Adam Neumann: This Is How You Build Iconic Companies
7/8/20261 hr 30 min
Adam Neumann joins Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Erik Torenberg for a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, failure, and building Flow.
Neumann reflects on his childhood, military service, immigration to the United States, the rise and fall of WeWork, and what he learned from one of the most scrutinized founder journeys in technology. He explains why Flow is focused on rethinking housing, community, and belonging, and why he believes technology can fundamentally improve how people live.
The conversation explores resilience, company building, leadership, real estate, software, flexible living, and the global housing crisis. Along the way, Neumann discusses rebuilding trust, designing for community, and why some of the biggest entrepreneurial opportunities emerge from deeply personal experiences.
Resources:
Read Marc's blog post about Flow: https://a16z.com/announcement/flow/
Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca
Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/
Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Erik's Substack: https://eriktorenberg.substack.com/
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdam Neumann· Guest0:00
[instrumental music] You said, "Adam, tell me how you're doing," and I jumped straight into my lessons learned and this, had an answer. And you were like, "Oh, you're still in that stage?" [laughs] [laughs] And I was... And we don't know each other, but I was like, "Well, Mark, please tell me what that stage is." He goes, "You know, the stage when you forgot everything you did- Mm ... and believe everything that was written about you. It's a stage. It will pass."
Speaker 30:19
[instrumental music] Today, we're bringing back one of our favorite conversations from the past year. Few founder stories have generated as much attention or debate as Adam Neumann's. After building WeWork into one of the world's most valuable startups, experiencing one of the most public corporate collapses in recent memory, and returning to start Flow, Neumann's journey has become a case study in ambition, resilience, and second chances. In this conversation, Mark Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Adam Neumann, and I discuss the lessons from WeWork, the vision behind Flow, the future of housing, and why Adam believes community is one of the most overlooked challenges in modern life. Adam, welcome to the Ben and Mark Show. I'm glad we have another head of hair on the podcast.
Adam Neumann· Guest1:06
[laughs] [laughs] That's a very brave thing to say.
Speaker 31:09
[laughs] We were just talking at lunch about how some entrepreneurs have many ideas, but Adam, you have one idea that you've been refining over your life, just getting it better and better and better. So why don't we go back from the beginning and talk about your background and how you can find a thread to how that led to Flow today?
Adam Neumann· Guest1:28
I was born in Israel,