Life is a journey (my last full time day at WeWork)
A little over five years ago I took a few large leaps in my life in a very short period of time where I left LivePerson, started a startup with Mike and Andrew and started WeWork Labs with Adam, Matt and Miguel.
A little over five years ago we took the north half of one of the very first floors that WeWork had opened, only a few months prior, and meticulously moved the following items into the space:
- 47 desks for working at
- 47 chairs for rolling around on
- Lots of whiteboards for brainstorming
- 1 television with a handful of game consoles for break time
- 1 kegerator for beer
- 1 projector for demos
- 1 comfortable couch for nap time
But the most important “items” to move into the space were 47 amazing people working towards building their own dreams.
On April 1, 2011 we opened the doors to what was, at the time, a passion project called WeWork Labs. To this day I believe we have stayed true to our simple message:
We give startups all of the tools and connections they need to go from prototype to a real business. We do this through events, mentorship and by surrounding our members with investors, advisors, service providers, brands, marketing and product professionals, and fellow entrepreneurs.
Two years after opening the doors to the first WeWork Labs space we had moved from 47 seats in SoHo to over 200 desks on Varick Street and had opened our first Labs space in SoMa in San Francisco. At the beginning of 2013 I joined WeWork full time (along with Matt). We rolled in Labs as a community offering and began to open up Labs spaces all over the country.
Fast forward three and a half years. We’ve helped thousands of founders create, test and build their businesses. My personal goal has been and continues to be to find and to support budding early stage startup founders.
It became clear over the last year and a half that one way I was able to do this and to give back to the community was by investing in some of the most promising, helpful and smartest founders. I began doing this as an angel with Matt and so far it’s been promising. We’ve backed early Labs members on their second or third projects, friends of the community and veterans in the startup world that have been the biggest supporters of other Labs members.
I have found that I enjoy investing in these companies early on and I want to do more of it. So today I’m announcing that I’m moving on from WeWork to focus on investing full time. This is a brand new part of my journey that I couldn’t be more excited to focus on.
Over the next couple of months I’ll work on whether or not I create a new vehicle or join an existing one that believes in the power of community. One thing is for sure — I plan on focusing most of my time investing in those members of our community that help others. I find that those founders are some of the most resilient and passionate founders and they’re the most likely to draw in other great people on their journey.
Below is the note that was shared with the entire WeWork team. I’m looking forward to continuing to partner with WeWork and all of the employees who are like family to me.
I have exciting but bittersweet news to share. After three and a half years today will be my last official day at WeWork. I am leaving to focus on a new venture that will keep me tightly connected to our strong community. My goal is to create an investment vehicle that can help our members find the funding they need to grow. While I would have loved to have built this fund inside of WeWork, as an employee, I fundamentally believe that WeWork has to continue to be a platform and to offer the best possible choices for our members. I am positive we will be able to collaborate and create a program through which some of our strongest member companies can find a catalyst for growth.
For those of you who don’t know me well, I co-founded WeWork Labs, as a member, five years ago with Adam, Miguel, Matt Shampine and a handful of other WeWork team members. Two years later I took a big leap and joined WeWork full time. The journey has been incredible. The Labs community has supported thousands of members who are continuing to build amazing startups. During that time, I personally invested in many of those companies and so a fund is a natural next step. I will be in touch as we refine our vision.
If you’d like to connect, feel free to send me an email at jmiddleton@gmail.com. I’m always available for a coffee or a drink, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how to have the most meaningful impact on our community. This is not goodbye — you are all a part of my family and, as the saying goes, family is forever.
Cheers,
Jesse Middleton
