Here’s what I want to talk to you about today, superstar:
It’s that men are not better business leaders than we women are; they are not smarter, nor more efficient. They are just RICHER, and there are more of them.
Case in point: ADAM NEUMANN. Now, I don’t love tarnishing the brand of a fellow Israeli national, but he is so awful, I am happy to.
Adam Neumann is not smarter than you. He’s, at most generous interpretation, an unethical, unchecked egomaniac.
If you think he’s the only person in the world who’s thought of WeWork, that’s 100% off. Which we also know, in light of other mega-watt co-working space brands. In fact, I am willing to bet that thousands of women thought of that idea before he did. But my hunch is that if so, investors told them… NO.
WHY? Because of bias, that’s why. Instead, Softbank gave an inconscionable narcissist with zero proof of concept or social proof billions of dollars, of which he lost tens of billions (roughly $40 billion of the $47 billion valuation). And then, they gave him an astonishing exit package, estimated to be worth over $1 billion, withdrew WeWork’s IPO and screwed over employees who, according to an article in Vanity Fair, “were hoping valuable stock shares would offset long hours and alarming office culture.”
And did his career end after this? NO. By some lunatic twist, major VCs just gave him more money. He raised a stunning $350 million from Andreessen Horowitz for a yet-to-launch real estate company called Flow. The investment gave Neumann’s latest venture a more than $1 billion valuation. According to TechCrunch, “that investment marked the largest check Andreessen Horowitz had ever written for a single company and its second bet on a Neumann startup.”
WHAT THE ??….
Anyway, good for him, I guess (until karma catches up). In the meantime, the point I want to make is that women are in between such a rock and a hard place.
First of all, because most of them don’t even raise funds for our business. Second, because – many times as a result of not doing a raise – we don’t have the investment or the runway to take risks.
And then, on top of that, we have way less room to fail than Adam Neumann (though, to be honest, that’s most of us).
If this were a status quo that could not be altered, I would be disheartened, but I am NOT. Because I think we are on the precipice of something BIG. In 2023, we are 51% of the population. We are also half of the labor force and 85% of consumer buying power. This means a seismic shift is ahead. As a lifelong feminist with a deep core belief in equal access, rights and pay for all, I am dedicated to this growth not only in coaching YOU, but in demonstrating our power through the example of my own company.
And though ENTHUSIASM ACADEMY registration is closed, I have a couple of private executive coaching spots available for people who are super serious about their growth this year. If this is you, schedule a consultation with us here.
See you AT THE TOP, and Happy International Women’s Day!
Coach K