Tesla vs WeWork

Just finished watching the Hulu WeWork documentary, and throughout the entire film, all I could think was “How is Tesla not just like WeWork??” The parallels between the two are a lot in my opinion.

Summarizing real quick and briefly the WeWork documentary:

• Adam shows up in 2010 after the financial crisis. This was a time when people were being a bit greedy, betting on Tech companies a lot of money in hopes of incredible returns or finding that next “unicorn”.
• Adam uses his charisma to ensnare people into working for him and investing in his dream, a “revolution in the workplace” that would “forever change the human interaction” when it comes to business and maybe even societal expectations about work / life balance. Telling people that everyone is a “creator” and all this other spiritual stuff.
• WeWork had a fairly straightforward business model. The company would sign long-term leases on office space (from Adam after he purchased the buildings himself) subdivide it into smaller work areas, and then rent those out to freelancers or small businesses on a short-term basis.
• The innovation here was the different way of presenting work space to people – changing the overall aesthetic. That is it!!
• WeWork uses all types of tactics (gets attractive young people, booze, free snacks in offices, the inspirational mantras, etc…) to entice people to work for them or open their offices in WeWork locations, or invest in the company. Adam essentially creates a cult of personality around him, being all about “bringing people together” in the “spirit of We.” He cashed in the fact that many people are looking for “purpose” in life.
• Adam Neumann insisted that WeWork was going to be huge, and it had something to do with technology. “So we’re definitely not a real-estate company,” he said to a skeptical television interviewer. “We are a community of creators” who “leverage technology to connect people. . . . And it’s a new way of working. Just like Uber is the sharing economy for cars, and Citibike for bicycles, we’re the sharing economy for space.”
• With momentum on his side, Adam / WeWork expand at crazy levels and get crazy a valuation after investments from SoftBank.
• WeWork is bleeding money like crazy throughout the entire time, and the more they grow, the more cash they burn – who knew paying building mortages or leases would be so expensive when only half of the office space is being used? Meanwhile, Adam and his wife keep pushing the cult of personality, now telling people that WeWork and the We Company will solve world hunger, education issues, and all these crazy things.
• WeWork is in debt, and with SoftBank finally stopping all investments on the company, Adam Neuman is finally forced to try to take the company public in order to get more cash. The S1 goes terribly and they are forced to shelf the IPO due to the market's reaction – valuation dropped tremendously as investor lost confidence in the company.

With all this in mind, I cannot see Tesla as anything else but a WeWork waiting to happen…

• Musk is another CEO who uses charisma in order to push the company to where he wants. Is he smarter than Adam, yes I would say in general he is smarter. However, Elon has been more and more in the media for negative reasons than good ones… The cult of personality around Elon has begun to erode finally and more people are starting to see him in a negative way.
• Tesla keeps saying that they are a Tech company, not a Car Manufacturer. However, at the end of the day, that is what they are, a car manufacturer. They sell cars….
• Tesla keeps pushing the tech on their cars as a reason for why it should be though of as a Tech company, but car manufacturer companies like Ford, BMW, Chrysler, and other are already catching up in terms of the 'self-driving' capabilities and battery technology for electric cars. It would be like me calling Ford a Tech company now that they have the Mach E and the electric Ford F150… just not the case.
• Tesla delivers less cars than any of the other car manufacturers, WAY LESS CARS… but somehow their valuation is higher than the top ten car manufacturers combined! How in the world???!?!?
• Tesla is getting sued by the government due to Musk misleading the public and investors about his AutoPilot technology – which doesn't exist yet really.

In general, I see Tesla as the next WeWork. Tesla’s stock price is completely divorced from any kind of financial reality. If you look at the history of Tesla’s stock price, it was never based on car sales. It’s always been based on hype from Musk and a vision for a future. That vision was appealing to many, but as Musk's eccentricity keeps growing… I don't see this lasting a lot longer.

I know people love Tesla and Musk here, but