Speaker 1: Everyone was too bright eyed and too eager, and they
Speaker 1: we chanted, we work, we chanted, we work, we work,
Speaker 1: and then we hit a gong. Not that long ago,
Speaker 1: Adam Newman was one of the most successful startup founders
Speaker 1: in the world. He was a visionary leader who said
Speaker 1: he was going to overturn a trillion dollar industry and
Speaker 1: we Work. We really strive to help you as much
Speaker 1: as we can. Focus on doing what you love, create
Speaker 1: your life's work, and let us figure of the rest.
Speaker 1: Venture capitalists were falling all over themselves to invest in
Speaker 1: his company. We Work has revolutionized the leasing of office space.
Speaker 1: Ten billion dollars invest in this company. It's the second
Speaker 1: largest venture capital investment of all time. He ran the
Speaker 1: most valuable startup in America, and he pitched that he
Speaker 1: was going to revolutionize your work life. It sells fun.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's cells excitement. You don't even have to
Speaker 1: go out to a bar club. We will bring that
Speaker 1: all to your office space where you sit and do work.
Speaker 1: The bar is now at your desk. So when you
Speaker 1: first walked in, you're like, dude, this place is awesome,
Speaker 1: Like what is going on? But as Adam raised more
Speaker 1: and more money, things started to get strange. You know,
Speaker 1: if Adam was coming down the hall, it's like every
Speaker 1: executive's butthole titans, Like everybody just got really like, oh
Speaker 1: my god. He started saying things like he wanted to
Speaker 1: live forever be the president of the world. We work
Speaker 1: with nothing without Adam Newman. Right, No one wasn't investing
Speaker 1: in we Work. They're investing in Adam Newman. But I
Speaker 1: think we fall in love with these personalities. And the
Speaker 1: Emperor wears no clothes, and in the span of just
Speaker 1: a few weeks everything changed. Office space startup we Work
Speaker 1: has officially postponed a plan to go public if we
Speaker 1: Work as having trouble finding investor demand at one third
Speaker 1: of the forty seven billion dollar price tag. That the
Speaker 1: real concern is Adam Newman, the CEO. Everything is on him.
Speaker 1: His performance will determine this What went wrong? Will take
Speaker 1: you inside the company with interviews from people who helped
Speaker 1: build we Work and exclusive tapes of internal meetings where
Speaker 1: Adam talks to his employees in ways he'd never speak
Speaker 1: in public. None of us want to look back and
Speaker 1: say I could have done more, This could have been bigger,
Speaker 1: This couldn't been better. That's not acceptable. You do not
Speaker 1: get a chance like this again, None of us do.
Speaker 1: This is a new podcast from Bloomberg Technology called Foundering.
Speaker 1: This season will tell you the story of We Work,
Speaker 1: a company that captured the startup boom of and also
Speaker 1: may be remembered as a spectacular bust that marked the
Speaker 1: end of an era. We'll take you into headquarters and
Speaker 1: inside the mind of the man at the center of
Speaker 1: it all, Adam Newman. Why he built We Worked, the
Speaker 1: way he did, what happened to the company, and what
Speaker 1: might happen next. Think about the long term consequences of
Speaker 1: what this coronavirus has done. Curious what this means for
Speaker 1: we Work now. We Work is known for crowding people
Speaker 1: together in one shared workspace. Check us out Foundering, a
Speaker 1: new show from Bloomberg Technology. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.