meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
How I Built This with Guy Raz

WeWork: Miguel McKelvey

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.831.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2017

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2007, architect Miguel McKelvey convinced his friend Adam Neumann to share an office space in Brooklyn. That was the beginning of WeWork: a shared workspace for startups and freelancers looking for an inspiring environment to do their work. Today, WeWork has created a "community of creators" valued at nearly $16 billion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.

0:07.0

Download the app today.

0:09.0

New Year's is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.

0:13.0

As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.

0:17.0

So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.

0:24.0

Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.

0:31.0

So they showed it to us. I'm like, wow, like for me, I was coming from a design background.

0:35.0

Like this is sick, this is as good as it gets.

0:38.0

And they're basically, okay, here's the building. What would you do with it?

0:42.0

So basically I go home and I start thinking of a concept, of a name.

0:48.0

I, by the domain, I build a website. I design some floor plans really simple.

0:54.0

Do like a quick like business model. I stayed up all night, basically.

0:57.0

Wait, wait, you did this in one night?

1:00.0

Yeah, basically because we had been challenged with like, what are you going to do?

1:03.0

And we have no credibility, right? So my thought was, if I do all this stuff and come back tomorrow,

1:08.0

it'll seem like we were planning it for weeks and events, right?

1:12.0

From NPR, it's how I built this. A show about innovators, entrepreneurs,

1:22.0

idealists and the stories behind the movements they built.

1:26.0

I'm Guy Raaz and on today's show, how two friends hustled their way into Manhattan real estate.

1:34.0

And in just seven years, built a $17 billion off the sharing company called WeWork.

1:46.0

Let's say back in 1985, someone pitched you on an idea to build a chain of stores that just sold coffee.

1:55.0

Or say in 2008, a friend asked you for some seed money to create a service

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -2840 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Guy Raz | Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Guy Raz | Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.