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Chronicles

The story behind the story

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Flow's Adam Neumann seems to have a conflict of interest given he is the largest investor in real estate tech startup Alfred and had board seats there until May

which sounds a lot like Marcela Sapone's company Alfred. @alexrkonrad @_IainMartin and @cfarivar have been working 'round the clock on this investigation. https://www.forbes.com/... @forbes : 1/2 Last week, ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann launched his new real estate venture, Flow. A @Forbes investigation found that it's uncannily similar to a startup he invested in two years ago. https://on.forbes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : A Neumann spokesperson denied Flow will compete with Alfred; a statement from his family office said it looks forward “to future opportunities to partner.” Job listings for a Neumann entity called FOL Management seem to tell a different story 👀 https://www.forbes.com/... Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad : Thanks to VC firm A16Z, Neumann's next act Flow is now backed with $125M more at conception than Alfred's women founders have raised in 8 years. Says one ex-employee: “I worry he's been given an unfair advantage.” Thanks for reading 🙏 https://www.forbes.com/... Thanks: @alexrkonrad

Forbes

Discussion

  • @amy_k_nelson Amy Sterner Nelson on x
    I'm so tired of bad men. This is so disappointing. Did @a16z consider this? You might say, Alfred should sue! But let me tell you a thing about legal battles: Other than in extraordinary circumstances, he who has the most money wins. And they are LONG. It's not a strategy. https:…
  • @eastdakota Matthew Prince on x
    Proving @MsSapone and @JessGBeck's vision and @HelloAlfred's value proposition. I wouldn't bet against them!! https://www.forbes.com/...
  • @lockdownurlife @lockdownurlife on x
    When we talk about incredibly problematic men in tech this is exactly what we mean. If you know anything about WeWork, and the cultish behavior, reckless spending, harassment among other things...why the FUCK do we keep funding POS like this? https://twitter.com/...
  • @brianmcc Brian McCullough on x
    https://www.techmeme.com/... Wait. Again? Can't keep a good man down...
  • @dgmandell David Mandell on x
    Not surprising in the least. What gets rewarded gets repeated. Some great investigative journalism here from @alexrkonrad as always. https://twitter.com/...
  • @mattysino Matthew Graham on x
    I am just shocked that an investment into such a fundamentally toxic untrustworthy founder is already backfiring I truly can't believe it https://twitter.com/...
  • @davidjeans2 David Jeans on x
    There's even more to the story on Adam Neumann's *next big thing*. It turns out his A16Z-backed Flow looks a whole lot like another company he invested in, then soured on. Great reporting by @_IainMartin @alexrkonrad @cfarivar https://www.forbes.com/...
  • @hkanji Hussein Kanji on x
    Neumann distanced himself from Alfred after he no longer would have a way to gain full control of his portfolio company, and then launched a startup that appears to compete with its product. https://www.forbes.com/...
  • @mattschaar Matt Schaar on x
    All the responses to this fail to acknowledge the two scenarios: 1. a16z has a shoddy founder diligence process (possible but unlikely) 2. anyone that was part of the diligence process in Flow knew about this and doesn't really care (entirely plausible) https://twitter.com/...
  • @katiedjennings Katie Jennings on x
    Before Adam Neumann and a16z decided the residential housing market was ripe for disruption, Neumann was already a lead investor in women-led startup Alfred doing something strikingly similar ... & check out the mottos. @_IainMartin @alexrkonrad @cfarivar https://www.forbes.com/.…
  • @forbes @forbes on x
    2/2 “I worry he's been given an unfair advantage,” said one former employee of Alfred, where Neumann remains a major shareholder. https://on.forbes.com/...
  • @forbes @forbes on x
    In 2020, ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann invested in a women-led startup called Alfred. Less than two years later, his new company Flow - backed by $350 million - sounds strikingly similar. @_IainMartin and @alexrkonrad spoke to 8 sources to investigate: https://www.forbes.com/... htt…
  • @mc_of_a Michael Caley on x
    he stole their scam and made it his scam https://twitter.com/...
  • @n_sportelli Natalie Sportelli on x
    You might have seen the news about Adam Neumann's $350M in funding for a new venture called Flow — which sounds a lot like Marcela Sapone's company Alfred. @alexrkonrad @_IainMartin and @cfarivar have been working 'round the clock on this investigation. https://www.forbes.com/...
  • @forbes @forbes on x
    1/2 Last week, ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann launched his new real estate venture, Flow. A @Forbes investigation found that it's uncannily similar to a startup he invested in two years ago. https://on.forbes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
  • @alexrkonrad Alex Konrad on x
    A Neumann spokesperson denied Flow will compete with Alfred; a statement from his family office said it looks forward “to future opportunities to partner.” Job listings for a Neumann entity called FOL Management seem to tell a different story 👀 https://www.forbes.com/...
  • @alexrkonrad Alex Konrad on x
    Thanks to VC firm A16Z, Neumann's next act Flow is now backed with $125M more at conception than Alfred's women founders have raised in 8 years. Says one ex-employee: “I worry he's been given an unfair advantage.” Thanks for reading 🙏 https://www.forbes.com/...