Adam Neumann, born with dyslexia could not read and write until he was in the third grade. This didn’t seem to be a major hindrance in his life as he later served in the Israeli Navy and is the co-founder of one the most valuable start-ups in recent history, WeWork.
Adam is a risk-taker, this is evident with the investments he made, one being a superfoods company led by a guy he had met while surfing. At 6 feet 5, his towering height commanded attention in any room and he could weave words together, easily convincing anyone who lent him an ear.
WeWork is a co-working business, in the commercial real-estate sector and was started in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. By 2015 the company had quadrupled its valuation to $10 billion, counting 23,000 customers, paying memberships in 32 locations, and renting desks as little as $45 per month. This idea of not just being an office space but a community and a family, where the work environment is fun and interactive lured many.
In his own words Adam Neumann described it as, “Community, being surrounded by like-minded individuals, being part of something bigger than yourself inspires people to work harder, spend more time at work and just have fun doing it.”
This not only attracted young entrepreneurs but also an investor. Between 2017 and 2018 SoftBank would invest around $8 billion into WeWork. This doubled the valuation to $20 billion in 2017. Things were looking up and in 2019, SoftBank invested an additional $6 billion, increasing the valuation to $47 billion.
Even if you don’t understand how these numbers work out, it’s evident that WeWork was a start-up that stood out. Was this mix of an ambitious investor and a risk-taker good for the company?
Well, in less than one year, WeWork went from one of the most highly valued start-ups of all time to losing three quarters of its value. WeWork had essentially become a case study of when a company gets too much money too fast with no effective oversight on how to spend it. Adam Neumann was forced to vacate his position as CEO.
It was like buying your niece a week’s worth of candy and expecting her to share it out responsibly. Of course by the first day or second day she would unapologetically have finished all the candy. It was a case of easy money, no rules.
We can learn a lot from Adam Neumann and WeWork. Don’t get intoxicated with your own hype. In this social media era we usually do. We live in the ‘Age of Spin’, where perception is more important than reality. Most companies would rather pay handsomely on marketing and PR than invest in improving the product that they are selling or service they are providing. In our personal lives this can give us a false sense of security, where we don’t take time to be honest with ourselves to improve our lives.
Would you rather take time to heal, relax and rethink what went wrong or would you instead change your hairstyle, share photos on social media, and share quotes on how strong you are so strangers on the internet can be impressed? We truly live in the age of spin.
Genesis 49:4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer succeed. These words were used to describe Reuben’s irresponsibility. When we are irresponsible we become unstable in our finances, relationships and habits. Adam Neumann‘s WeWork opened an elementary school in New York and a company that makes wave pools. This made no sense for a start-up in the commercial real-estate sector to do. The company eventually lost a lot of money, couldn’t even afford to pay off the employees they were laying off.
When a new revenue stream is plugged into your life you should plan it out and use it responsibly. Like the parable on the talents, the servant who didn’t invest wisely was stripped off what he had and it was given to another. Life will mercilessly strip you off everything, if you can’t master a way of being responsible with what you have.
Finally, the case of the first mouse to chase the cheese is the one that got caught in the trap. When everything starts to go your way, and you are finally ahead of the rest, slow your roll. I don’t mean that you should end your ambitions but instead take time to reflect and plan out your next moves. Every time the stakes were high Jesus Christ retreated in prayer. A time of reflection doesn’t mean you are stopping indefinitely; it’s just a momentary stop to refuel, so you can move on to the next step prepared.
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