Optimizing space itself with WeWork's Adam Neumann | Disrupt NY 2017

[@rayneduttine]

This is like watching a slow motion train wreck.

[@ASJacob]

Chuk chuk, chuk chuk, chuuuuu, chuk chuk, chuk chuk, boooom! 😂

[@youknowitzg00d]

This didn't age well.....like if watching 2019 Edit: This got even worse in March 2020. Thanks for the likes!

[@gj8822]

Talking about sustainability in the business

[@p00pie]

ur gay

[@livprimitive]

2020

[@BobTheBob647]

Look even worse now.

[@KenjaTimu]

Haha, it's even worse now. At least they can blame Corona now for their already inevitable bankruptcy.

[@Skb2005]

Are you profitable? “We can choose when we become profitable” yaaaaaaa OK

[@khold1983]

What a fraud...

[@sivakrishnat5471]

lol

[@alponselrik]

well.... technically he already gain enough profit... not so much for the company lol

[@freedomfest2741]

@@alponselrik in other words he robbed his company of all it's money.

[@PlayerMathinson]

@@freedomfest2741 I don't really think resent is anywhere on his mind. He has earned more money than he will ever be able to spend. He is like a scam artist who has made it, which is even more depressing.

[@ChucksAstrophotography]

Him and Elizabeth Holmes would make a great couple, LOLOLOL

[@huzcer]

His wife seems to be a similar control freak narcissist already.

[@mvrdara]

This is epic startup fell(which is natural) theranos was scam

[@YoosufMuneer]

He's better than Elizabeth Holmes because he's still worth hundreds of millions.

[@mvrdara]

@@YoosufMuneer and he is not behind bars

[@unknownchannel3141]

Indeed.

[@felixf4378]

4:47 "Are you profitable?" "We are in a high growth stage of our business, and we don't see that stopping anytime soon." No BS translation: "We are not profitable, and I don't know when we will be profitable."

[@adrianhibert3029]

The bluff business model

[@alexcipriani6003]

Adrian Hibert why is that?

[@alberoDiSpazio]

the business of business. Speaking of which my local library rents out rooms for $3 an hour.

[@huzcer]

"You work, I get rich, there is no we"

[@jenkins80526]

It couldn't be said any better than that LO!!

[@freedomfest2741]

He got the name wework because it stands for, my wife and I, wework to scam this company out of every penny.

[@jenkins80526]

@@freedomfest2741 LOL!

[@todoldtrafford]

Scam investors, but yea

[@happyboss555]

That just a perfect discription of the sociaty

[@eriangelino7800]

Business should have three parameters: 1. Profitability 2. Long term growth 3. Stable, experienced, and mature leadership; Otherwise, it is a 🎈.

[@kaan54800]

Watched "WeCrashed". Landed here.. He has talent when it comes to talking in front of the audience.

[@thevapelounge6987]

I have to give this guy credit for turning decent hair and an accent (and a LOOOOT of bullshit) into a billion dollar net worth

[@cindytartt4048]

Neumann’s like Holmes & the Russian girl, Sorokin, using the same weasel words: innovate, curate space, create narratives for service, disrupt social culture, strategically analyse, initiate change, manifest & be a life student, empower people for a vision….edit: it’s like stabbing my ears with knives.

[@davidmcnamara2103]

0:10 - ''there is a lot of confusion over WeWork'' - only accurate thing in this whole video.

[@dynamicdave2647]

actually i think it was a very good concept- making work more dynamic and communal while in theory saving you costs. It was just badly managed.

[@lavs8696]

To be fair it wasn’t much different from other venture backed companies like Uber. They pursued market share at the expense of profits on purpose. Unfortunately, they ran out of funding and had to go public which opened them up for ridicule.

[@dynamicdave2647]

@@lavs8696 I agree. They badly mismanaged themselves, but dont you agree that it was technically a good business concept? I give them credit for that.

[@lavs8696]

@@dynamicdave2647 well they weren't the first, they just had the highest capital. its incredibly competitive and capital intensive to achieve market share in that space. they basically undercut their competition to run them out of business in order to monopolize the market, bleeding cash in the process. This isn't unfamiliar with other VC backed companies, they were basically no different than Uber.

[@dynamicdave2647]

@@lavs8696 yes, but their business concept was that we can utilize office space better than most landlords.. and can make the office atmosphere more appealing and fun, all while making your membership/rent cheaper. That is a good concept. They just mismanaged themselves..

[@lavs8696]

@@dynamicdave2647 they were far from the only ones who did that. every major city was littered with coworking spaces going as far back as 08/09

[@7_slices]

Charisma my ass. His thick accent, doesn’t even have a bachelors degree and on top I hear anxiety in his voice. Anyone who invested deserved what they got. Good.

[@chrisginoc]

He was a Salesman. His job was to pitch to investors. It worked at first, but then stories started leaking out about just lack of leadership and drug usage. Plenty of extremely successful entrepreneurs who barely finished high school.

[@7_slices]

Chris G get off his balls son. Hes a con artist. Plenty of drop outs at McDonalds too.

[@chrisginoc]

@@7_slices Get off who?! I don't like the guy. What are you talking about? Con artist, salesman, etc. Call it what you wanna call it

[@evanday1104]

Wait... he said a third of the space is open community space. Then followed with 90% is personal office space. What am i not understanding here?

[@f1dog]

hahaha. Listen to this bullshit. This guy is such a fraud, its almost hilarious. "Are you profitable?" "So...Um we are focusing on hyper growth at the moment." Absolutely no direct answers. What I feel bad for is the 5000 employees that are being laid off and the dumb ass landlords who paid the tenant improvement to get them in their buildings. F Softbank. Most of their money was from Saudi Arabia and Japan. lol

[@cindytartt4048]

I think you’ll find that instead of just “disrupting” Work culture Adam wanted to disrupt fractions, percentages & arithmetic. And Euclidean geometry…😁

[@janklosowski]

It's simple: the first statement refers to cubic meters, the second to square meters.

[@cindytartt4048]

@@janklosowski how do the percentages change?

[@janklosowski]

@@cindytartt4048 It was a joke, but lobby is often much higher so it could work.

[@Christian-we6kz]

Which idiots ever thought WeWork was a tech company?

[@naughtyUphillboy]

Nearly every investor...............

[@Shreendg]

SoftBank.

[@YoutubSUCKZ]

softbank. who else?

[@wjun0131]

Basically a property manager???

[@travissmith1397]

This is what a con man sounds like, rattling off BS numbers.

[@MrRadBee]

Today's headlines prove his Con worked afterall.... $1.7 Billion balloon

[@OthelloPanda]

16:13 "That's the type of company that we're going to be." he says as he forms an actual pyramid with his hands...

[@AbGupta]

Simon March hahahahahahaha

[@donblassvivar]

wework was basically a pyramid scheme. it needed to attract new 'members' all the time to stay in business, just like a scam.

[@julesfalcone]

Simon: Very observant.

[@challway5767]

"Do you want to rent overpriced office space through a middle man?!" No. No I do not.

[@pawelallable]

$500 for a personal office is not a bad deal.

[@cindytartt4048]

@@pawelallable until you lose it because the contracts signed by those from whom you rent are void. Or if you adopt the lifestyle of drinking & carousing with people not in your business in order to make “connections.” Work from home instead. Cheaper, truer, easier. Not always -but a lot of the time compared with paying a landlord for a shoddy contract when in-house counsel exists for themselves.

[@pawelallable]

@@cindytartt4048 even IF they ended your month to month contract on a location you did zero tenant improvement in, would that really be a HUGE problem? If we're talking about rare events anyway, you could have the same thing happen to your home unless you own it. I've known people that had to move because the house they were renting sold. $500 for a nice office is fair and no point in worrying about doomsday bs. If you go too far down that rabbit hole you won't even be able to do any business deals of any kind anyway because there are way bigger risks in those.

[@jamespharris2494]

Wow. We can chose when to be profitable! Never heard that b4.

[@khunopie9159]

Can't wait for the subsidiary: _WeFail_

[@cindytartt4048]

Hahaha. Faaarkk.

[@Kanzayua]

Mute the audio and watch his change in body language when she starts talking numbers at 4:22.

[@mikecantreed]

It didn't change at all

[@kylebroussard5952]

The way he dips and dodges around the simple question, "how should your company be valued?" is absolutely alarming.

[@nukezat]

I look at this and I wonder how after the Theranos fiasco, investors fell for this guy's overly articulated perfect pitch

[@ajsky1066]

Guess it goes to show that you don't need people skills or brains to become a wealthy VC. Jack Ma is an example

[@cindytartt4048]

@@ajsky1066 exactly, Hack Ma. Fu€£ me. 😁😉

[@CJCtelevisionnetwork]

Update: This sociopath just made off with 185 million in consulting fees after almost bankrupting the company.

[@mirsondCA]

He must worked hard than u 😎😉 thanks

[@MrTeeri4]

@@mirsondCA actually apparently they are suing him or it and have declined to pay him that amount

[@slovokia]

How does a company with 40% margins lose 1.9 billion dollars on 1.8 billion of revenue? Someones math isn’t adding up. Maybe he should have been interviewed by someone with an accounting degree instead of an english major.

[@jajajinks1569]

Because he scammed investors by funneling WeWork's money into his own pockets. He got WeWork to buy land from his OWN real-estate company at higher prices, he started businesses lead by his family members using WeWork's revenue, and he bought jets, houses, etc using investors' money. It's surprising he wasn't arrested or something.

[@KenjaTimu]

They are losing money because they're growing the business. If they grew on profits it would grow very very slowly. It's not a good business. 40% margins aren't great when you're taking on those kind of long term risks. If short term leases were so profitable the building owners would do it themselves.

[@kelvinnguyen6048]

Lol

[@joezawinulreviewsandreacti2509]

he has a pretty good answer for everything I don't think the company is valued fairly but I can see how people bought into it because he does have a vision and he can present things well

[@neptuneninja]

We Work is only the abbreviated title. The full name is "We Work the stupid investors, banks, renters and anyone dump enough to hand us money". Awesome hip startup to invest in and lose all your money.

[@volvol1]

Question: Are you profitable? 4:47 Listen to the totally deceptive answer. I love it when these "blue sky" salesmen come crashing to the ground. Hit in the face with reality. They were NOT able to bail out by selling hugely overpriced stock to suckers.

[@apb1604]

"We like to set an example for other companies" , well that's an understatement!

[@cultivocustozero]

We Broker

[@markalexwhite]

Like WeTheranos and WeNikola?

[@PrometheusHR]

The company should be called U-work, while I get paid!

[@mr.snipersheku3656]

Actually u are not the only one who works there many people work at one place soo its wework

[@kennethsouthard6042]

And boy did he ever get paid!

[@aurkom]

Lot's of people watching this in 2019.

[@TheMamspoker]

4:50 translated "no" we are not profitable. People are getting very nervous about this IPO because WeWork is bleeding money ("by choice" lol).

[@TheMamspoker]

@Daniel Washford I was right of course. www.wsj.com/articles/wework-faces-cash-needs-as-botched-ipo-scuttles-planned-infusion-11569846537?mod=hp_lead_pos1

[@GuestYouTubeUser]

Daniel Washford All profit? Lol In a recession they go bankrupt.

[@milarovas4363]

He's an expert charlatan.

[@DarkSideChess]

He's definitely good at what he does

[@7_slices]

Thick accent, drop out. Didn’t even have the discipline to complete bachelors and you would think he would create an empire.

[@pitdog75]

Uri Geller of business.

[@ihavelegs]

😂

[@huzcer]

@@pitdog75 of the same persuasion certainly

[@lutherburbank8323]

He took the cottage marijuana rental industry that existed during the medical prop 215 era, where growers paid off property owners mortgage in exchange for having a landlord that let then do what they needed and wanted, while property managers made a huge cut in the middle and had guaranteed rent every month and could charge a premium, i would bet money he got the idea from this and was even invloved in this type of “business”

[@jasondorian3780]

This is the most underrated comment and the more u think about it the more I think you're absolutely correct. Considering WeWorks other cofounder, Miguel, went to University of Oregon, in one of the weed friendliest cities in the US at the time, I can guarantee you he was familiar with this concept from his days in Eugene and I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn this entire concept was actually 100% his idea from the very beginning.

[@orangewarm1]

Why is it tech? Got to admit, the guy is a sales genius.

[@MrDarknesstolight]

We had a business in NZ that was just like WeWork. It has has since gone bankrupt. Like WeWork, they did not own their spaces, they were nothing more than sub-letters.

[@dhettema]

Fun to read the comments from 2 years ago :)

[@jakeschmell]

8:50 They have an “operating system”. 🙄 oh really...

[@joshuajackett6371]

Now that we know what we know, he really avoids questions that matter.

[@finbarrmcgrath1686]

It’s like being in college……for ever….what could possibly go wrong?????……oh it already did….

[@wayne8797]

He is a very good speaker and comes across as very intelligent. Too bad he used his skills for the wrong purposes.

[@amlivinginhell]

why would the interviewer doubt wework as a technology company?

[@e.w.3989]

They should rent out server space like what go daddy does. They should also have freelance programmers to help with early start up hurdles that new entrepreneurs might have. They can be a full fledged technology services company and they have the resources to do so.

[@marcos-rodriguez]

I am a pragmatic person. I've been using the Wework spaces and I have to admit, there is a culture within WeWork that makes you feel welcome and focused on work. It's a feeling that I wouldn't expect anyone to understand unless they tried it in person. Wework should be valued as a technology company, not because it's a technology company but because WeWork members treat it as a technology company and that's all that matters. This work culture has been growing for the past 15 years and will still grow and WeWork will be there to match their needs.

[@cindytartt4048]

Several flags right there: you say you’re pragmatic but Adam despised pragmatism in favour of nonsense like “be a life-student & whilst we have no money, the value of what we offer is enough for us to be a trillion dollar business from which we can TAKE US380 million.” They took this $$ from tenants & VCs. Then the ideal that no one understood how WeWork made you feel welcome but “no one else’ll understand” this. Total BS: all businesses SHOULD be welcoming at the very least & no one fails “to understand this.” And you can’t value something as a technology co. when it ISN’T one just because it’s members hope to. Finally, there are no “members,” but tenants. Anything else is a weasel word. The Neumanns lived weasel words like no other.

[@jiti5034]

Ok There might be value in it as member user / tenant depending upon where your business is at anything to do with manufacturing start up be mechanical / Chemical such centralized office space won't be suitable.. so that means the target market is smaller restricted to soft services / design / consulting etc still there is a market ... but why you say that it is a technology company ... The serviced office is the core .. and that is what is major fixed cost .. sure they can provide services like web hosting, Tax an accounting services to compliment the tenant businesses but core is still renting service .. what we work members think is less important in that sense !

[@moviesjean23]

Still waiting for WE WORK new iOS to be released

[@Abbieabma]

Still funny that wework got positioned as a tech company 😂

[@ironhide9955]

"should you be valued as a real-estate company or a technology company" - why is that a question? its a renting company which people have been doing for decades.

[@cindytartt4048]

For a thousand years

[@BenRangel]

It's not a bad idea in itself. They just didn't have a profitable business plan - and became overvalued.

[@loveormoney786]

Can’t wait to short this.

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

lmaooo door lock and unlock and book meeting rooms is the operating system we os... what a great con this guy played. amazing.

[@darev6780]

This interview is all the more fascinating after just reading the book 'Anthem' by Ayn Rand. [ The usage of the word WE and the illegality of the word I ]

[@cindytartt4048]

This guy’s an eff-wit but Rand, come on, she’s a Nazi.

[@Astrotase]

He won, he and his wife took off with 1.5 billion $ . That's a win

[@321qazwsxedc123]

She's proud to be interviewing a criminal

[@huzcer]

Typical idiot sychophant type startup interviewer.

[@ilana3232]

He is NOT a criminal !!!! He is AN amazing sales man ,ssssssssssssuper brilliant and super good looking 💙🤍🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱

[@ilana3232]

💙🤍🇮🇱

[@SPQR101010]

lol we can "choose" when to be profitable

[@hassanqayyum8954]

"I really can't comment"...gives her the classic shut up before I snap your neck look lmao

[@thegalhorowitz]

2021 : WEWORK fromhome.

[@safiagha8002]

"55 to 60%".... interesting how this man just rounds up 5% of his total customers, as if no big deal. No wonder they didn't make a profit

[@DerDudelino]

He is an extremely sharp Founder. And yes, they got a 3 BN investment from Softbank.

[@charlech]

Good talker

[@oisinquinn9469]

And softbank regret it badly now.

[@dcodework2421]

this comment did not age well.

[@tectera]

Lmao

[@flaccidego9468]

Maybe he was a sharp founder, but his business model is a flounder.

[@modesto885]

Just look at the way he rubs his hands together. He knows he's up to something,lol.

[@arnoburnuk2578]

Hahahhahahah

[@arnoburnuk2578]

Like Mr burns "excellent..."

[@vinestreet4031]

This kind of pitch is so one sided. Show he can justify anything.

[@aguy1075]

For future watchers, the “confusion” was how did this surveillance scam last so long?? I guess he forgot to “choose” to be profitable. The tech world is about to re-discover the value of cash flow. When does this tool end up in jail?

[@limacom]

WE OS?

[@timtreetwats]

It’s a way to see who’s using the coffee machine. That alone Is worth 19 billion.

[@PinchHarmonic69]

@@timtreetwats also you can get live updates pushed to your iWatch of who is taking a huge shit in the nearest bathroom

[@lee58901]

He’s a great salesman

[@SFO14]

It’s because he actually believes this shit. They horribly mismanaged themselves. They hemorrhaged capital and were over leveraged, sacrificing profit for market share at every turn. Just another cautionary tale.

[@blanket1309]

Ok so WeWork is his personal piggy bank! He took a lot out of it.

[@ahermens]

This aged beautifully.

[@jameslivermore4481]

If he doesn't end up in prison for LIFE, I'm changing my name to something more exotic and getting in on the plunder.

[@flaccidego9468]

And work on an accent. The Israeli accent seems to work spells on people no matter how outrageous the product being sold. People seemed to also be hypnotized by British accents. My advice is 1st try out the British accent. AND only British. The Scotts & Irish brogues are certainly too rough. But the Aussie accent would work! Good luck.

[@unknownchannel3141]

"Livermore" is fine.

[@TheDaftySage]

The biggest joke is that this was considered a tech company. LOL.

[@TonyPadgett]

It’s Theranos all over again.

[@slovokia]

Got to give this guy credit though - no matter how much money his investors end up losing, he will walk away with 100’s of millions of dollars.

[@kennethsouthard6042]

1.8 Billion

[@InjuriousPersonalities]

His voice literally sounds like Vitaly who does hidden camera pranks

[@Potenti4lz]

He speaks very smart but simple Hah. Is it worth going to TechCrunch Disrupt SF?

[@mipmip5759]

if you want to watch presentations of tomorrow's train wrecks

[@ellefant8938]

Wecrashed brought me here

[@cheechalker8430]

…..that need (office space) does not go away in a recession…..” Maybe not a recession, but it goes away during a pandemic

[@chanjunesen]

These bull crap conferences is the problem. They have hosts that do not question B.S spewed by these CEOs or company leadership. The host just reads the script and laugh along. Even I can do that job.

[@user-si8zf9hy1b]

This guy was gooooood.....real good. Got to make money, adoration, parlay it longer, then land on his feet. Good gig if you can pull it off....

[@surjagain]

The gift of the gab.

[@MASTERPPA]

When I heard about this years ago, I just did not see how it would work.. Even before Covid..

[@brianbrau4475]

220 former employees didn't like this

[@pppinto97]

This is just like Facebook. No privacy. " Cool " quotient to your product. Celebrity ish CEO. Monitors your behaviour (Facebook - Friends, Likes & Dislikes) (WeWork - Coffee & Loo Breaks)

[@jasminetorok933]

This is a wonderful interview. I thoroughly enjoy and love WeWork locations, the team (virtual and in-person) and everything in between. Thank you WeWork for building a better world :).

[@zd1322]

Jesus, you sound like a bot.

[@lolotaeja3911]

L.O.fucking L.

[@kennethsouthard6042]

Did Adam pay you $5 for that comment? If so you were really quite the sucker, considering how much he walked away with, you should have got $500 or at least a free couple of month's rent on a WeWork "hot desk." However, I'll bet you just drank the Kool-aid and did it for free.

[@flaccidego9468]

Brainwashed cultist

[@EdwardAndersen]

WeWork’s losses quadrupled to $2.1bn (£1.47bn) in the first quarter as the pandemic-driven move to flexible working drove a 30% plunge in customers at the troubled office-sharing company.

[@NewBalance-pu8ft]

The KZbin ads of wework are always the same and not transporting the community spirit & atmosphere of the company workspace. This needs to be changed quickly and in a dramatic way! Because if You burn hundreds of millions of Dollars for an empty spot, it's a terrible waste. Make several meaningful different KZbin spots each with a local or toll-free number in the intro and extro.

[@cindytartt4048]

Sorry, I read this as make ‘KZbin spots with a troll- free number.” 😁🤪

[@Fan_Made_Videos]

My first impression of Adam when I first heard his spiel back in 2015 was that he sound EXACTLY like Yuri Geller. I was expecting him to bend spoons and make women like this interviewer faint. LOL

[@MrDrummerguy33]

He reminds me of Adam Sandler in You Don't Mess with the Zohan.. "Fizzy Bubbleh!!"

[@1234abcd12344]

they change their title to WeDon'tWork

[@ufinlay]

Adam "Anything In-Between" Neumann

[@kickassgoat]

we can choose to be profitable with 40% margin on imaginary customers while actually losing $215,000 per hour for an entire year. well this video certainly hasn't aged well. the fact they hired some kid from my previous company to be their VP of product made me laugh so hard I almost passed out.

[@pitdog75]

Uri Geller of business.

[@jordan5253]

@6:55 hahahahha oh god what a master troll

[@sngs9565]

Adam Neumann looks like he had not taken a bath past few days.....Urgghhh!

[@andrepoon]

40% margins... and still not profitable... RED FLAG!

[@MrPhatties]

Creative accounting. The sad part is that they had a cool business model and could have easily been worth a reasonable amount, but this whole "startup" valuation did the opposite for their upside.

[@vimalbhaya3110]

How can the anchor/moderator even say "130" members ? Show notes aside, number being too low should blow lot of alarms in brain by itself.

[@SportsIncorporated]

I liken WeWork to selling the picks & shovels, or providing the platform. They'll walk away as the big winners. I like their choices of location. They're prime locations. Near the lobbyists and government in D.C., near the Pentagon, and so on. They picked a much shorter walk from the Metro in Tysons Corner, VA, then one of their competitors. Same in D.C. on K Street. That makes a big difference in cold weather. Especially when someone needs to meet you at the office. On the other hand they're pricey. A tiny space in D.C. costs what I could rent my house for (just outside Reston, VA). So as far as the locations I've seen and visited, the WeWork offices only make sense if you have a definite need to be at a specific location.

[@dneptune3]

This aged poorly

[@mipmip5759]

selling picks and shovels in the heat of the gold rush, make sure you run before the goldmine turns out to be a turd

[@longbeachboy57]

Amazing that this guy is not in jail...

[@ihavelegs]

I agree. He is selfish by taking people's money to benefit himself. I don't like him at all. There should be a very very high penalty for this kind of behaviour.

[@-xirx-]

4:47 so NO (you are not profitable) Certainly knows his buzzwords though

[@singhyuvraj122]

R.I.P WeWork

[@balmukundsharma4764]

I don't why but it's really funny to me

[@latitudepost]

It seems to me that the general consensus right now is that WeWork is a bubble and will go bankrupt. It will be interesting to see what happens. But if WeWork can survive to the point where it develops a level of scale and economic moat in its industry that is hard to beat than it will be having the last laugh

[@lordangelic]

only time will tell

[@kennethsouthard6042]

I think that the only one having the last laugh right now is Adam. All the way to the bank.

[@flaccidego9468]

Wework was a bubble from its inception. In a market of normalized rates, these skittle shitting unicorns would never have gotten off ground. Zero to near rates will continue to give birth to more mark to fantasy nonsense.

[@bobbbobb4663]

WeCon

[@kshitijdixit4875]

5:32

[@loveormoney786]

Why would the landlords simply learn from them and destroy them. Or better yet what makes WeWork have a patent on designing cool work spaces. Other management companies can simply copy leading to margin degradation and a destruction of WeWork premium.

[@EGarrett01]

If you had your money to someone like this you deserve to lose it. It's like a force of natural selection.