# WeWork: Miguel McKelvey (2018)

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2018-09-03
- Length: 51m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018

## Summary

Miguel McKelvey, co-founder of WeWork, recounts the company's origins from a failed startup called Green Desk to the creation of the WeWork brand. He details the early struggles of pitching landlords, the decision to gut and renovate their first Soho location themselves, and the pivotal moment of securing initial investment at a high valuation. The episode also covers the postscript story of Kristel Gordon, who invented the Duvaid tool to solve the problem of stuffing duvets into covers.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=0) Introduction: Miguel McKelvey and the Origins of WeWork
- [4:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=277) Miguel's Background and Move to New York
- [14:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=846) Meeting Adam Neumann and the Green Desk Idea
- [18:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=1096) Selling the Concept and Securing the First Space
- [33:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=1980) Gutting and Renovating the First Soho Location
- [37:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=2277) Securing Investment and Scaling the Business
- [48:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018#t=2928) Postscript: Kristel Gordon and the Duvaid

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- WeWork (company)
- Green Desk (company)
- American Apparel (company)
- Duvaid (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- GoToMeeting (company)

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## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-09-03-wework-miguel-mckelvey-2018. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.