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

“Actually, think that in hindsight, what I thought was a challenge was actually exactly what made me Oh I am today. I think as I was building businesses, it was never tough for them when I was a kid, so there was nothing that could happen that was that bad. And I think sort of, because I do want to make a difference in the world and I do want to make it a better place, I think it comes from her and from how she took care of all those patients. And in hindsight, I love the childhood that we had. So all of that led me to this really... Where I became a Navy officer, where anybody who knew me would have never guessed because you need a lot of discipline. And I think something nice about going to the Army, it forces discipline. Because either you're going to be disciplined or you're going to be in trouble.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You said that Mark Twain quote there, I think you said something like when I was 14, I thought my father didn't know anything. And by the time I became 21, he learned so much. I think for me, I could really relate to that because as a kid, I always focus about the fact that my mom is so difficult with us. And as I got older and started, I'm married today with six kids and started having my own kids and realized how difficult it is when everything is great and you have access to everything and can get very difficult. I realized that for my mom to be a single mom, a doctor, dealing with my personality, which now I see it in my kids, which must have not been easy.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I remember one time where my mom bought this new set of dishes, and she comes home, and again, the same fight, and she starts throwing the dishes. But my sister noticed not the ones she just bought, only the other ones. We started telling us that there was some method to the bad dishes. So it was very difficult back then. And then living in a community always made it better. And no matter what happened at home, no matter how tough the night was, the next morning everything was okay. And there were neighbors and they heard and things happened. Always people were looking out for us. I also remember, and we were just at your father's memorial. Sunday, which was very moving, and I learned a lot about him.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The chore was you wash the dishes. And my mom would come home, and the dishes weren't washed, and many times those dishes would start flying and a lot of times end on the floor or everywhere, actually, in the house. So that was very extreme as a kid. And I remember the day once my mom, we didn't have a lot of money also growing up, as well as the social medical system. So doctors don't earn a lot at all. So we always, I remember growing up, it was always either we're at zero or an overdraft. So I grew all my life that were negative or you can make it back to zero. And when you don't make it back to zero enough times, you get a call from the bank. And then you call grandma. And grandma helps a little bit. And then things go back to zero and down to negative.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“She would come home, and my sister and I, we only had one chore. We just had to wash the dishes. Yeah. We never did. We never did. One thing she just wanted us to come because I felt because I used to walk my sister home from school and I would make the meal and I did a lot of other things that were important, but they weren't considered a chore.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, first of all, I think there are multiple kinds of communities. There are great communities when a group of people gets together to build something greater than themselves. And then there are communities, which we've seen, I think, more and more of, where you get to a mob mentality and sometimes that mob mentality actually balances to the lowest common denominator. Luckily enough, the kibbutz and the communities I was experiencing were actually the kind where people come together to do something greater. It really made me feel that there is more happiness, more fulfillment, more things to do. It's a better way of living when you're surrounded by other people, especially for me because my childhood was difficult. So I said about my mom. So she would take amazing care of her patients. But I think by 8 p.m., and it was a very long day.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was when I lived in the kibbutz. And for those of you who don't know, that's also where I lived the most. In the kibbutz is where it's almost like a commune. The kids live together from in our kibbutz. They stopped it, but a lot of them live together from age two to 18. They go to their parents for dinners and they spend the weekends, but they're all more kids than not kids. And they were so tightly put together that I was the hardest group to connect to. But also I think the place that affected me the most sort of shaped me with what I think about community and about together. And once you do become part of that community, my mom said, the doctor, she would come home very late at night. She would be on call sometimes. There was a whole community taking care of my sister and I.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People, the best treatments you could, but because you're such an excellent doctor, whenever one head of hospital had enough with her, there was always two other heads of hospital ready to recruit, which is something we know about great talent. Great talent always finds a home. So I think that led to a lot of those moves. But for me as a kid, I think for kids, moving is a very difficult thing. I think it's good because I think it makes us stronger, but I also think it's difficult. And when you enter a new community as a new kid, you have no friends and you always find yourself looking, who are you going to be with? And I used to be attracted, also they were the only ones who would have me, to the uncool kids. So I was the ones who were a little different. And so I would get to a new place. I already knew my place. I would go immediately to the different kids. And my thing in life was I would befriend them. We would become great friends. Then I would make my way into the social structure of whatever community I went to. And I would bring with me those kids, those are my big winning moment. The toughest community I ever went to.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“First of all, I think in Israel being a doctor because such a small place, you study in one place, you fill in another, then you go from one thing to the other. So I think that generated about three of them. Then my parents divorced generated another one. I think my mother could not stand to be in the same country as my dad, at least for two years, which actually pushed us, which not a lot of people know about it. I lived in Indiana, Indianapolis. I was a hoosier for two years. I went to Pacers Games and saw the Indy 500 and learned about the three S's. So those were some of the moves. But the other one, my mom and she's actually comfortable speaking about it. She's bipolar and she's an oncologist and she's very good at her craft. But being an oncologist and also having the mood swings, she would fight very hard for her patients. And no matter what happened, if you were my mom's patient, she would go to war, including with the head of the hospital, to fight for you. And Israel has this medical basket and not everything is included, and some people could afford things, some people couldn't. And she was always finding a way to get.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was born in Israel, and my parents got divorced when I was eight. My parents are both doctors. And we moved 13 times in my childhood. So I remember moving from community to community from place to place.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You'd say, Adam, tell me how you're doing. And I jumped straight into my lessons learned on this, had an answer. And you were like, oh, you're still in that stage. And we don't know each other. I was like, Mark, please tell me what that stage is. Because, you know, the stage, when you forgot everything you did. Believe everything that was written about you. It's a stage, it will pass.”
2026-07-08 · a16z Podcast · Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source