RSG146: Airbnb Meets WeWork with Codi Founder Christelle Rohaut

Now that many people are working from home, they’re starting to realize there are a lot of pros – but also some cons to working at your house. In this episode, I’m interviewing Christelle Rohaut from Codi, a company that connects people with homes to people looking to work from ‘home.’ It’s a really cool concept, and it’s even more important now. We’ll talk about Codi, how she came up with the concept, and the future of remote work.

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Intro to Christelle Rohaut

• UC Berkeley city planner and environmental engineer from France
• Studied the circular economy
• Founder of Codi, called Airbnb Meets WeWork
• Sharing economy vs. circular economy

What is the Circular Economy?

• More holistic way of looking at the economy
• Hiring local drivers, local driving – it goes beyond ‘just’ the car
• How dollars circulate in the economy, stay in the local community
• Became interested in sustainable communities within cities – create value in your own city

Codi: Airbnb Meets WeWork

• Name – wanted to be able to use it as a verb and a noun
• Customers came up with the description!
• Codi is the first company to offer daytime work spaces in private homes
• Gives the opportunity for people to walk to work from their home, remain in their communities

Response to Codi

• A lot of workers want to stay remote, but want to be connected to community
• Codi provides this option and feedback has been positive
• Opportunity for human interaction, walk around – positive for mental health

Hosting with Codi

• 60% of hosts already work from home, looking for company and to share space
• 40% of hosts work outside the home and have empty space
• Opportunity to earn extra income – hosts are notified when they have a booking and they see the LinkedIn invite
• By locals, for locals

Vetting and Safety

• Background checks, LinkedIn verification
• Not for tourists – it’s for people looking for work space
• Initially reached out to people in coffee shops

Scaling and the Future of Remote Work

• Working with businesses
• Designing the platform in a thoughtful way
• Codi is focused on sparking the ‘walk to work’ movement

Outro

• Thanks to Christelle for coming on the show! COVID has harmed many industries but has also helped grow others
• On a personal and business level, there are some upsides to the changing thoughts around remote work

Show Notes

• Codi.com
• Elpha – “where women in tech talk candidly online.”
• Curbivore Conference