Mar 20, 2023 · 46m · neon-show
WeWork In India - The Untold Story with CEO Karan Virwani | 100x Entrepreneur
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this interview on the 100x Entrepreneur podcast, WeWork India CEO Karan Virwani discusses how the company achieved sustained profitability, navigated existential financial and pandemic shocks, and scaled to over 70,000 desks across India by catering to enterprise demand and the modern hybrid workforce.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Siddhartha holds 7.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 4.4 Guest teaching 4.2 Guest disagreement 1.3 Siddhartha pushing back 2.1
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:44 Rejecting the idea that traditional developers can copy flex space
Karan dismisses the premise that Embassy could have simply launched its own brand, arguing that conventional real estate developers lack the hospitality and tech DNA required.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 9:36 Challenging the need for the WeWork global brandSiddhartha pointedly questions why Karan needed to license WeWork when his father already owned the massive Embassy Group brand.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 17:13 Correcting landlord ownership distributionKaran corrects Siddhartha's assumption that WeWork operates exclusively in Embassy buildings, explaining Embassy accounts for only 20% and competitors like DLF and Prestige are major landlords.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 15:57 Citing exact audited revenue and EBITDA figuresSiddhartha demonstrates deep financial diligence on the company by quoting exact revenue of 1400 crores and EBITDA of 185 crores.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conceptualizing WeWork India and Securing the First Global Franchise | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The host opens with high-level industry numbers before prompting the guest on the founding story. Karan explains how the millennial workforce's demands differed from traditional cubicle setups and why India required a unique franchise model. | |
| Preserving the WeWork DNA and Building a Global Network | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | The host pushes on why Karan did not just build the brand under Embassy Group. Karan educates the host on why traditional real estate developers fail at hospitality DNA, using the Four Seasons analogy. | |
| Scaling Desks from Four Thousand to Seventy Thousand Locations | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The host asks concise tracking questions about yearly desk capacity. Karan walks through the intense operational logistics of building physical inventory across dozens of locations simultaneously. | |
| Operating Leverage, Healthy Margins, and Landlord Relationships | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | The host demonstrates preparation by quoting revenue and EBITDA figures, but makes an incorrect assumption that all properties are owned by Embassy. Karan corrects him, noting Embassy represents only 20% of the portfolio. | |
| Sponsor Break: Prime Venture Partners | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Following a sponsor read, the host asks about capital structure and debt. Karan details navigating compounding macro crises including the IL&FS collapse, the global IPO failure, and COVID-19 lockouts. | |
| WeWork India's Public Listing Ambitions and Capital Strategy | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | The host questions the major transition from a startup customer base to 70% enterprise clients. Karan details corporate talent acquisition dynamics and long real estate approval cycles. | |
| Premium Positioning, Rigorous Unit Economics, and Sector Expansion | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | The host probes on seat pricing tiers and whether low-cost competitors expand the market. Karan reframes the discussion around unit economics and brand dilution. | |
| Navigating Lockdown Occupancy Drops and Member-First Retention | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | The host assumes occupancy dropped to near-zero during the pandemic. Karan clarifies that actual occupancy fell from 77% to 47% and explains their collaborative tenant retention strategy. | |
| Macroeconomic Sector Trends and the Three-Year Path to One Billion Dollars | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | The host asks about sector shifts and revenue trajectory toward one billion dollars. Karan breaks down sector dynamics moving from EdTech to BFSI, AI, and media, while clarifying revenue math. |
Statements from this episode (22)
Virwani: WeWork India was WeWork's first global franchise model
“So because of that, we had to finally come to what ended up becoming the first ever franchise model for WeWork, where we said that we will Take the plunge. We will, you know, the money, we will grow the business under the WeWork brand name. And, you know, you …”
Virwani: Real estate developers have failed to replicate the co-working model
“Many developers, you know, even in the country or everywhere else have tried to do this business or replicate the business, and none of them have been successful.”
Virwani: WeWork India Has 44 Locations and Over 70,000 Desks
“Today we have 44 locations, close to about, say, a little over 70,000 or deaths in the country”
Virwani: WeWork India operates at upwards of 20% margins
“You know, as a business hit what is called as like operating leverage, operating efficiencies, which means that we are sufficiently covering all of our costs and also incremental costs that we might have for growth by a decent margin, you know, businesses upwa…”
Virwani: WeWork India plans to add 20,000 desks annually
“And we'll be adding, you know, about 20,000 desks year over year, which for us is like between 30 to 45%, you know, growth.”
Virwani: Embassy Group represents roughly 20% of WeWork India's portfolio
“Actually, embassy as a landlord would be maybe about 20% of our portfolio.”
Virwani's family invested $150 million of personal capital into WeWork India
“So we've invested almost hundred and fifty million of our own money in this business. And yeah, that's been over the last sort of four or five years.”
Virwani: WeWork India raised $100 million in June 2020 as a lifeline
“In June of 2020, actually right in the middle of the pandemic, we, you know, got that hundred million dollars in funding, which honestly was like a lifeline to the business.”
Virwani: WeWork India faced 500-crore vendor exposure with zero bank balance
“We had an exposure to the market of like nearly four or 500 draws. With no money in our bank at all. And just, you know, our word and our promise that we will make good.”
Virwani: WeWork India generates positive cash and needs limited external capital
“Right now, you know, the business doesn't require much external capital. We just completed a little bit of a raise, and we are generating also positive cash, so external capital is, is really limited, but I do owe our existing shareholders some liquidity and s…”
Virwani: Multinational real estate procurement in India takes up to 24 months
“India has always had very low supply of grade A commercial real estate, or, you know, what these large MNCs would end up taking, and the speed at which they can bring on real estate in their system, which means whatever we spoke about You know, which is our se…”
Virwani: WeWork India charges between 8,000 and 40,000 rupees per desk
“We start even as low as 8000 bucks in in certain locations and we go as high as 40,000 you know for a dedicated private office in in some locations”
Virwani: WeWork India's occupancy crashed from 77% to 47% in 45 days
“We saw occupancy, like, what is sold, go from 77% at that point in time, down to 47% in, like, a span of 30 days, or, like, 45 days.”
Virwani: IT companies drive 60% of India's commercial real estate demand
“India generally about 60% of all, you know, demand commercial, let's say comes from IT, which is our ITS, which is, you know, tech companies, tech, services.”
Virwani: Banking and media are overtaking IT in Indian enterprise leasing
“Banking and media have started to overtake IT and IT services, at least in this period of time. So we're seeing a lot of, you know, companies like multinational banks and stuff like that come into India, start to grow their footprint.”
Virwani: India's outsourced work shifted from back-office to product R&D
“What we've seen also is that the type of work that is coming to India has changed drastically from back office, tele services, telecalling to now full-fledged R&D, product development sites happening here in itself.”
Virwani: WeWork India is nearing a $300 million revenue run rate
“You know, we're already sort of, like, gonna be close to about 300 odd million, you know, in terms of run rate, like, very soon.”
Virwani: WeWork India will hit $1 billion in revenue by 2026
“So, yeah, I think within three years.”
Virwani: Coworking occupies up to 8% of India's Grade A commercial real estate
“Co-working right now is, like, between six to eight percent of All of commercial real estate. So Indian, you know, grade A supply is like eight hundred million square foot of all the supply. Coworking right now is just about like 40 odd million.”
Virwani: Bangalore leads global commercial real estate absorption in recent years
“Bangalore is, is the highest amount of absorption in terms of real estate globally in the last like few years.”
Virwani: Coworking will capture 20% of Indian commercial real estate
“We feel that co-working of, you know, the flex workspace industry will become at least 20% of, you know, all commercial real estate in a period of time. Or even if you say, like, at least 20% of all companies workforce will work in a flexible model.”
Virwani: Flexible workspaces are now the third largest commercial real estate occupiers
“We as flex industry have become the third highest taker of space, which never used to exist. So it's IT, ITS, banking and, you know, financial services. And then, like, Flex, that is taking a lot of real estate.”