Office Hours: Adam Neumann’s Flow, Sustainability Goals, and Dealing with Grief

Scott takes a question about whether Adam Neumann’s new real estate venture could benefit from operating under a franchise model. He then shares his thoughts on the progress corporations have made in lowering their emissions, and offers advice to someone who recently lost his business partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Scott Galloway?

  Support for the show comes from Northwest Registered Agent. Your business identity is everything that makes your business legitimate and professional. With Northwest Registered Agent, you don't just form a business, you start a complete foundation built for privacy, credibility, and growth. That includes registered agent service, a business address, operating agreement, domain, website, professional email, phone number, and built-in privacy. In other words, your home address, personal email, and phone number stay private. Don't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for what you can get from Northwest for free. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com/profgfree and start using free resources to build something amazing. Get more with Northwest Registered Agent at northwestregisteredagent.com/profgfree.

• 0:49Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 1:26Scott Galloway?

  Welcome to the Prop G Pod's Office Hours. This is the part of the show where we answer questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question, please visit officehours.profgmedia.com. Again, that's officehours.profgmedia.com. By the way, I'm looking in my camera. I had a facial yesterday at this fancy hotel. I look fucking dreamy. I am radiant right now. I seriously, I look 56. I want to make out with me. I want to stand back so I can kiss myself.

• 1:57Speaker 02

  Who are you calling donkey?

• 2:00Scott Galloway?

  Donkey, you're a-

• 2:02Speaker 02

  A stallion, baby. I can win it.

• 2:05Scott Galloway?

  Anyways, anyways, office hours, I do not see these questions or listen to them. You're getting the authentic, real dog. Question number one.

• 2:14Speaker 03

  Hi Scott, my name is Whitney. I work for a global hospitality company. So as I look at Adam Neumann's concept for Flow and his plan to disrupt the global rental housing market, I actually think it makes a lot of sense. I believe there's a segment of consumers that would be very attracted to this hybrid space that's blending residential units with the flexibility and consistency of a global hotel chain. While Mr. Neumann seems to have the advantage of more easily raising capital than most founders, I think he's missed a key opportunity here. If his strengths are in branding and vision work and not operations, as we saw with WeWork,

• 2:55Speaker 03

  Flow should be built on a franchise model to shift the complexities of property management to more experienced investors. What's your perspective on this and on the franchising model in general?

• 3:06Scott Galloway?

  Whitney, thank you for the thoughtful question. So just some background. A16 or Andreessen Horowitz has invested 350 million. It's their biggest check ever in Flow, so a third of a billion dollars, which values Flow at $1 billion. So it's a unicorn right out of the gates. Flow is expected to launch in 2023. Neumann has purchased, I think it's about 3,000 apartment units in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville, kind of where cool young people are escaping to. According to the New York Times, Flow will be a branded product with community features, operating the properties Neumann owns and providing its services to a third party. So first off, let's talk about the concept and then let's talk about the business model or the kind of the construct.

• 3:48Scott Galloway?

  I think it's a great idea. Brands are meant to be shorthand that helps conduct diligence for you. I, when I go to London, or I used to go to London on business, I would stay in the aughts. I would stay at either the Four Seasons or the Mandarin Oriental. Why? One, because someone else was paying. And two, I don't know anything about London hotels, but I know if I stay at a Four Seasons or a Mandarin Oriental, it's going to be on a scale of one to 10, at least an eight. And then what happened? Social media came along and the social graph and TripAdvisor. And I would find out that the Connet is more my speed or the Barclay or the small group of hotels from the Ferndale Group. And all of a sudden, the need for brand, brand equity, and essentially, my job as a brand strategy professor, has declining importance because that diligence is no longer

• 4:33Scott Galloway?

  needed as much because we have these weapons of mass diligence called Google and Facebook and TripAdvisor. However, however, there is no branding in what is one of the largest asset classes in the world, and that's residential apartment units. If you're moving from Atlanta to Denver and you like the way that your apartment, the management of your apartment rolls, you like the amenities, you like the look and feel, you like the aesthetic, you like their approach to your community center, rec center, or the technology, maybe you just want the same technology in every place. I'm a customer of something called Inspirato, which is essentially a timeshare. It's sort of hotels, but it's houses. And if you roll with kids and in-laws and dogs, it's so expensive

• 5:18Scott Galloway?

  to stay at a nice hotel because you kind of need three rooms. So you rent a house, but it has hotel-like amenities. And what they do is they rent houses or do long-term leases from people who own second homes. They put their own furniture in there. One of the things I love about it, in addition to the services and the hotel services, they clean your house every day. You show up and they have the right beer that you want. Rot a burger for me, or an elegant IPA. That's how I roll. That's how I roll. But anyways, and then they even make reservations at restaurants, knowing the kind of aesthetic you have. And that is old pathetic guy who wants to hang out with younger, hotter people than him. I eat everyone. Anyways, but they get it. And the consistency, the positioning, the type of property, the technology. I know how to operate the fucking remote in these

• 6:01Scott Galloway?

  places, and I like that whenever I go to a new house because I love TV. It's my hobby. I'm good at it. And I want to know how to turn on the TV without trying to figure it out and operate the music and even just the consistency around the tech. It's the same password for the wireless in all these places. So when I show up with my computer, it auto connects to the internet. That does not exist. That exists in hotels. It doesn't exist really in commercial real estate either. There's Vornado, there's Equity Office that sort of has a brand, but it really doesn't. WeWork tried to do that and institutionalize or create an institutional brand in commercial. But the idea, I think it's an enormous opportunity because the young rental crowd are very brand sensitive.

• 6:43Scott Galloway?

  So to do that, to bring a consistent brand positioning to residential apartments just makes all kinds of sense. It's a great idea. Now, now, the reason why I don't think this will work is that Andreessen Horowitz isn't interested in the long-term thoughtful operations and execution of a residential real estate business. What they're going to try and do here, in my view, is put a layer of bullshit publicity and technology on top of this thing and try and get an outsized valuation. And the fact that they're investing a third of a billion dollars, my guess is, is that Adam has paid a premium to aggregate 3,000 units as quickly. I don't think they're going to be able, I think it'll be like WeWork where they try and position as a tech company, but it's not. You're running fucking desk, boss.

• 7:24Scott Galloway?

  In terms of your question around franchising, I'm really going on here. A lot of caffeine. Caffeine brings out the NC17 and the word salad from the dog. What you have with most hotels is a similar model. And that is they create hotels that are, they put them into separate LLCs, meaning they're protected from one another. Then they find a rich guy who wants to own a hotel and he finances it. Michael Dell owns a bunch of Four Seasons. I think he owns all the Four Seasons in Hawaii. And there's more psychic income there. It's like owning a Ferrari dealership. If you buy a Ferrari dealership, you get 2% return, but you get, my guess is you get whatever Ferrari you want. And it's kind of cool to say, what do you do? I own the local Ferrari dealership.

• 8:07Scott Galloway?

  I think it started the same way with hotels. And that is, a lot of people like the idea of owning a Four Seasons. Obviously, they get great rooms at their family vacations in Hawaii. And they'll make some money, but they don't make a lot of money. The folks to make the Benjamins here are the flags. Now, what do I mean? The W flag, the Weston flag, the Four Seasons flag. The Four Seasons, I think, only owns one or two of its own properties. Its headquarters, its flagship property in Toronto, which is lovely, which is lovely. I took my dad to see a Toronto Maple Leafs game there. They knew about it. And they had this kind of Canadian or this Toronto Maple Leafs cake for us waiting there. They're very good at what they do. But they're smart. You don't want to own the property. You want to be the flag that's in charge of branding, reservation systems, and have someone else finance it and take eight or 10% of the gross.

• 8:51Scott Galloway?

  So even in a downturn, you still make money. That's the way to go. You don't want to own the hotel. You want to manage it. You want to be the franchisee, if you will, and have somebody else operate it and come up with the capital. How do I know so much about hotels? I love hotels. I won't travel to cities. I travel to hotels. I don't go to Istanbul. I go to the Soho House in Istanbul, which is the old American Embassy, because it is beautiful. I don't go to Bodrum in Turkey. I go to the Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum because I know it's a fucking amazing property. I go to the new Aman. Aman, I'm fucking Instagram right now, shoving my wealth in other people's faces because I am deeply insecure. But my point is, I go to hotels. I don't go to cities. I absolutely love hotels.

• 9:34Scott Galloway?

  So thank you for the excuse to talk about a passionate mind, Whitney. Next question.

• 9:39Speaker 04

  Hey, Scott, this is Jamie in Philadelphia. Before we know it, 2025 is going to be here. And the biggest firms in the world have made aggressive eco and sustainability goals for 2025. Amazon says 100% of their energy will be renewable by 2025. Unilever is going to cut their plastic sourcing in half by 2025. And Nestle says that all their packaging will be either recyclable or reusable by 2025. Is this feasible for these major firms? They don't exactly stop on a dime.

• 10:17Speaker 04

  Their supply chains are engineered around single-use packaging and simple, cheap-to-acquire energy. Do you see firms pushing these goals back again, kicking that can down the road like they have been? Or do you think they'll actually follow through? If they do kick the can down the road, do you think that will manifest itself in a share in a stock price adjustment in any way? Will the market react to that? Thanks for taking my question.

• 10:47Scott Galloway?

  So that's a really thoughtful question. And I'm not sure. People ask me a lot, why don't talk more about the environment? Or they want to kind of sign me up to the kind of the environmental cause. And I am not an environmentalist. I'm the great endorsement. I think after the last human takes her last breath, the earth is going to belch for about 50 years and it'll be as if we were never here. Having said that, anyone who doesn't acknowledge climate change has just decided they're going to watch Fox and, you know, find 10,000 more votes in Atlanta and is just giving up on truth. Oceans are warming. Their shit is for real. There used to be, I think, two heat waves on average per year. Now there's seven and they've gone from lasting seven days to 20 days. I'm in LA. I have never experienced it this hot.

• 11:32Scott Galloway?

  I grew up here. There is, it seems to me we've hit a tipping point. Consumers will ultimately drive the change here. And it does seem as if sustainability is just a key criteria. There's price, there's product, there's how you treat your employees. And kind of every day shifts up in terms of criteria, how sustainable the company is. So I think they'll accomplish this. And there's so many, there's so many firms now helping firms like Unilever get to more net zero. There's a whole ecosystem. I think kids are interested in getting into this field. I think companies see it as a key criteria. I think it's an opportunity for them to be good citizens. Anyways, I think we've hit a tipping point. I think firms can and will figure this out. I think it's very exciting.

• 12:15Scott Galloway?

  Sustainability is something I used to, quite frankly, be very cynical of. And I've kind of, I've become a convert. I think that's important for all of us. So I think it's absolutely doable. The world isn't what it is. The world is what we make of it. And I think we're making a better world here. I do think we've hit a tipping point around sustainability and addressing climate change. Thank you for the question. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us.

• 12:43Scott Galloway?

  Support for the show comes from Built. Most of us work hard to earn our keep, but usually there's no one around to hand you a cookie when you successfully pay your monthly housing bill. No one except Built, that is. Built has expanded from their original renter rewards program, and they have a lot more going on for members now. For example, members can earn points on mortgage payments, too. Every housing payment gets you points that get you a lot more than baked goods, such as flights with top travel partners, including United and Hyatt, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases, and much, much more. Here's another benefit of Built membership. You also get access to what they call a neighborhood concierge. You can make restaurant reservations, book fitness classes, and find new local spots, all while rewarding you at more than 45,000 merchant partners. It's simple.

• 13:25Scott Galloway?

  Being a renter and now owning a home feels a lot better with Built. You can download the Built app and join the membership for where you live at joinbuilt.com/profg. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com/profg. Use our link so they know we sent you.

• 13:43Scott Galloway?

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• 14:28Scott Galloway?

  Over 16,000 fast-growing companies like Ramp, Ryder, and Harvey save time and resources while scaling fast with Vanta. Learn more at vanta.com/profg and get $1,000 off. That's spelled V-A-N-T-A dot com slash prop G for $1,000 off.

• 14:51Scott Galloway?

  Welcome back. Question number three.

• 14:53Speaker 05

  Hi, Professor Galloway. My name is Grant from Iowa City, Iowa. I run a market research and brand strategy firm focused on higher education. Very recently, my friend and business partner died unexpectedly. In the past, you've written really beautifully about loss, as well as running your own professional services firm. So I was wondering if you have any thoughts or advice for me as I move forward. Thank you. Your thoughts are always incredibly relevant for my work. I love sharing your writing with colleagues, and I look forward to the chart of the week every Monday. Thanks for all you do.

• 15:25Scott Galloway?

  Grant from Iowa City, working in education. Could you be more likeable? First off, Grant, I'm very sorry for your loss. I don't think there is a user's manual. I think there are best practices here that usually work, but everybody's got to decide how they mourn. I think it's therapeutic to, if you're running a business and you're this person's partner, you're clearly a competent person. I think it's cathartic to help the family out or engage yourself in the recovery of this individual. I don't know if they had a family, but take yourself out of your own grief. I haven't had that many friends die. I think there's kind of two key moments,

• 16:08Scott Galloway?

  or two really key moments in life are when you have kids, it's the first time you're forced to grow up and not think about yourself all the time. And I think it's sort of liberating. And it's the first time you kind of become a grown up, or most of us. I know it was the first time I thought about anything more than me, was when my kid came marching out of my girlfriend. And then the other thing is when someone you love gets sick and dies. It's just, it's unthinkable. You can't imagine it growing up, and it kind of brings home the harshness of life. And there's some positives to it. It gives you perspective. It gives you an appreciation for the finite nature of life. But it's just, there's just no getting around it. It just kind of, the

• 16:49Scott Galloway?

  universe just says, distinct to what you were taught as a kid, there's things outside of your control that are devastating. The thing that's helped me the couple of times I've lost quote unquote peers is to be more focused on others than your own grief. The other thing is in terms of your own mourning, give yourself the right to mourn, but put a statute of limitations on it. And that is, you know, if you go through divorce, I would say the first year is terrible and you think you're okay the second year, but you're not. But within two years, if you're not kind of back trying to establish other relationships, having repaired relationships, or have good relationships with your kids, or be economically back on some sort of track, you should seek

• 17:30Scott Galloway?

  outside help. And I think when someone you care about passes, I think you give yourself a certain amount of time to mourn and use whatever tools you can to help get through that mourning. But if you're not out of it, if you find you're stuck, unable to move on, unable to work, unable to, you know, depressed, unable to focus on things, not getting joy from the things you usually get joy from, then you seek outside help. And also, I found it very helpful to assume, to begin to get myself out of my head and, and think about how can I help or be a play a productive role in that person's, in their spouse's life who has had

• 18:10Scott Galloway?

  a devastating loss. If in fact, that person was married, their parents' life, or their kids' lives. I find that that's a means of, I don't know, kind of helps a wound feel, feel faster. Again, Grant, I am sorry for your loss.

• 18:28Scott Galloway?

  That's all for this episode. Again, if you'd like to submit a question, please submit a voice recording by visiting officehours.progmedia.com.

• 18:53Scott Galloway?

  It was one of those heatwaves on Sunday where it was so hot midday. I turned into an old person and in my hotel, I was obviously scared to go outside, but I was actually starting to get paranoid, like, what if the electricity goes out? And I'm in here and they find me seven days later like melted, clinging to a bottle of water and it's like some fake makeshift ice bath. That's how you think when you get old. That's how you think when you go old. Anyways.

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