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I genuinely don't understand why big names, who are generally considered very smart, are sinking money into this. I'm trying really hard to stay curious here, and wonder what they see that I don't.

Unfortunately I seem to be mostly just landing on upset that this charlatan is being given more resources to waste.

Sometimes people like that feel a strong urge to signal to everyone that they can see the emperor's new clothes better than anyone else.
Because its their job and there are other VC that made a killing off this guy.
Is that true? I thought everybody got wiped out and he pocketed a huge check to make himself fabulously rich.

Can you expand?

I just read “The Cult of We” last week so my memory is fresh. Some investors got decent payouts in funding rounds following theirs.
Because he’s a very talented entrepreneur and that’s who investors want to bet on
Isn't he best known for lighting many billions of SoftBank's dollars on fire? What criteria or evidence are going by when you describe him as "talented"?

Again, genuinely trying to understand, here.

just watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgp-CM-gQik&feature=youtu.be

the guy is an absolute genius, master of charisma and communication, one of the best speakers i've ever seen. he calmly and easily responds to every difficult question ARS throws at him. i aspire to learn from him and would love to spend time with him.

of course people will give him much more capital.

He turned $22 billion in funding into $4 billion valuation. That doesn't take much talent lol.
right, everyone can build one of the world's best-known brands and become a billionaire. super easy, no talent needed.
Some talent is needed to convince people to fund you. Little or no talent is needed to set money on fire. Politicians do that all the time.
Bottomline, as a former repeat WeWork customer for a number of products, this is true: 'In a blog post on a16z’s website today, Marc Andreessen described Neumann as a “visionary leader” and credits him with “revolutionizing” real estate.'
I don't understand what you mean. In what way did WeWork revolutionize real estate, in your opinion?
As much as I hate the Adam Neumann type of leader (i.e Nothing but hype), he did make WeWork a household name synonymous with office space and the gig economy.

When I need to rent an office the first time, WeWork was the first to come up mind. Of course after a quick Google, I immediately found other ones which are arguably better value, e.g. Liquid Space.

Some post-pandemic real estate arbitrage play? pmarca trying to one-up Masa?