Let’s officially stop comparing Adam Neumann and Elizabeth Holmes

Greetings and welcome back to Equity, a podcast on the business of startups where we break down the facts and subtleties hidden in the headlines.

This is the Wednesday edition of our programme, when we focus on a single subject, consider a question, and then explain the rest. Are you shocked by what we’re working with this week, by the way? Of course, we’re referring to Flow, Adam Neumann’s a16z-driven comeback to real estate, which is apparently already valued at more than $1 billion.

Is the comeback due to vision, track record, or Adam Neumann privilege, Natasha questioned this week? Anita Ramaswamy, co-host of the podcast Chain Reaction on TechCrunch, is present with her. The pair wrote an article about the response of the tech world to Neumann’s new firm, so consider this episode a mic’d up follow-up:

• The latest information, what is known, and what is unknown, such as how much of that $350 million cheque is cash.
• The reporter’s perspective on how to cover news that leans toward sensationalism. Do we offer anything intended for a response oxygen? And when is something better off being captured than waiting for it to happen naturally?
• Why people receive checks, as well as Neumann’s background, accomplishments, and capacity for fundraising After all, all you need to be good at to succeed in being a venture-backed entrepreneur is being good at becoming venture-backed.
• Why Neumann should not be compared to Elizabeth Holmes and how this fits into the female founder takedown narrative. Fraud is tricky, my buddy.