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I know founders can sometimes be eccentric, but for Adam it's just delusion and that's well evident from his first venture [1]. > Working out of his Tribeca ap

I know founders can sometimes be eccentric, but for Adam it's just delusion and that's well evident from his first venture [1]. > Working out of his Tribeca apartment, he started Krawlers, which sought to make baby clothes with knee pads to make crawling more comfortable. The slogan, he has said: “Just because they don’t tell you, doesn’t mean they don’t hurt.” Are founders like Adam really incapable of seeing obvious holes in their ideas? Or they just conveniently ignore them? [1]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-is-not-the-way-everybody-behaves-how-adam-neumanns-over-the-top-style-built-wework-11568823827 https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-is-not-the-way-everybody-b...

rabbitonrails 7y ago
Steve Jobs is turning in his grave at this and other comments on this post.
TrackerFF 7y ago
The answer is narcissism. If you've ever worked or lived with someone that suffers from NPD, you'll know that their self-image is infallible. No mater how half-baked their ideas are, they truly, truly believe that it's the greatest thing ever. This only gets amplified when they succeed at something. Even more so when being surrounded by yes men and sycophants.
dmitryminkovsky 7y ago
I don’t get what you’re saying. This seems like a good idea and a good tagline for our times.
- zb 7y ago
  Babies don't have (ossified) kneecaps - their knees are already padded. And, as 100% of parents will agree, babies will definitely, definitely tell you when they hurt.
  - zaphar 7y ago
    Father of five, and I can confirm. They will most definitely tell you when something is uncomfortable.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  Have you ever met a baby? They are extremely vocal about even the slightest discomfort.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
IAmGraydon 7y ago
What’s the hole in this idea? I think it’s a decent idea (not a world changer) but he ran into supply chain issues. Also, WeWork is obviously having issues, but Adam did build an enterprise worth tens of billions of dollars. How are you qualified to call him delusional?
- shubhamjain 7y ago
  Unless your house has a cemented floor, I don't really see why would babies need kneepads. Considering their weight, how much pressure would actually be on their knees? Also, considering they tend to cry at the slightest discomfort, won't they be able to tell it themselves? Undoubtedly, Adam is extremely competent to build an enterprise of that scale but he can still be delusional about the potential of his ideas.
  - IAmGraydon 7y ago
    You’re accusing Adam of making false assumptions, but have nothing to back your position. All of that aside, however, it doesn’t matter one bit whether babies need knee pads. What matters is whether the person with the money believes that their child is in pain. The intent of the slogan is to change perception, as was all of their marketing. Some products solve a real problem and others create and then solve an imaginary one. Again, how does this make him delusional?
    - shubhamjain 7y ago
      Fair enough. From a purely business perspective, maybe even baby kneecaps make sense irrespective of their utility.
nexus2045 7y ago
Seems like being able to not see the holes in your own ideas, believing your own ideas are infallible i.e. narcissism as mentioned below, are very valuable traits in a founder, at least in certain phases. To this day, I still don't get why WeWork is a thing, but it just shows me that the whole system can be hacked given enough levels of self-delusion. And often times not for the better. I mean, people mentioned in religious writings are just like us, all the same, except their headspace is somewhere far different than the average man, and their responses to external stimuli end up being completely different or uninfluenced. A bit of reality distortion field, if you will. There is certainly a phase in the beginning of founding a company where few people will believe in your idea except yourself. And sometimes maybe those beliefs need to be a bit irrational as a defense until they gain traction in reality. Projecting a little bit here, but, I personally am the opposite, always seeing holes in everything about what I think, what I know, shooting myself down all too quickly, such that a lot of my interactions with other people seem to end up with them sympathizing for my lack of confidence but glad to see me being honest. Sometimes, I'd wish to just be a bit more of the opposite.

rabbitonrails 7y ago

Steve Jobs is turning in his grave at this and other comments on this post.

TrackerFF 7y ago

The answer is narcissism. If you've ever worked or lived with someone that suffers from NPD, you'll know that their self-image is infallible. No mater how half-baked their ideas are, they truly, truly believe that it's the greatest thing ever. This only gets amplified when they succeed at something. Even more so when being surrounded by yes men and sycophants.

dmitryminkovsky 7y ago

I don’t get what you’re saying. This seems like a good idea and a good tagline for our times.

zb 7y ago
Babies don't have (ossified) kneecaps - their knees are already padded. And, as 100% of parents will agree, babies will definitely, definitely tell you when they hurt.
- zaphar 7y ago
  Father of five, and I can confirm. They will most definitely tell you when something is uncomfortable.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
goatinaboat 7y ago
Have you ever met a baby? They are extremely vocal about even the slightest discomfort.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

IAmGraydon 7y ago

What’s the hole in this idea? I think it’s a decent idea (not a world changer) but he ran into supply chain issues. Also, WeWork is obviously having issues, but Adam did build an enterprise worth tens of billions of dollars. How are you qualified to call him delusional?

shubhamjain 7y ago
Unless your house has a cemented floor, I don't really see why would babies need kneepads. Considering their weight, how much pressure would actually be on their knees? Also, considering they tend to cry at the slightest discomfort, won't they be able to tell it themselves? Undoubtedly, Adam is extremely competent to build an enterprise of that scale but he can still be delusional about the potential of his ideas.
- IAmGraydon 7y ago
  You’re accusing Adam of making false assumptions, but have nothing to back your position. All of that aside, however, it doesn’t matter one bit whether babies need knee pads. What matters is whether the person with the money believes that their child is in pain. The intent of the slogan is to change perception, as was all of their marketing. Some products solve a real problem and others create and then solve an imaginary one. Again, how does this make him delusional?
  - shubhamjain 7y ago
    Fair enough. From a purely business perspective, maybe even baby kneecaps make sense irrespective of their utility.

nexus2045 7y ago

Seems like being able to not see the holes in your own ideas, believing your own ideas are infallible i.e. narcissism as mentioned below, are very valuable traits in a founder, at least in certain phases. To this day, I still don't get why WeWork is a thing, but it just shows me that the whole system can be hacked given enough levels of self-delusion. And often times not for the better. I mean, people mentioned in religious writings are just like us, all the same, except their headspace is somewhere far different than the average man, and their responses to external stimuli end up being completely different or uninfluenced. A bit of reality distortion field, if you will. There is certainly a phase in the beginning of founding a company where few people will believe in your idea except yourself. And sometimes maybe those beliefs need to be a bit irrational as a defense until they gain traction in reality. Projecting a little bit here, but, I personally am the opposite, always seeing holes in everything about what I think, what I know, shooting myself down all too quickly, such that a lot of my interactions with other people seem to end up with them sympathizing for my lack of confidence but glad to see me being honest. Sometimes, I'd wish to just be a bit more of the opposite.