SXSW 2021
Greetings again from the darkness. It's quite possible that many scams originally begin with someone's good intentions. However it's just as likely, and maybe even more so, that many scams begin with only the intention of raking in millions or billions for the founder. The dream of becoming the next Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Mark Zuckerberg is simply too enticing for some. Filmmaker Jed Rothstein profiles the rise and fall of WeWork, or more accurately, its charismatic commander, Adam Neumann.
Offering a nice overview for those unfamiliar, the film uses multiple clips of Neumann speaking so that we get a real feel for how so many fell under his spell. Neumann was an immigrant from Israel, and certainly bought into the ideal of living the American Dream. Labeled a visionary, and always full of ideas, Neumann co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey. They were known affectionately as Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside, respectively, due to McKelvey's focus on operations and infrastructure and Neumann's ability as a salesman and the (and hair) of the company.
The idea of co-working space was not new, but it had never been pitched or marketed the way that Neumann did. He appealed to the rebellious nature of millennials, who couldn't picture themselves in the traditional corporate office environment of the establishment. Neumann capitalized on their FOMO, and rammed home the message of "Do what you love." He preached to the choir with his promise of the next revolution being the "We revolution."
Journalists from Forbes, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal are interviewed, as are former We staff members and clients. Mr. Rothstein does a nice job of tracking the progression of the company via graphics showing valuation each year beginning with a few million in 2012 through a peak of $47 billion in 2018. He also explores how, within a 6 week period, the company went from that peak to near bankrupt.
A business model based on "community" with the goal of changing the way people work and live, turns out to be smoke and mirrors if legitimate business practices aren't followed. That's not to say his communal approach doesn't work, but as so often happens, greed and the lust for power, create the downfall. Rothstein points out that the company's own S-1 filed prior to the planned IPO was the red flag that had previously gone undetected.
This is as much a psychological study of Neumann as it is a business case study. Every time Neumann bristled at being called a "real estate company", we should have known. With his cash infusion from Japan's SoftBank still not leading to traditional profitability, we should have known. When his bizarre actress wife, Rebekah, became more involved with decisions and publicity, we should have known. Hindsight is crystal clear, and by the end, we realize Neumann has more in common with the notorious Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos than with Steve Jobs. The Jesus Complex seems obvious, but as humans we want so much to believe the words of an idealist ... especially a cool one. There is a lot to unpack in this documentary, and it's worth it - even if it helps us learn our lesson yet again.
