By Arjun Ahluwalia

We have been fixated with Bloomberg Technology’s new serialized podcast Foundering. The first edition of 6 episodes focuses on the inside story of WeWork, from its ubiquitous founder Adam Neumann’s life on a Kibbutz to its stratospheric growth to that final spectacular failure of its intended IPO.

The story is gripping and many early stage founders will likely resonate with many of the challenges and themes that come up. While in my view Bloomberg’s Ellen Huet sometimes takes a slightly partial perspective (which may have been unavoidable as it appears Adam Neumann did not participate in the story), the podcast brings to the surface many lessons that early stage founders need to take seriously from the very start:

The need for best practices on corporate governance

Checks and balances on conflicts of interest

The importance of clarity with employees whenever employee equity is granted

The problems that can arise when a business is ‘over-funded’

Managing expectations of majority investors

The manner in which founder IP is contributed

Substance over form etc

The list goes on. A Hollywood movie may inevitably follow, but for now this podcast retells the remarkable story of what happens when you put together an incredibly (over)idealistic founder, a legendary investor (Masayoshi Son and Softbank’s billions) and unrestrained mass hype without adequate controls.

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