> ...if you disabuse yourself of the notion that Neumann was playing a game of entrepreneurship and good-faith empire building, and instead conclude that the game he was playing was shameless capital extraction, every step and action he took suddenly makes sense.

Sort of. I get the capital extraction part, but you also need to be a good steward of capital and make a profitable business out of it. He failed badly at the later part, and his reputation is an obstacle for the former.

Not saying you are wrong, but if I am a "capital allocator" at a16z, he would be no-go.

▲

helpful-guy 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Ironically Neumann's latest startup is funded by a16z.

▲

anonymous_user9 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

IMO you're being unfair; he talked his way into getting paid half a billion dollars for wework, and he's now a billionaire. That's a massive success at capital extraction.

▲

game_the0ry 7 hours ago | parent [-]

This is too cynical for even a turbo cynic like me.

Basically, you’re saying he mislead investors and got a bunch of money, so those investors see themselves being ripped off as a valuable skill, so they invest in him again. Wut?

I say again — why would investors trust him if his only track record is losing investor money?

	▲	anonymous_user9 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I misinterpreted you; I was arguing that he's already succeeded completely, so it doesn't matter if anyone gives him more money. But, IMO the reason they're still giving him more money is that they're stupid and greedy. They know WeWork was a disaster, but it was a huge disaster. That shows them he's good at running a con, and they want to get in on the next one. Class solidarity doesn't hurt either. Being a billionaire makes him an actual person in the eyes of other rich people. EDIT: Also, it's funny you used a16z as an example: > Not saying you are wrong, but if I am a "capital allocator" at a16z, he would be no-go. because Andreesen Horowitz are the ones investing in his new WeWork 2.0 startup Flow.
	▲	eli_gottlieb 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> I say again — why would investors trust him if his only track record is losing investor money? Because they look at a serial fraudster and see themselves in him.