LEADERSHIP IN THEORY
Founders, You’re Not The Sh*t
WeWork exposed the pitfalls of the Cult of Personality
WeWork’s is no longer their own, having being rescued by Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank International with a $9.5bn lifeline—$5bn in debt and the rest in even more equity.
Much of the media coverage on the embattled co-working space giant centered around Neumann’s weed-using, tequila-drinking, high-octane personality, leading to poor corporate governance. With insane, lofty goals such as being the world’s first trillionaire, ending world hunger (through WeWork) and living forever, it is a small wonder why Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son is attracted to him.
As the founder of a shiny unicorn, Neumann was the shit. In Scott Galloway’s own words, it truly is WeWTF. Besides being unprofitable since forever, there’s self-dealing, red flags and even more self-dealing. While flying high while being high, Neumann’s $65m Gulfstream G650 is now a pain in WeWork’s Ass.
Though Neumann is now booted out of the scene with billions of dollars, WeWork’s financial woes are still there. Business models and the path to profitability aside, WeWork’s swift plummet in valuation has exposed the pitfalls to having a ‘cult of personality’.
This ‘cult of personality’ isn’t something that exists in every startup. There are founders who represented their company yet pull it off well. For instance, Chris Do of Blind and The Futur, Gary Vaynerchuk at VaynerMedia, and the two-cofounders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar at the Australian tech giant, Atlassian.
While each of those founders was brilliant in their own right, they were fundamentally different from Adam Neumann. Do pushed for authenticity in messaging to teach design. Vaynerchuk is all-out with his kindness, humility and diligence rhetoric. Cannon-Brookes, for instance, humanized himself and normalized speaking about mental health issues.
This is different from Neumann’s self-absorbed, narcissistic personality.
While Neumann had the capability in him to bring WeWork from a single co-working space to a unicorn fledgling, his personality was considered the biggest liability to the company. One can argue that it may have gotten billions of dollars in investment money but the truth is still harsh: WeWork is sinking and they desperately need more cash.
How then, should a founder behave, especially when you’re placed on such a pedestal?
Today, Tech CEOs are increasingly plastered across the cover of fashion magazines. Startup founders are treated like prophets and superstars, idolized by the public and media. With such incidences in the startup scene today, it can be difficult for startup founders to navigate with their public image. Depending on how they execute it, their public image can make or break the company.
Surely, a founder can also remain detached from the company—after all, the startup is the startup and the founder is merely the driver of it. The captain is not the ship, but instead, they both act as separate co-existing entities. With its own set of pros and cons, it is also a valid image philosophy.
Though research has shown that, on average, founders of successful tech companies are actually middle-aged (standing at 42 years old). However, media doesn’t like that—unless you’re like Elon Musk. The world likes young founders and it rewards them heavily.
The younger you are, the more you seem like a prodigy, like Alexandr Wang.
Regardless of how old a founder is and how much the person has done, the tech firm is ultimately still a tech firm. The founder may have been a key driving force, but founders still need to pipe down: humble bosses make the best bosses, at least, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Today, we have the privilege of judging from a vantage spot, commenting on how Neumann’s ‘cult of personality’ caused the downfall of a co-working space giant. Definitely, there are many factors, but one can argue that if Neumann stayed modest, worked on cutting lease obligations, focused on profits and not branch out to vanity businesses, perhaps WeWork had a chance.
After all, rivals like IWG and Hertz made it work. UCommune’s chasing a public listing in the States (ironically, as they operate on the same business model). In that same vein, WeWork could possibly have a chance.
Unfortunately, Neumann isn’t your typical startup founder.
It may be a startup, but the founders are not monarchs. Ruling with an iron hand (having enough voting options to vote the entire board out of any decision) and establishing a dynasty (installing your own family members and friends) is feudalistic in nature.
Founders, you’re not the shit. You may be brilliant, but you need more than just one brilliant mind to keep your startup going. You can indulge in luxuries and pleasures, but those must be from your own pocket, without have any repercussions on the business.
For a start, simply look at Neumann and do whatever he did not do. That should be enough.
