A fascinating new book paints a cautionary tale of Adam Neumann’s incredible rise and the dangers of the messianic leader — I only visited one WeWork office, a co-working space at 33 Irving Pl, in New York City, in 2018. I was there to help judge a technology competition and wondered why this company was meeting in a WeWork office. I’d heard of WeWork but knew little about it. The buzz…

The e-commerce platform’s acquisition of Depop is only the latest move in its ambitious expansion plans — When businesses decide how to allocate their capital, they essentially have four options: reinvest, return capital to shareholders through dividends or repurchases, take on mergers and acquisitions, or build the balance sheet. Historically, tech companies have favored reinvesting: hiring more engineers, entering new markets, and building new products. But as…

Music streaming is crowded with competitors. Can Spotify’s podcast gamble keep it ahead of the pack? — “When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.” — Warren Buffett Music streaming is a business with bad economics. The industry’s byzantine licensing structure has many mouths to feed. For each…

A little less enterprisey than Slack. A little more structured than Clubhouse. It’s just right. — In 2007, when BlackBerry was still the leader in the enterprise mobile space, a new competitor launched an irresistibly sleek touch-screen smartphone that epitomized the marriage of art and science. (Yes, we’re talking about the iPhone’s debut). BlackBerry executives scoffed at the seemingly pretentious device, which they thought would only…

In just a few short years, the chain behind the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito has managed to become an obsession of vegans and vegetarians — Earlier this month, like Simba returning from exile, Taco Bell’s potatoes were officially restored to the company’s menu board — Spicy Potato Soft Taco and all. …

In both business and politics, leaders tend to overestimate how much they have in common with their audience — Perhaps the most basic political fact about the Covid relief bill Congress just passed —and that I wrote about a couple of days ago — is that its provisions are, for the most part, widely popular and largely uncontroversial. …