Adam Neumann, WeWork’s ousted chief executive, is signaling his bid to buy back the company he co-founded isn't dead even after the bankruptcy court judge dealt him a setback by approving WeWork’s request for interim new financing that overruled an objection from his investor group.

“This is not over,” Neumann said at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco on Thursday.

Neumann’s investor group, known collectively under the name of Neumann’s new real estate firm, Flow, offered to buy WeWork for $650 million in March as well as provide it with debtor-in-possession financing of up to $250 million, subject to due diligence.

WeWork’s advisers have argued Flow’s proposal is not “actionable” as it needs to clear $4 billion in secured debt WeWork had before it filed for bankruptcy.

“I didn’t think bankruptcy is a beauty competition,” Neumann said at the Bloomberg event. “I thought it’s whoever is going to give the best offer.”

Over 98% of WeWork’s secured lenders, as well as WeWork’s official committee of unsecured creditors and a separate group representing its unsecured noteholders, have approved the company’s reorganization plan, a WeWork lawyer said at a hearing Tuesday.

WeWork wants to increase its profit margin to 24% from 16% in one year without spending money on some aging buildings “in one of the worst office markets,” Neumann said Thursday, adding it’s not feasible WeWork can achieve “this rosy plan.”

He said the global flexible workspace provider’s cash flow can turn negative in less than 24 months if WeWork’s reorganization plan is approved.

A WeWork spokesperson declined to comment on Neumann’s latest words and pointed to the fact that Flow’s objection was overruled.

Bankruptcy lawyers have said Neumann’s bid in its current form would face challenges as Flow needs to satisfy all secured claims and get buy-in from lenders and creditors. WeWork’s confirmation hearing scheduled May 30 is Neumann’s last opportunity to convince the bankruptcy judge otherwise, they said.

Neumann said Thursday his interest in WeWork comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work and live, and that they are connected more than ever.

He described Flow as a “vertically integrated company,” developing its own technology and managing its own buildings, in contrast to traditional landlords, which he said use third-party providers for technology and other management needs. He said the idea for Flow, which its website shows include locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Miami, germinated 22 years ago when he first arrived in New York and lived in an apartment building and noticed neighbors weren’t talking to each other.

“We live in a time when we connect digitally,” he said. “We’ve been more than disconnected than ever. There’s a lot of loneliness.”

Similar to what he’s done at WeWork, Flow also focuses on creating so-called communities and regularly hosts events including yoga or weightlifting classes for its residents. With Flow being the landlord, property manager and developing in-house technology to filter and respond to residents’ interests and demands, it has translated to better financial performance, he said, pointing to the example of net operating income at a Florida building having risen 30% since Flow took control. He said residents have an average age of 32.

Neumann said WeWork fits into the picture of community-based living.

“The future of living and the future of work is intertwined,” he said. The concept of Flow “works for not just living but for work. … Flow has rebuilt the architecture on what’s the most important. It’s the resident.”

Neumann also said he’s learned from his days at WeWork.

While at WeWork, where Neumann said “every single decision was a unanimous yes, not a single no” at board meetings while he was in charge, he said at Flow, there’s something different that keeps him check.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, whose venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has invested $350 million in Flow, both sit in on its board meetings and aren’t shy about giving their feedback, Neumann said, pointing to the fact that they just voiced their dislike of a Flow plan for 2025 loud and clear at a recent board meeting.

“The conversation around the table wasn’t something I am used to,” Neumann said. “They aren’t just the best investors, but they are entrepreneurs. … The pushback [from them] is real. That’s what I want in a board.”

While he said “there’s emotion” involved in his bid to buy back WeWork, he said he’s coming in “with a fresh set of eyes. … We changed the category. We became part of the pop culture. Did we make mistakes? I’m taking a lot of lessons from the past. But I don’t for a second underestimate the amount of achievement.”

Neumann said Flow, which has an employee count of 160, received many applications from former WeWork employees, which he said had numbered over 10,000 at one point. He interprets that as doing something right at WeWork.

As to how he has changed as a leader, he recounted a piece of advice Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos gave him: Let other people give their input first before speaking.

“If I want to deliver, I have to learn how to do that,” Neumann said.