YouSaid · the spoken record

Adam Neumann

lines on the record: 111
first: 2026-07-08
most recent: 2026-07-08
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“But no matter how much you would raise, it would always be tiny compared to how big the asset class. And you talked about one of the largest. Real estate is so large just so people, for people to understand that we're talking about a $250 trillion asset class. But to try to put it in numbers, a normal building, these multifamily buildings is $200 million a building. You buy 10, you're at $2 billion and 100, you're $20 billion. And $100 is not a big number.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I think for that, we can learn a lot from hotels because hotels have gone through their process. If you take Hilton and Marriott, where they started by owning a lot of it, and today, if I'm not mistaken, Listen, we're talking about thousands of properties, less than 1% owned. So no matter how much money you could raise and how big, and when we talk about raising money, by the way, we talk about raising money for real estate funds. We're not talking about raising money for flow parent company. that door is closed”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Flow as to what extent, like in the long run, should it be vertically integrated, and to what extent should we, you know, where we own our own real estate, and to what extent should it actually run across all real estate?”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And if you can't control user experience, you can't deliver the thing you can't deliver against the vision. And of course, as is true in so much in business and life, those lessons are diametrically opposed. They're irreconcilable. They're directly opposed. And there have been great tech companies built with the Microsoft model, and there have been great tech companies built with the Apple model. So, you know, the moral of the story is like it really depends. Specifically, though, if you want to control the actual customer experience end-to-end, you have to vertically integrate. It's the only way to actually do it because otherwise in the role of having to kind of cajole, especially early on, you're in the realm of having to cajole people who don't share your vision into doing the things that are required. Now, having said that, as we talk about all the time, there is an extraordinarily large amount of number of properties out there that could benefit from the brand, the vision, the technology, the platform. And so one of the very interesting kind of things at the heart of the business model.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So let's talk about that for a moment because this also goes into what Flo is doing. So basically, the way I think about this is there's sort of two iconic business models that are kind of held out in Silicon Valley as kind of the best in class, like best business models ever made. And one of them is Microsoft and the great lesson of Microsoft was you build a horizontal layer of technology, software operating systems and applications. And then you basically run across thousands of different hardware implementations, thousands of different computer makers and chips and so forth. So you build a horizontal layer and you never ever vertically integrate because you want to basically run on everything. So that's lesson number one. Then lesson number two is Apple, where the lesson is you 100% always want to vertically integrate. You never want to be a horizontal layer because you don't have nearly enough control over the user experience. You have to, you know, the old Steve Jobs line is people who love software need to build their own hardware. You need to actually control the entire thing. You need to be completely vertically integrated because if you're not vertically integrated, you can't control the user experience.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, in part, that was based on actually watching WeWork, which is by the time you get in a situation where you're fighting with your investors, things just do not end well. And we've seen that across many companies. And so, yeah, if you just, building a business is so hard if everybody's aligned, if everybody's not aligned, like it becomes punishingly difficult.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I genuinely believe that the reason for today, and we're going to talk about it more, is where it is because of that decision. But I think Mark, I've asked you this before, I think the reason you're the very, you actually had a simple reason for that decision, that was alignment, something that I think A16Z is really good at.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And it took me a second. And in the beginning, I thought this was some negotiation, some fancy negotiation tactic because it ended up being one of the smartest things we've done.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Attention to the client, you'll vote it's run, on attention to operating people of what they do, I want to change the design, I want to change the smell, I want to change the uniforms, I want to change everything about it until it gets to something that I know is right. And you asked me, how would you know when it's right? And I told you it's a feeling. And you said, great And then you said, I have a suggestion for you. It's not traditional. You have this large portfolio. Take out of this portfolio whatever you don't think is a fit for flow. Sell it. But the rest, what you think is your best stuff, put it with us, aligned on the top together, and we're with you. We go up, we go down, whatever you do, we do”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I didn't maintain him either, but he sounds like an amazing person who's done a lot for the valley and for California. And he said to me, Adam, forget what your team and my team is talking about for a second, not because we don't respect them. We respect everybody and we're going to hear everybody's opinions. But I just want to know what you think. If I wanted you to build the largest really disruptive industry, imagine it the way you imagine it. Would you need to own real estate? And I said at the beginning, I would. Asked me why. And I said, Because I want to be allowed to do whatever I want. I want to try everything. I want to fail fast. I want to fix fast and I want to deploy fast. And I said, I want to change everything.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I think that one I give a lot of credit to Mark and Ben. And so when they came, when we started Mark, I wonder if you remember this discussion. So we're starting to talk about the business. And I immediately was leaning into asset light because we should be asset-like. Why? Because I heard so many times because weork was an asset light for all the wrong reasons. Said we need to be asset line. And Mark, you flew, and now I know, but you travel down to Miami multiple times. And again, this was before the famous dinner. And we were sitting in the car and we were talking about real estate. And you actually talked about your father-in-law. You shared with me a lot of things that you learned from him over time.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“One thing I just want to say that's so remarkable is you not only got back in the ring again after you already built an iconic company, you already made more money than you know what to do with, but you also put a large chunk of that liquidity back into the company, sort of a triple down in a way that seems like Elon is the only person who continuously does that.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I would have come here and we would have been a different place, but you know, Ben, you've said it to me. We talked about it. We talk about sometimes. I believe in a bigger picture, but separate than the fact that I believe in something better than myself, I genuinely believe that we go to the place that we need to be. As long as we're willing to learn lessons and change, I know that today I'm exactly where I need to be. In this partnership, this discussion we're having now wouldn't have happened. So we had that dinner and it was excellent. And then we started talking about the future of living. And we talked about a pure vision and really what we see. I said, and I explained what we already have and explained why we could already start leveraging what we have to then take it to the next level. And then we actually went, but then market then said, so what do you think? You think maybe we should explore something? I said, look, I don't know you. You don't know me. I was a little burned in the past. We're using all of our own money for this. And then Mark, you said to me, how about you take time and get to know us? We'll get to know you. And let's see what happens. And it took six months from that point of people think that this happened fast. It didn't.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I know them. I spoke to them, and you're here because we wanted you to come. Let's talk about the idea. And I said, I really appreciate that. But I actually want to learn. I'm sure you have a different take than me. Let me share. And then, and this is for those of you who don't know Mark, once you get, you let Mark go, he has a lot to say. So I started and within minutes, you gave me until today, I remember you said a few things there that I couldn't believe I never noticed. And one of the things Mark said that was so obvious was what research did you do about what investors you took? What did you know about their history? What research did you do about what employees you took? What did you know about your tech leaders? He said, I get it, Adam, you move really fast and you're passionate and you make things happen, but how much diligence did you actually do? And the answer was actually none for my first investors. They came to me. I didn't know anything. I didn't know any better. They know what else existed. But if I did, maybe I would have come.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I said I would love to without really expecting again no expectation. I think the thing about this relationship is it formed organically. It took time. There was no rush to do anything. And that's what made it so real. And then we went to dinner at Nobu, Mark hosted us. Ben was actually not in the first lance. DG was there. He runs growth and Chris Dixon was there, who runs crypto. And we had And we had this very nice dinner. And I remember coming to the dinner, and we sit down, and Marco, tell us about this new idea. And I said, well, I actually want to start by talking about lessons learned from WeWork. And Marco said, Adam, we wouldn't have invited you here if that's what we need to talk about. We've done, we know a lot about you. Don't worry. We might know more of Oats, owns your mistakes.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so at that point, we started working and we started doing it, and immediately we started seeing positive results. So we were like, okay, this is a good direction, and we're going to keep doing this. And that was sort of that. And by the third time that Mark and I spoke, Mark read an article in the Wall Street Journal. And today we try very hard not to have any articles about us, but that one slipped. So Mark called and said, hey, I read in the Wall Street Journal, bought a billion dollars. You're not telling me. You're starting a business. And I said, no, it's actually more us. We are starting a business. And he said, you have an idea for a brand. I said, I do. But we're doing it just us and we're taking our time. Mark says, sounds awesome. Maybe you guys can come and share it with us.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Manager that runs it and the asset manager that is the person like the Blackstones and Black Rocks of the world that deploy the cache and they have a relationship between them. And then we use these different property managers and they were all sort of the same. They all had the same problems. They all told us the same story. They all had the same pitch. And their occupancy was completely controlled by supply and demand.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Movie, by the way, that's not going to be a good reason. But if it's burning from the inside, and no matter how many people say they have to do it, what happened is I started walking the buildings and it was lonely, it was soulless, it was depressing, and we're talking when I say buildings, the buildings we bought, this is 400 to 600 apartments. These are shared gyms that look as nice as equinox and swimming pools and kitchens and all these rooms that were designed by people assuming people are going to get together. And not only is no one there, even when people are there, they're not talking to each other. And I just looked at it. I was like, I could do so much better than this. And step one was just like, let's just find a little bit of technology. So we found a company that already existed and we bought it and said, let's just connect them a little bit, not with big intentions. And step two is let's find a great property manager. So we had five assets. So we hired five different property managers. Said one of them is going to be great. And then we'll tell them what to do is asset managers from real estate of the property.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, two ways, one, I think real entrepreneurs can't help themselves, actually. I think another time, so you said one, what did they go through? I love that, and how did they deal with challenges? And also, can they help themselves? Is this a problem they must solve or do you think it sounds good? If they think it sounds good or they want to be founder because they saw social network, the movie, well, that's not going to be a good reason.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We're done like that, and sometimes all you need to do is call the guy or show up. And in Corona, you didn't have to do that much to be very different.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And the peak untake boots moment was middle of corona. And me and my team, we were like, hey, let's go buy some real estate. And my head of real estate girl's name's Mark. He goes, I don't know, how am I going to buy this real estate? We only know how to buy by talking to the lendlords because we don't use brokers. We want the deal. So we want to find the seller that really needs to sell and we need a reason to buy. And I said, go meet them. So they want to meet me. I said, meet them outside, put them across the table, make sure they have a beer over there. You have a beer over there and scream to each other. And he goes, no one will do it. I said, everyone will do it. No one's calling them. And everyone did it. And our first five acquisitions, who turned out to be amazing acquisitions, we're going to get to talk about afterwards, but all have amazing bases.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Between that and the third time that we spoke, I started walking the buildings. And even this is sounding amazing about Corona. So so much change in the world. And I would love to hear Mark because I think it's so interesting because we gave a lot of forecasts, you and I, in Corona, what's going to happen to office? What's going to happen to home? But something that was obvious in Corona is people are not going to give up their homes and where your home is is where your heart is and get back home and you need some version of community and people back then were so connected digitally more than ever before and no one to talk to and especially with the mask if you really want to make it hard add that barrier then tell people they're not allowed to be in the same physical space and you got yourself an anti-kibbutz moment”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And he goes, I feel, I don't know you, I feel like you're the guy who's gonna get back in the ring. And that's where it's ended. And I was still thinking back at it today, or if I had someone I was mentoring and they would tell me that Mark called them, I would say, well, call him back, see if there's something you guys could do. There's none of that. It was just that. And the other beautiful thing that you guys did, but Mark was again you. About six months later, you called me again. Say, hey, we haven't spoken. What's up? What are you working on? And I was starting to actually work in residential because, Ben, you know, to your point, there was always one idea. But I thought I was working on residential as an investment. It was COVID, cap rates for those who remember interest rates were literally at zero, cap rates were wide for those who understand real estate when cap rates compressed, the value of the real estate goes up. So when Mark calls it, what's up now? I said, look, we're doing this, we're doing that, but nothing, nothing that special. Mark's like, okay, let us know if something interesting happens.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And believe everything that was written about you. It's a stage, it will pass. And you also told me, and then. Was very nice. But he also said at the end of it, he said, and I'm just so you know, and I'm sure we'll talk again. You said there's only going to be one decision that you need to make moving forward, and that's you're going to get back in the ring.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That I don't know if I've said it to you, but it was greatly appreciated, that phone call, and what's interesting about phone call, there was no business transaction in that phone call. The phone call was just how you doing and telling what you think. And there is something I've shared it before, but it's worth it where you said, Adam, tell me how you're doing. And I jumped straight into my lessons learned and this had an answer. Oh, you're still in that stage. And we don't know each other, but I was like, Mark, please tell me what that stage is. He goes, you know, the stage when you forgot everything you did.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Call, yeah, yeah. So I think the thing I would add to that is so, I'm not sure we spoke about it, the phone completely was not ringing when you called. And some people are social. I think I was extra social. So my phone was X and I like I'm more of a talker than so really stopped. And it wasn't just that. It was I say this sometimes I speak about it. I had a thousand friends a week before and I went down to 10 and five of them were family members, which I think was part of it. And for me also, I had some of my closest friends working with me because that's part of our ability. And there was a moment where even people who knew me, who were there for this story, suddenly believed what they were reading. And I do believe we live in a different world. I think we're talking now 2019 and we're now 2025. Hopefully the world has changed enough that people know not to believe everything that they read. But I think that was still an end of an era. And we were in the right place, right time for that. So it definitely stopped bringing in. And something.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Are you too worried about what everybody else thinks? And so people get too wrapped up in the sort of mob scapegoating cycle of, you know, being able to, and sort of this need for this kind of perceived need to kind of for everybody to agree on everything all the time. And that just has this effect of, I think, too many really promising people being abandoned in a few moments. Anyway, I don't know if that happened to you or how much that resonates, but I have talked to many other people who've been through this kind of thing. And I know that that happens. And so, you know, to be able to talk to somebody at that time, I think it's like a blow against conformity, which I think is always a good thing.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then maybe one more thing, just a general observation, which is kind of the old adage of was it failure, success as a thousand fathers with failures an orphan is there's just, I don't know, actually, I can't remember if I've ever asked you this, but like what a lot of people who go through kind of a big public kind of, you know, take down, tear down of some kind, you know, kind of go through is just like all of a sudden everybody they know and they're just like the phone's not ringing, right? I've heard this from lots of people. I don't know if it happened to you, but I've heard it happen to lots of people where all of a sudden it's just like you develop, you know, you develop leprosy or something and people just don't want to talk to you. And it's just this completely bizarre thing because it's like, all right, this is like a person who people had, you know, super hype opinion of. And then, you know, lots of relationships with. And then just all of a sudden, you know, it's just like poof vanishing. It's like, you know, what is that? And, you know, every one of those people is probably telling themselves some story about how, you know, they're making the right call by separating from the person. But what's, of course, what's happening is what Ted Kaczynski, famous philosopher Ted Kaczinski, what's called oversocialization, right?”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What we're looking for is great strength, and like every person has a weakness or has weaknesses. And some of them show up in like crazy ways. But that doesn't even matter because everybody's got that. What matters is, are you world class or best in world at what you can do, not what you can't do? And he was clearly like clearly, clearly, clearly, like as Mark said, you know, top two in one thing. There's just very few people on earth that are top two in anything. So, you know, it was one of those things where we were excited to meet him. It wasn't. Oh boy, this is Adam Newman. We work got all fucked up. That was never a thing.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There's a couple of things that go with that. One is anybody who's ever had a great success knows that the margin between that and a total failure is very, very thin. And the bigger the success, the thinner the margin. So like, you know, all of us who have been through that go, wow, like one bad piece of luck and it could have gone completely the other way. And then, you know, we kind of philosophically, very kind of early on in the firm always felt that.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, exactly what Thomas, there's tons of examples. Thomas Watson Sr., who founded IBM, the guy who founded IBM. He found out IBM in his 40s. In his 30s, he was convicted by the federal government of antitrust. He was like convicted of antitrust violations for running his previous company, NCR. He was basically already, you know, he's already basically been completely taken down by the government at that point and then started IBM. And so there's just this long history of people who have kind of been through these things. And, you know, some people get punched in the face hard and they never get up again and other people just get punched in the face and they're just like, wow, it's another opportunity for me to stand back up and show what I'm capable of. And so we've just always felt like it's because somebody goes through something that's very difficult if they're able to navigate their way through it and kind of demonstrate their character through it. They often have great potential. And I don't know if it is reasonable for me to draw the kind of comparison to like what you were describing for, you know, being dyslexic as a kid or whatever, but like being through a fundamental challenge like that, whether it's in childhood or adulthood.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“As far as I can tell, I was the only thing I did all day. And I would see him every morning, and he would yell at me for not wearing a mask. I would wave my mask at him and just keep walking. Anyway, then I would do three hours of calls. And so I actually remember this, well, I remember the calls because I remember actually standing in the field at one of the fields at Stanford and actually having the call. And yeah, and it was basically just like, look, we've always really admired what you've done. And we know we understand what you're going through from the press. But, you know, basically is, I can't remember if I told this to you, but like our philosophy always on this is like one of the key ways you evaluate founders is like, what difficult challenges have they been through in their lives that they were able to overcome? And the best forecast of being able to overcome a profound challenge in the future, which every entrepreneur deals with, is having overcome profound challenges in the past. And many of the great founders in history have had significant blow-ups at various points along the way.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Stanford campus, May 2020. Stanford campus, completely deserted except for me taking a long walk. And then there was one staff guy who was stationed at the head of the quad area where I would park. And his job was to yell at me for not wearing a mask.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was during So, when the COVID lockdowns hit hard out here, and I had this, I didn't have a home office really set up because we always worked out of the office. And so I had just, I was at my dining table with a chair after about eight hours of some calls, the entire side of my body, from my neck all the way down to my ankles would be basically seized up and in pain. And I was like, I can't live like this. I'm going to die. I'm not going to die of COVID. I'm going to die of crippling whatever this is. And so I started taking three hour walks every morning. And I went over to the Stanford campus, which was...”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This is one of the biggest industries on Earth that matters to everybody. And so as Ben and I were talking about it more and more, kind of as we're watching the whole thing happen, it's just like, all right, there's something very special happening here, kind of independent of the sort of day-to-day blow by blow aspects of the business. And then we'll talk more about independent of the financial stresses. Yeah, the other thing is we keep very good track of what our And they're really good indicator of the best new products because they really care about products. Almost all of them where we work customers and we thought, wow, that's like super interesting. So we always thought he was a really interesting guy, but because he was with Benchmark. We couldn't”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Difference in that story. He goes right out and starts it. Wait 10 years. I think I've always had the lesson from that: if you're a dean of anything, if you're a teacher You have a young student full of passion wanting to do something, tell them how to achieve. It is they're going after not, why it's impossible. You never know who you might be speaking to So that started. I think, Ben, also, you said something interesting about that, which again, for me, the partnership with Mark and Ben is amazing, separate from the fact from our business partnership is I learn a lot and I enjoy the partnership and the friendship. You shared something about the fact that, because people ask you about what ideas Adam has, it's always been one idea”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Everybody except for us made it to the second stage of the competition. Every single the stupidest ideas you've ever heard. Team was very disappointed in me because I I marched into the Dean of Business Office, who I knew for other reasons. And I said to him, I get it. I missed it. We're not going to go to the next stage. You got to tell me why. Because he was on the panel, one of the judges. And he said, Adam, the industry is too big. You're too young. And this is unrealistic. And I think, Ben, you were sharing before. I don't think I'm the only one who's experienced that kind of.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There was a competition, and it was the first entrepreneurship competition, first prize, fifty thousand dollars, and a seed investment into that idea. And I was sure I was going to win that competition. And I talked in the class and I found the best writer. And wherever I thought the best teammates, again, something for my dyslexia, I was very used to finding the best kids in class. And we said, we're going to win this. And I had a huge idea. It was called Concept Living. And concept living was going to be a new way of living because I used to live in an apartment building with my sister. I was blown away by the fact that we would go up and down the elevator. This is New York City, 2002 to 2008, right after September 11. And no one would say hello in the elevators. And I just found that fascinating. And we used to play games at how we're going to say hello to enough people. And I would, I thought I noticed that if you talk to enough people and brought them together, the building's energy change. And we presented this concept living in every...”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, when I went to Baruch College, I joined the entrepreneurship. I thought I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Didn't really know what it is, but I took entrepreneurship and I minored in marketing and one more thing. Nothing was studies.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then you can't fix But when you're chat GDP, you can actually get over that. It's just another little use case that works very well. I think the other thing, having any disability does, it makes you when you see someone else who's disabled, it doesn't matter what kind of disability, because for one thing, each one of us is something that bothers us. And we think it's big for us, but someone else might think it's not. Makes you care Or be very angry”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So now let's see what I can do. I think it's changing today. I think something technology is doing. I think I have a lot of dyslexic friends now. Everyone keeps calling me about how they're using AI to write stuff because it's just they're not making mistakes anymore. Because my kind of dyslexia, even when you dictate it to the phone. Still get sent special with my accent. You still get spelling mistakes.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You learn you have to use your ears and you're listening, especially my dyslexia was both in numbers and in letters. So in the heavier side of dyslexia, and you really learn how to With finding solutions. You get embarrassed, I think, a lot at a young age. It's very embarrassing when everybody else can read and you can't. You must make friends because if you don't make friends, who's going to help you study for the test? So, I think those are the beginning. It teaches you that there's always a solution, and it 100% teaches you to think outside of the box. Whatever solution everybody else has, it's not going to work for me.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“First, I think you get very good at hiding it. So, my parents said we're both doctors. Second grade, Bern's getting divorced, grandmother's taking me out to lunch just because she wants to see how I'm doing. Hands over the menu and says, please order and takes her exactly 20 seconds to relay as the kid can't read. Walk marches me to the principal's office. She was a lawyer. What kind of school are you building here? My grandson can't read. This is horrible. And he looks at her and says, I actually know your grandson. He comes here two to three times a week. We know each other well. And he's going to be just fine. He's going to have one person reading for him and another person writing for him. And he can do anything he wants. So at the beginning of thinking being dyslexic, you learn how to mask it.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I think that second chance, that concept of anything can happen, that concept. I heard it a lot again in the memorial on Sunday, that concept of a country where we all have the ability to achieve what we can and be, we can be, that is for me what the American dream is. And that's why I'm so proud to be here.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, a lot of spelling mistakes And I couldn't read until I was in the third grade. So being dyslexic always throughout my life forced me to learn how to deal with things communities really shaped me and going to the army taught me how to be a soldier and then how to be a leader. Then when I brought all of that back and came to the US, things seemed very doable. Everything was possible. And I think what I like about this country so much is I think that's the American dream coming as an immigrant from a different country, a kid that in school couldn't even necessarily read or write and had to always work out a system of how to get something done. And coming here, having an idea, building a business, failing multiple businesses, then building a bigger business. Not succeeding as much as we wanted to, then building another.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“See what's happening there because no one knew. She was my younger sister. No one knew what was happening there. So I flew to New York and we lived together. And for the next six years, I lived with Hadib, but I also, for the first four years, went to CUNY, Baru College. University of New York And for me going, and I know it's not an Ivy League school, but for me going to school was very easy because, again, compared to the army, there wasn't any test there that we were going to be given that was so hard. And then I think one more thing that sort of shaped me is growing up, I am still extremely dyslexic. You guys know, because I sent my text. I'll soon start using AI to send my text. I don't yet.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Anything's true for partnerships. Unless you learn, it's like the same thing about partnerships, unless you really learn how to be a great partner, you're never going to make things work. And he really stuck with me. He said the Navy officer course in Israel's two years. He said, You only need two years, not even a soldier, a cadet. Just need to make it for two years And I did I credit a lot of my ability to get things done no matter how complicated they are, understand how to work in a team, understand leadership, but there's natural leadership that we're born with, but then things we learn. All of that came together and sort of made me who I am. And then I moved to the US four days after I finished the Army. My sister was a supermodel living in New York City. The family said, I don't go check on your sister.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The week would start, and it took me nine months actually. Someone told me, very smart officer told me. He said, look, Anna, I think you're going to do great things when you grow up. But you can't be a great leader if you don't know how to be a soldier.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's a great 24 hours. And for the first nine months, every week I would get punished. I couldn't make it. I don't know. By the time I gave up, I was like, the week would start. The commander would walk and say, Adam, you have Shabbat, meaning you're not leaving.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, the big punishment in the Israeli army at the beginning is you don't get to go home on the weekend because Israel is so small. Supposed to the US, you serve in the Navy, you're serving, you're very far away from home. You come home every three months, every year. In Israel, the furthest you could go is four hours. My Navy base was an hour from home. So you get to go on the weekends for 24 hours, you go home. It's an amazing thing, and you're supposed to rest, but no one rests. You go out, you party”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source