Adam Neumann: The Real Story Behind WeWork, A $4 Billion Cab Ride, And Surviving A $460 Million Debt
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What is the opening discussion about Shopify and its ease of use?
Perustin pyöräilyvaatteita valmistavan ornotin vuonna 2013. Mielestäni parasta Shopifessa on se, että voimme harjoittaa liiketoimintaa ilman teknistä osaamista. Voimme hallinnoida yrityksen taustajärjestelmiä ja frontendiä sekä myydä verkossa. Vaivatta, jos Shopify olisi pyöräilyvaruste, se olisi mielestäni itse polkupyörä. Sillä asiat hoidetaan ja meidän liiketoimintamme hoituu Shopifessa. Aloita ilmainen kokeilemaan. shopifi.com-sivustolla I went from thirteen thousand
employees to three employees in one week. We work was one of the fastest physical global growth the world's ever seen, but everything
Everything went wrong. We lost everything. 2019 we uh publicly filed its S1. Company valued at around forty seven billion dollars. The S1 showed some losses, three billion in the past three years. Also the S1 revealed when you were CEO that you'd also trademarked the word we and sold it back to the company. That's not true. People sometimes think I was fired because the Wall Street Journal said something.
I wanted to hear directly from you. What happened? You really want to go there? I'm happy to. The floor is yours. So in We Work, the business grew faster than I could grow. And every step I take, suddenly the ego starts coming up. Oh 20 billion valuation. Billion valuation in Japan. On top of that, five billion valuation in China. It suddenly became about the money.
How does Adam Neumann describe the rapid collapse of WeWork from 13,000 to 3 employees?
I forgot what we were all about. And when I lost it, everybody. Patient. And the next thing is we found ourselves being forced to go public when we weren't
ready. Then you resigned as CEO of WeWAC after the IPO didn't pan out.
So I stepped down out of choice and a second after I did it, we got stabbed in the back. And the only lesson there, if you're gonna stab the king, kill. If you're not gonna kill, I'm gonna come back again.
Why did you make that choice to go back into business again? Because you had money from the reports almost a billion dollars. You know how hard it is. I now
realize that in WeWork I did a lot more things right than wrong. A lot more. Not like ten percent more, like ninety-five percent. Some of what I'm saying is hard for you to fully hone in on. But all these founders you spoke to, all this I don't think they share this playbook. So let's talk about it. So first
Guys, I've got a favor to ask before this episode begins. It's the algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed. So when we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know. And the simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button. But also, it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make this show better. And I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app. you're listening to this one right now and hit that follow button. Thank you so, so, so much.
Adam Newman, I've had the privilege of getting to know you briefly over the last um couple of months, and it struck me almost immediately that you are unlike almost any other founder or CEO, or really person I think I've ever met. There's a depth to you and a and a philosophy and a perspective that is just incredibly rare. My question to you is. For you to be an anomaly, if we accept that. Am I right in thinking that you had some sort of anomalous Early origin story. What is that that story that shaped this man that sat in front of me?
You know For me first, when I get to know some in the beginning and they say, Where is it coming from? Who are you? I usually start the same. First of all, I'm a husband. It's my first job, what I'm most proud of. Then I'm a father. I'm a father of six. Then I'm a friend. Friendships are very important for me. And after that I'm an entrepreneur. I think each one of us has a phenomenal soul. I think it's perfect. And I think what really we see when we look at people is the distance between where we think they're holding to where their potential is. And I think it's that gap between those two things that actually defines a person.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the opening discussion about Shopify and its ease of use?
0:00–1:15
2
How does Adam Neumann describe the rapid collapse of WeWork from 13,000 to 3 employees?
1:15–15:34
3
What childhood experiences does Adam share that shaped his resilience and outlook?
15:34–55:09
4
How do Adam and the host define success and its impact on personal fulfillment?
55:09–1:07:14
5
How did the $4.2 billion cash offer in the taxi change WeWork’s direction?
1:07:14–1:11:44
6
What insights does Adam share about ego while walking from 54th to 18th Street?
1:11:44–1:19:11
7
How does Adam describe his ‘Technology Shabbat’ practice for personal clarity?
1:19:11–1:29:58
8
What are the five key lessons Adam leaves listeners with at the end of the episode?
1:29:58–2:16:08
Speakers
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