What will I learn about: how Adam Neumann secured a $15 million investment and a $45 million valuation with zero customers by leveraging nothing more than a bold pitch?

Discover how Adam Neumann secured a $15 million investment and a $45 million valuation with zero customers by leveraging nothing more than a bold pitch.

What will I learn about: Learn how repositioning a traditional real estate business as a 'space as a service' tech startup tricked venture capitalists into providing massive, software-level valuations?

Learn how repositioning a traditional real estate business as a 'space as a service' tech startup tricked venture capitalists into providing massive, software-level valuations.

What will I learn about: why the 2010s venture capital culture's obsession with charismatic founders over solid business models fueled WeWork's unwarranted rise?

Understand why the 2010s venture capital culture's obsession with charismatic founders over solid business models fueled WeWork's unwarranted rise.

What will I learn about: Explore how prioritizing aggressive global expansion and the illusion of hyper-growth over actual profit margins caused the company to lose over $1 million a day?

Explore how prioritizing aggressive global expansion and the illusion of hyper-growth over actual profit margins caused the company to lose over $1 million a day.

What will I learn about: how a lack of investor pushback and absolute founder control enabled reckless financial decisions that ultimately led to the collapse of a $47 billion empire?

Find out how a lack of investor pushback and absolute founder control enabled reckless financial decisions that ultimately led to the collapse of a $47 billion empire.

The Cult of We

WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion

Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell

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Entrepreneurship Biography & Memoir

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Did you know that a simple office-rental company managed to convince the world’s most sophisticated investors it was actually a $47 billion tech giant?
💡Have you ever wondered how a single charismatic founder could create a "cult-like" culture that blinded Wall Street to billions of dollars in risks?
💡What’s the secret behind the most spectacular startup collapse in history, and how did the world’s smartest financiers miss the warning signs for nearly a decade?

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Key Takeaways from The Cult of We

✓Discover how Adam Neumann secured a $15 million investment and a $45 million valuation with zero customers by leveraging nothing more than a bold pitch.
✓Learn how repositioning a traditional real estate business as a 'space as a service' tech startup tricked venture capitalists into providing massive, software-level valuations.
✓Understand why the 2010s venture capital culture's obsession with charismatic founders over solid business models fueled WeWork's unwarranted rise.
✓Explore how prioritizing aggressive global expansion and the illusion of hyper-growth over actual profit margins caused the company to lose over $1 million a day.
✓Find out how a lack of investor pushback and absolute founder control enabled reckless financial decisions that ultimately led to the collapse of a $47 billion empire.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from The Cult of We

Mind Map

The Cult of We

Origins & The Pitch+

The Tech Startup Illusion+

Softbank & Hypergrowth+

Reckless Diversification+

The Failed IPO & Downfall+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 6

What was WeWork's actual foundational business model, despite how it was marketed to investors?

A. Developing proprietary property management software for commercial landlords
B. Buying commercial real estate properties and flipping them to tech startups
C. Renting office space, dividing it up, and subleasing it at a premium with added amenities
D. Acting as a venture capital firm that provided office space in exchange for equity

Question 2 of 6

Why did Adam Neumann insist on presenting WeWork as a technology startup rather than a real estate company?

A. To attract venture capital funding and achieve much higher company valuations
B. Because WeWork's primary revenue came from its proprietary social networking app
C. To qualify for federal tax subsidies available only to Silicon Valley tech firms
D. Because he wanted to eventually pivot the company into manufacturing computer hardware

Question 3 of 6

How did Adam Neumann approach WeWork's growth strategy once the company started expanding globally?

A. He focused strictly on achieving profitability in existing locations before opening new ones.
B. He prioritized slow, sustainable growth to avoid taking on unnecessary debt.
C. He delegated all expansion decisions to his co-founder so he could focus on company culture.
D. He ignored profit margins and obsessed over rapid growth to impress future investors.

Question 4 of 6

Which of the following best illustrates how WeWork lost track of its core business as it expanded?

A. It began manufacturing its own line of high-end office furniture for retail sale.
B. It launched unrelated ventures like an elementary school and a residential living experiment.
C. It transitioned entirely from commercial real estate to residential property management.
D. It fired all of its community managers to replace them with automated software.

Question 5 of 6

What event ultimately forced WeWork to prepare for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2019?

A. Softbank and its investors withdrew a massive buyout deal, leaving WeWork in need of cash.
B. Adam Neumann wanted to cash out his shares and retire to a private island.
C. The US government mandated that startups of a certain size and valuation must go public.
D. WeWork's employees went on strike demanding that their stock options be made liquid.

Question 6 of 6

What was a major revelation in WeWork's IPO prospectus that severely damaged public perception of Adam Neumann?

A. He had secretly been working as a consultant for a rival commercial real estate firm.
B. He had never actually signed any legal leases for the buildings WeWork occupied.
C. He had structured the company for his own tax benefit and sold the 'We' trademark to his own company for $5.9 million.
D. He had falsified his educational background and never actually attended college.

The Cult of We — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2Armed only with a pitch, Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey built a company valued at $45 million.
3To boost its valuation, Neumann portrayed WeWork as a technology startup company.
4After landing massive SoftBank funding, Neumann grew ever more reckless.
5As WeWork expanded at breakneck speed, it lost sight of its core business.
6After SoftBank pulled its deal, WeWork was compelled to go public.
7Adam Neumann’s party-hard lifestyle and personal greed eclipsed his leadership at WeWork.

The Cult of We Summary & Overview

The Cult of We (2021) tells the story of how the office-space company WeWork became the world’s most valued startup – only to come crashing down a few years later. Written by the reporters who broke the story of WeWork’s disastrous downfall in 2019, it explores WeWork's trajectory through a journalistic and financial lens, demonstrating how the most prominent investors in the world were blinded to the company’s risks for nearly a decade.

Who Should Listen to The Cult of We?

People interested in economics
Startup and entrepreneurship enthusiasts
Anyone curious about startup financing

About the Author: Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell

Eliot Brown joined the Wall Street Journal in 2010 to cover commercial real estate in the wake of the financial crisis. Today he reports on startups and venture capital. He previously covered economic development and local politics at the New York Observer.

Maureen Farrell has been a reporter at the Wall Street Journal since 2013. She previously covered deals, bankruptcy, and startups at Forbes, Debtwire, and Mergermarket. She’s a recipient of the Newswomen's Club of New York's Nellie Bly Award.

The Cult of We

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to The Cult of We — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from The Cult of We

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

The Cult of We — Full Chapter Overview

The Cult of We Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to The Cult of We?

About the Author: Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell

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