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Last month, WeWork announced its acquisition of Managed by Q, a company that Homebrew seed funded in 2014. The decision to sell a startup can be a harrowing one. As a founder, you lose control, you commit your team to a different path and you forgo the potential upside (and avoid the downside!) of remaining independent. The most successful acquisitions are ones in which both the buyer and seller have alignment on strategic rationale, culture and a shared vision.
Managed by Q was founded to provide companies with a single platform to manage all of their workplace tasks and services, helping companies save time and money, and create a better environment for employees. WeWork started with a mission to build communities within beautiful, shared office spaces. When WeWork approached Managed by Q about joining forces, it was clear that WeWork’s scale and global presence, combined with Managed by Q’s deep expertise in workplace management, would help both company’s fulfill their respective, and now joint, missions to even greater effect. The alignment of strategy, culture and vision was clear from the very first conversations between Dan Teran, Q’s founder and CEO, and Adam Neumann, WeWork’s co-founder and CEO.
While the acquisition represents a very good outcome for us as investors, we’re more proud to have contributed to building the culture and values of a company that has set the example for how to build career paths and compensation for all employees. Often times doing the right thing is harder (and more expensive!) than doing the easy thing. But Q has proven that doing the hard thing is not only possible, but also good business.
Congratulations to Dan and the entire Managed by Team! We have no doubt that you and WeWork will be an example of a hugely successful acquisition.