04
Dec
Founder Story: WeWork’s Miguel McKelvey
Miguel McKelvey is fascinated by design. Earning his degree in architecture and graduating Magna Cum Laude from The University of Oregon, McKelvey has had a successful track record as both a designer and entrepreneur. His passion for designing spaces that inspire led to his latest entrepreneurial endeavor, a chain of co-working communities known as WeWork. Spanning nine locations across the country, with seven in the New York City area alone, WeWork is a unique co-working experience. Their one of a kind offices boast creatively designed layouts that foster a sense of openness and collaboration. Perhaps this is the reason they attract such a diverse roster of clients. In any WeWork community you can find designers, PR professionals, filmmakers, and programmers all coming together bound by their entrepreneurial drive and determination.
After building Green Desk, a popular eco-friendly co-working space in New York City, McKelvey and his co-founder Adam Neumann sold that company after just one year. Using the profits from Green Desk, the two entrepreneurs decided to build WeWork. WeWork is not just about providing work space for budding entrepreneurs, it is about facilitating a community of like-minded individuals in spaces that foster change-making. In just under three years, WeWork has expanded to nine locations and over 3000 members and they are showing no sign of slowing down. WeWork opened it’s Hollywood location earlier this year and it has become a hub of activity for the much neglected startup warriors who live far from the single digit streets of Santa Monica which serve as the mecca for us Silicon Beachers. Its friendly staff, led by Eyad Zahra, ensure that all WeWork members and visitors are taken care of. Whether it be a normal day at the office, a communal hike in the Hollywood Hills, or at the recent Silicon Beach Fest conference they recently hosted, it’s clear that WeWork is quickly becoming a prominent fixture in the LA startup scene. We caught up with Miguel to learn more about WeWork’s story and how his own personal motto of “always be interested” has led him to entrepreneurial success.
