The New York Post e-Edition

WEWORK ‘BRO’HAHA

Ire at $$ for startup of ‘toxic, fratty’ former CEO

By THEO WAYT

Controversial WeWork founder Adam Neumann is raking in massive amounts of investor cash for his new real estate startup — but some venture capitalists are cringing at the comeback plan.

After news broke on Monday that Neumann’s new residential real estate startup, Flow, had raised a reported $350 million from prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz at a valuation north of $1 billion, several tech investors and founders reacted angrily.

“THIS IS DISGUSTING,” Kate Braddock, CEO of the startup Switch and a general partner at the W Fund, wrote on Twitter.

Braddock noted the investment is the largest single check in Andreessen Horowitz’s history — slamming the firm for supporting a “straight white male” who’s the “founder of one of the most toxic companies we’ve seen.”

Andreessen Horowitz and Flow did not respond to requests for comment.

The usually outspoken Neumann has remained mum since the deal was announced.

Before Neumann left his WeWork CEO post in 2019, he reportedly fostered a “frat party” atmosphere with frequent smoking and drinking in offices. The company was also hit with allegations that its office culture fostered sexual harassment, which it denied.

Braddock said that Andreessen Horowitz’s investment in Flow shows the venture capital firm helps “perpetuate over and over again a traditional system that favors a small, homogenous set of founders.”

Julia Austin, an angel investor and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, likewise wrote that the deal is a “strong signal from one of the world’s top investors that bad behavior (by straight [white male]) is not only tolerated, but rewarded.”

Allison Byers, a tech investor and founder of a startup called Scroobius that looks to diversify tech, wrote that she was “obviously outraged” about the news.

“This is a function of how VC has evolved to operate,” Byers added in a LinkedIn post. “Generational bias is built in by the long-standing homogenous composition of decision-makers.”

Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen nodded at Neumann’s past. “We understand how difficult it is to build something like this and we love seeing repeat-founders build on past successes by growing from lessons learned,” he wrote in a blog post. “For Adam, the successes and lessons are plenty and we are excited to go on this journey with him and his colleagues building the future of living.”

BUSINESS

en-us

2022-08-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/282333978694944

New York Post