Preston Pesek from NatML

Preston Pesek is the Chief Strategy Officer at NatML, previously he was the Co-Founder and CEO of Spacious which was acquired by WeWork.

Takeaways

• Preston's time at SL Green and Fortress Investment Group.
• Spacious was a capital-light coworking space that activated underutilized restaurant spaces.
• Spacious had a different supply-side model compared to WeWork.
• The acquisition of Spacious by WeWork, which was Adam Neumann's last acquisition.
• How a successful exit has changed Preston's views on building.
• How his new venture runs successfully on remote work.
• Why Preston chose to move to Vancouver from NYC.
• His interest in AI.

Chapters

00:00 From Traditional Employment to Startup: The Journey in Real Estate

05:10 Building Spacious: Insights from Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets

09:47 The Acquisition of Spacious: Lessons Learned

12:34 The WeWork Model and the Demand for Remote Work

15:45 Inspiration and Acquisition

24:45 The Move to Vancouver and Current Work

24:55 Navigating Risks as a CEO and Decision to Move to Canada

26:18 Canada: A Hub for Engineering Talent

26:44 The Disruptive Power of AI

30:41 Building Community in Remote Teams

42:27 Strategies for Dealing with Hard Times as a Founder

46:06 Journey of an Entrepreneur

Keywords

Preston Pesek, Spacious, real estate, coworking, WeWork, acquisition, remote work, office market, remote work, Spacious, Vancouver, engineering talent, AI, disruption, balance, stress