121–130 of 150 posts
I do not understand why Adam Neumann got that massive exit settlement from We Work? > WeWork founder Adam Neumann received $245m in company stock [....] In addition to the $245m grant, Neumann received $200m in cash, was able to refinance $432m in debt on favorable terms, and allowed a finance company controlled by the former chief executive to sell $578m in WeWork stock. [1] That guy got incredibly rich creating a c…
I do not understand why Adam Neumann got that massive exit settlement from We Work? > WeWork founder Adam Neumann received $245m in company stock [....] In addition to the $245m grant, Neumann received $200m in cash, was able to refinance $432m in debt on favorable terms, and allowed a finance company controlled by the former chief executive to sell $578m in WeWork stock. [1] That guy got incredibly rich creating a c…
Still more amazing to me is that he got a16z to invest 350 million into his new real estate debacle just after all this. This dude must really be a master hypnotist or something.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue pointed out by these two comments come from a conflation of vocabulary (which is typically intentional at least at some point in the education). A truly "free market" would ensure that things like WeWork wouldn't happen because the ultimate material inputs and outputs of the company don't square. "Capitalism" is the seeking of profit at the expense of all others, where having a viable company no longer is a…
If we're trying to define precise terms here, "free market" and "capitalism" don't overlap at all. Capitalism is a type of government, free markets are a (group of) polic[y/ies]. I don't see where the logic of your comment comes from either way though - capitalists are typically in favour of a free market, no? And typically the "purpose" of a free market is accruing wealth as part of a private enterprise?
E.g.: Democracy, oligarchy, dictatorships are forms of government.
Capitalism, socialism, etc... are economic systems.
I point this out because people in my country sometimes forget that it's a system of elected officials that govern us, not capitalism.
Several years ago while hustling as a single founder, I hoped to get a desk in a private office (anything but open-space), so I would have a place to come to to focus on work, socialize and feel at work.. So I went to see what WeWork have to offer. There I saw a nice floor with nice looking private offices, finally taken to what they thought might be relevant for me, they showed me a tiny space where half a diner tab…
> This is what you get when you get an MBA type business management constantly I love how HN blames MBAs for everything. This was greedy "tech people", nothing more nothing less. Maybe if a few of the characters in this saga had MBAs they would have been able to better judge the value of the business, as opposed to gut and vibes. After all, it was the MBAs who pulled the IPO, while the tech crew continued to push thi…
> This was greedy "tech people", nothing more nothing less.
It's hard to talk about WeWork without talking about Adam Neumann. And looking him up, it seems that he does have a degree in business -- albeit only in 2017 -- rather than a degree in something like computer science or engineering. And prior to WeWork, he apparently founded a children's clothing company: not exactly a "tech people" industry.
So I'm not getting tech people vibes from him.
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/05/weworks-adam-neumann-is-gr... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Neumann
I do not understand why Adam Neumann got that massive exit settlement from We Work? > WeWork founder Adam Neumann received $245m in company stock [....] In addition to the $245m grant, Neumann received $200m in cash, was able to refinance $432m in debt on favorable terms, and allowed a finance company controlled by the former chief executive to sell $578m in WeWork stock. [1] That guy got incredibly rich creating a c…
just glad that the 2019 IPO didn't materialize, otherwise the innocent retail shareholders would have paid for all the nuisance
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue pointed out by these two comments come from a conflation of vocabulary (which is typically intentional at least at some point in the education). A truly "free market" would ensure that things like WeWork wouldn't happen because the ultimate material inputs and outputs of the company don't square. "Capitalism" is the seeking of profit at the expense of all others, where having a viable company no longer is a…
If we're trying to define precise terms here, "free market" and "capitalism" don't overlap at all. Capitalism is a type of government, free markets are a (group of) polic[y/ies]. I don't see where the logic of your comment comes from either way though - capitalists are typically in favour of a free market, no? And typically the "purpose" of a free market is accruing wealth as part of a private enterprise?
That's why we see so many mergers and intensive lobbying for government regulation in things like healthcare, telecoms, and air travel, it's way easier to make money if you can restrict competition in your market and it's something essential to consumers
More discussion over here yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37055563
Earlier quoted context omitted.
just glad that the 2019 IPO didn't materialize, otherwise the innocent retail shareholders would have paid for all the nuisance
I'm also glad the 2019 IPO didn't materialize, but if it had, anyone who bought in would have been deserving of no pity and I wouldn't call them "innocent retail investors". As badly managed as WeWork was, this was not a case of fraud. Everything was wide out in the open, for anyone with eyes and a brain to see. Heck, the whole reason the 2019 IPO didn't go through is that WeWork's original S-1 was such a shit show o…