already raised $350 million from billionaire Andreessen’s a16z. Neumann mentioned the brand new enterprise will both compete with WeWork or companion with it at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech convention in Deer Valley, Utah.

Given the spectacular fall of WeWork—and Neumann’s departure—many are stunned he obtained such an enormous funding for a really similar-sounding firm.

However in an interview with Fortune’s Michal Lev-Ram, Neumann insisted he has discovered from his errors.

Watch the complete video interview or learn the transcript under.

Michal Lev-Ram: Why are you right here? You understand, clearly we invited you to come back communicate, that’s a part of the rationale. However I wish to know, why are you again in entrance of this explicit viewers? And why are you at it once more with one other firm? 

Adam Neumann: I feel, to start with, thanks for having me. And all the time good to see an amazing face and viewers. And Park Metropolis is gorgeous. I’ve by no means been right here in the summertime. It’s unbelievable, very good to see. I feel in life, we undergo many journeys. And as we undergo these journeys, we, we have now totally different classes that we study. But when we discovered our classes, and we don’t get an opportunity to do it once more, then I don’t assume you may actually apply it. And I feel when issues occur in your life, in case you took time to consider it, and study from it, and then you definitely apply it, that’s an amazing journey. However in case you really didn’t study from it, and also you stopped, and one thing occurred, it turns into a tragedy. So I’m right here as a result of I really like entrepreneurship. And I feel this class, and this downside is actual. And we’re excited to do our half in making an attempt to unravel it. 

Michal Lev-Ram: So we’re gonna get into Move and what you’re doing with it in the present day, what your hopes are. However I wish to discuss these classes discovered, to start with, and simply ask you, you recognize, you’ve had fairly a little bit of distance and time now from WeWork. Wanting again with the house that you’ve, and the attitude, what do you assume have been the most important errors? What are the most important learnings that you just take with you in the present day? 

Adam Neumann: So after I stepped down in 2019, I really took the time to assume quite a bit and had an amazing workforce round me that have been capable of discuss and talk about all of the various things. And there are lots of classes. However to start with, I’d say I’m extraordinarily proud in what we did in WeWork. I’m happy with the workforce. At present WeWork has over 700 areas, it’s in 39 international locations, it’s in over 70 languages. And I don’t assume there’s an individual on the planet who’s constructing new workplace house in the present day who’s not considering what would or wouldn’t WeWork assume. So I feel that half was nice so far as the teachings, there are lots of, and we don’t have sufficient time in the present day. This can be a brief interview. However I’ll deal with two that come to thoughts proper now. One, as an entrepreneur, there are lots of belongings you don’t management. One of many solely belongings you management is who you encompass your self with, and never simply who you encompass your self with, however precisely what sort of individuals they’re, I feel and WeWork, we’re surrounded by very good individuals. However shifting ahead, what I encompass myself isn’t just very good individuals, but in addition people who find themselves very comfy telling me what they assume. And when it is advisable inform somebody, what do you assume, and so they don’t agree with you, it is advisable have the braveness and it is advisable be empowered to return once more, and say it once more, and once more. And once more. So my first lesson, encompass your self, not solely with the perfect individuals and the neatest individuals, but in addition those who’re going to inform you what they assume. And it means in case you don’t pay attention, they’re going to maintain at it till you both by no means see them once more or till you agree. That’s one. The second is listening. The primary lesson doesn’t work with out the second. After I stepped down from WeWork, I had the chance to turn into an investor. And our household workplace invested in over 50 totally different firms. And I acquired to be the investor giving the entrepreneur recommendation and seeing that the entrepreneur just isn’t listening, and getting a little bit annoyed, till I noticed that possibly that is a part of how I used to behave. And I noticed that a part of being an amazing entrepreneur isn’t just listening, however listening to the laborious reality. Listening to the belongings you don’t need. So If I had to decide on two, select who you encompass your self with, and turn into an amazing listener. And nice listeners wish to take heed to what they don’t wish to hear, not what they wish to hear. 

Michal Lev-Ram: So do you, if I’m to place like put all that collectively, do you assume that your investor on the time at WeWork might have performed a bigger position in not serving to to create what was a spectacular rise after which a spectacular fall? I imply, what was your position there? And what was your investor’s position? 

Adam Neumann: Once more, as I mentioned earlier than, I’m so happy with what we did. And Monday night time quarterbacking, is that what you name? And doing that now with the buyers and what they need to have achieved… I can inform you one factor, nobody from the skin ever is aware of what occurs within the inside. And once more, I feel only a few individuals disrupt classes and only a few firms reinvent classes. Workplace is the second largest class on the planet. And I’m very happy with what was achieved. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Okay, I wish to ask you about – my understanding is that there have been there have been a number of elements of your exit package deal, which was controversial on the time. However a type of elements was additionally a non- compete settlement. And when does that expire? 

Adam Neumann: Our non-compete expires – it’s really a non-compete and a non-solicit, and that expires October thirtieth of this yr. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Okay. So what occurs then? Does this imply that you just along with your new firm, which we’ll get to in a second, compete with WeWork? 

Adam Neumann: To reply that query, I should clarify what Move is as a result of I feel the reply is barely extra advanced. So for these of you who don’t know, Move is constructing your – I heard the mission you mentioned earlier than, I’m unsure that’s really our mission, however sounded fascinating.  However Move is constructing a consumer-facing residential model. And we’re doing it via integrating expertise, group and a world class working workforce that places the resident first. And just a few numbers. For these of you who don’t know, 66% of younger adults on this nation are renters. They usually spend 34% of their complete revenue on lease. And but there isn’t a model, no promise, no elevated expertise. Previously, Howard Schultz was an amazing entrepreneur, and in addition an organization that I actually admire, got here up with the idea of the third place. He would say the primary place was the house. The second place was the workplace. And the third place was Starbucks, the place you might get a cup of espresso, meet somebody, and be surrounded by different individuals. I feel in a pre-Corona world, that was superb. I feel in a post-Corona world, what Move is noticed is that it’s not anymore the primary place, or the third place, it’s the one place. And within the one place, you need to combine every part. Our residents, which we survey commonly, 70% of them spend between two to 5 days working from dwelling. In a actuality the place do business from home and dwelling has turn into one, a spot the place our dwelling has modified, and our relationship to our dwelling has modified. I don’t assume a whole lot of us assume there’s something extra essential than that. The brand new resolution for the way forward for dwelling must be extra the one place versus the primary or the third. And that’s what Move goes to do. To reply your query you mentioned is Move, I feel what you’re asking is, what’s Move gonna do? 

Michal Lev-Ram: Properly, and does Move, the place does WeWork finish? And the place does fFow start? And the place do they dovetail? 

Adam Neumann: So that you’re asking, is Move going to compete?  

Michal Lev-Ram: Sure.  

Adam Neumann: I feel, not I feel I do know, in a world the place the one place is the brand new resolution, the place work and dwelling has been built-in, we’re not prepared really, for these options, as a result of these buildings haven’t been designed for that. The working programs should not there. The tech just isn’t there, the groups should not there to run it. I feel Move has solely two selections, compete, or companion. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Okay, so compete is among the selections. 

Adam Neumann: Compete or companion.  

Michal Lev-Ram: All proper, effectively, possibly it might assist in case you you recognize, I feel we get type of the philosophy and the necessity out there that you just see for Move. However give us a bit extra of a concrete breakdown of what’s the enterprise mannequin? Do you personal these buildings or not essentially? And the way does the corporate earn money? 

Adam Neumann: So I’m going so as to add yet another factor after which I’m going to reply that. In Could, the Surgeon Common got here up with a examine defining loneliness as an epidemic in the USA. He was saying that it’s going to trigger loneliness goes to trigger psychological sicknesses, goes to trigger early dying, he was giving all these totally different definitions and quoting large quantity of examine. We reside in a world the place we’re so related, we’ve by no means been extra disconnected. Although we love expertise, and Move is tech first and product first, we use expertise because the software to attain the mission and the targets that we have now, not as the tip aim. And with that in thoughts, it has to all be introduced collectively completely. So we predict one of the best ways to try this enterprise mannequin, we personal 3000 residences that we’re operating, we have now over 150 workers, a majority of engineers, product designers, each digital and bodily, we’re really trying for lots extra nice workers. And the enterprise mannequin that we have now is a vertically built-in system. We personal the buildings, we function the buildings, we construct the expertise, we construct a group, and we construct the groups that operating them. And while you convey all of that collectively, the second a resident is happier, extra fulfilled and stays longer, the constructing’s churn goes down churn is the quantity of occasions individuals depart a constructing. And the constructing is straight away extra worthwhile. Happier residents, extra fulfilled residents equals extra worthwhile buildings. We’ve already confirmed this on our first two buildings. And that is one thing that in actual property, you don’t see actually because actual property just isn’t handled as a shopper product, although it truly is. The explanation it’s not handled as a shopper product is as a result of it’s a provide problem, not a requirement problem. 

Michal Lev-Ram: You raised $100 million from Marc Andreessen. Right? No, no, sorry, how a lot? 

Adam Neumann: $350 million. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Excuse me, I ought to have checked out my notes. $350 million. That’s much more thoughts boggling. I wish to hear about, simply very briefly, inform us about simply why you assume this can be a good match – Andreessen Horowitz and also you – and in addition curious to listen to, you recognize, not everyone will get a second probability and never on this type of stage, in fact, $350 million. Why do you assume Marc believed in you and wished to place his cash in you? 

Adam Neumann: So just a few issues. First, we spoke about classes discovered. And we mentioned one among them is encompass your self with the fitting individuals. Marc and Ben and a16z are unbelievable buyers. They’re really buyers who began as entrepreneurs, they’ve run a number of companies and created a number of companies. After they’re within the boardroom, and we’re discussing, not solely is noone holding something again, the type of recommendation we’re getting has quite a bit to do with constructing a long-term enterprise. Additionally, and that is one thing superb about Marc, after our first board assembly, Marc calls me the subsequent day. And he goes Adam, I wished to offer you some suggestions about one thing I heard within the board assembly. And I mentioned, in fact, after which he gave me the listing of all of the issues he disagreed with. Not the issues he mentioned within the board assembly however there have been a whole lot of different issues that he considered afterwards. And he mentioned, I don’t wish to come too laborious. However that’s what I feel. And I mentioned, Marc, the deal we made after we did this deal, is that you’ll all the time inform me precisely what you assume. And I’ll do my greatest to be an amazing listener. And that’s been the connection ever since. They’ve turned out to be even better companions then I’d think about. Particularly to what you’re asking, I’m certain there are individuals who should get investments greater than me. I’m certain there’s lots of people deserve who who don’t get it. And I hope as a result of I actually imagine in entrepreneurship, that the individuals who should get this funding will get it as a result of I additionally assume that to construct the longer term, we want startups and we want innovation. And that’s what this convention is all about. I feel it shouldn’t matter what race they arrive from, what gender they arrive from, the place they arrive from, nothing ought to matter. And everyone ought to get the chance. Particularly why I acquired the second probability, that it’s best to ask a16z. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Okay, query from the viewers, please increase your hand. We’ll convey a mic over to you rapidly. We’ve acquired one proper right here. 

Viewers Member: Mark Johnson, CTO,Stand Collectively. What’s your regulatory obstacles do you assume you’re gonna face in constructing Move? 

Adam Neumann: So nice query. There’s a whole lot of basic items in residential actual property which can be in impact. So we have now to comply with all the foundations that exist. It’s really a really superior class in terms of that. However a really early class in terms of really innovation, or expertise, or giving, in your expertise. No matter they’re, we take them extraordinarily critically. However they alter between state to state, and it relies upon in case you’re proudly owning the constructing, constructing the constructing, working the constructing, after which Move begins there. However over time in all probability grows exterior of those multifamily buildings. There’s large alternative to the place this model can go to 

Michal Lev-Ram: Do you, by the way in which, I do know, one of many knocks, after this, one  was printed, was in the way you describe the corporate and earlier on too, you recognize, the truth that the valuation was the place it was, and that, you recognize, there was sure, there was tech concerned, but it surely was actual property. Are you comfy in the present day describing Move as an actual property firm? Or what’s it? What class is it in? 

Adam Neumann: So I can’t reply the tip with out answering the start. I’m a little bit bored of speaking in regards to the previous. But when we should. Our valuation was given by essentially the most subtle valuers on the planet, it was Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. It was Softbank and Benchmark and all the opposite buyers which can be thought-about the perfect buyers on the planet. So when individuals knock our valuation, they’re actually knocking all of the those that gave that valuation. Valuation is one thing that’s given by an individual that wishes to really make investments the cash. Placing that apart, we used to explain WeWork in many various methods. Move may be very comfy being a residential consumer-facing actual property firm. It’s the largest asset class on the planet. It has no model that we all know of. And prop tech in that class continues to be very early. As a result of everytime you resolve these issues, everyone seems to be fixing them as a single level downside, versus really fixing them as a vertical integration downside. So the way in which we’re going after it’s going to take longer, we’re going to need to construct a really strong basis. However after we do, I feel our resolution goes to really assist resolve issues like loneliness, group. And I’ll say yet another factor. And I feel we reside on this world in the present day the place I’m unsure we want extra followers. I feel we want extra buddies. And I feel we are able to all admire much more face-to-face interplay, and possibly rather less FaceTime. 

Michal Lev-Ram: Properly, Adam, we admire you coming getting dressed up for us no t-shirts in the present day. However thanks a lot for coming. And searching ahead to seeing what you do with Move.