All the series have been so intriguing and captivating due to the quality of production and execution of the stories. The introduction melody/sound is the best!

Episode 4 of the John Macafee story will not play for me nor can I download it. So wondering if that file is corrupt. All the other episodes work fine for me and were very interesting.

Foundering is a really high quality production and the McAfee story doesn’t disappoint, proving yet again that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Great podcast! with a recent discussion about potentially banning TikTok, I would love to hear episodes covering the latest developments on this topic. Keep up the great work!

The host seems to have a lot of experience, but her voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Twangy and almost with a lisp, it’s distracting to the story. She can’t help her voice, it is what it is, but hosting a podcast may not be the best use of her talents.

It is brilliant on Bloomberg’s car is using reporters have covered the stories for years. they have the long-term knowledge and connections to tell a story behind the headlines.

This podcast tells the stories behind the companies that shape our world calmly and thoroughly.

I love this podcast series. Such great stories and insights about Amazon. For the record, I’m a big fan and happy customer of Amazon. I also am a fan of Jeff Bezos. We may not like some of his approach but he and the Amazon team literally invented cloud computing, and I don’t think they get as much credit on that fact as they should. Anyway, I refer this podcast to my friends. It’s riveting.

While the Amazon season provides interesting insight into Jeff Bezos’s hand in Amazon’s rise to extreme market domination at all costs, it lacks in several aspects. I was quite surprised the podcast makes no mention of the antitrust litigation (previous and pending) against Amazon’s marketplace. The allegations are quite credible and serious. Additionally, there’s no mention of Amazon’s controversial state sales tax practices with regard to the marketplace. These, to me, are proof that Amazon does not have people’s best interest at heart and also get at the issue of Bezos’s personal wealth. Instead, we get a whole episode about Bezos’s affair and the weird conspiracy theory pushed by Bezos himself, likely as a media distraction. Quite disappointed about that. I would’ve rather heard more about Mackenzie Scott and her experience at Amazon in the early days and being married to Bezos.

I’ve listened to Tik Tok and Amazon and I’ve been impressed with both seasons and their hosts. It feels as unbiased as it gets by expounding on the achievements without dismissing the controversies.

The compelling initial revelations of the extent of Amazon’s ruthless attitude towards the people whose unacknowledged phenomenal hard work made it all succeed just trickles off into trite, repetitive cliches about what a selfish guy Bezos is. Should have carried that initial compelling approach through the end; the last several episodes communicate nothing we haven’t heard a thousand times already via every major news outlet’s hastily assembled evening news soundbites.

The narrator of the Amazon season seems to have forgotten everything stormy Daniels said was found to be made up

Awesome show, I hope a lot of people listen. I’ve been a mail carrier for 15 years and Amazon has ruined the post office.

Love this show! I don’t miss an episode.

One of the best shows out there. Great writing, great hosts, great music.

Listening to season one and I don’t understand why she hates Adam so much. I don’t know the guy maybe I should hate him too but she never gives me reasons. She just talks about what a jerk he is… but not obvious things. “Oh he said the right things but didn’t mean it” how does she know? Seems like she has an axe to grind.

I listened to episodes 1 and 2 and the story is very impressive. Amazon is the company that has the greatest impact on our lives today. I want to know how this company is run, the story behind the scenes, especially the working environment of the employees, and how they feel. I will definitely continue to follow the story to the end.

Yeah, I definitely want to listen to other stories about this sort of thing. Update: The TikTok season was great. Also, way better than WeWork.

Interesting topic but very slanted towards tiktok. Has a school girl crush feel to it. Some moderate criticism of privacy and child abuse issues but more glowing reviews of the founders than I would expect from real journalism.

Mostly child exploitation apologist, Trump hating, and China loyalist to the communist party.

Not everything has to be about President Trump...

A fascinating look at one of the most transformative companies of our generation. Shelly knocks it out of the park. Amazing look at the history and insightful view on what might come next!

I feel like TikTok’s dark side is something everyone knows about, but no one acknowledges, and it bothers me. Such an amazing series, I love the direction that Shelly and the team are going. Keep exposing what needs to be exposed. No one better to team up with than Dawn!

Perfect balance of excellent reporting and great story telling. Shelly Banjo clearly knows what she is talking about, and the presentation is so artful and well-edited. I’m now waiting in suspense for episode 4 to come out!

Host Shelly Banjo provides incredible insight into the story behind TikTok. The storytelling hooks you and develops beautifully. Shelly had a way of weaving together the characters masterfully. The sound editing is fantastic, as well. I can’t wait for the next episode!

Foundering has been a truly eye-opening podcast. I thought I knew a bit about TikTok. I get sent videos every so often or I’ll hear about it in a celebrity story. But, I barely knew any of what I heard in these first two tantalizing episodes. There is so much behind this worldwide phenomenon that we didn’t hear about in the U.S. and Shelly Banjo’s capable, lighthearted and informative narration helps us understand this fascinating tale. I can’t wait for more!

it’s crazy to hear about the work going into apps like tiktok and musically. it truly did feel like a random, one hit wonder app, but i guess it wasn’t at all! especially crazy to hear about the tiktok stars who have become insanely famous

I love this style of storytelling. i didn’t know anything about TikTok beyond the headlines and this was awesome. Can’t wait to hear the rest

I worked for this ridiculous company for 3 years, she nails the reporting, but it was actually even crazier than she got into. The amount of money wasted was spectacular, they rented MSG for 3 days & flew the entire company to NY so that the narcissistic execs could feed their egos. Also Rebecca should have been highlighted more, she was a lot more responsible for some evil things that went on. Also, working at this company during the #metoo era was insane. While I absolutely believe there was legit harassment, amidst all the chaos for Adam’s attention, there were several cases of sociopathic women throwing wrongful accusations at men who were later proven to be innocent.

For what little I knew about the Fall of the WeWork IPO, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the Foundering podcast. Having binged all of the episodes in less than 2 days, I was pleasantly surprised. A. By the amount of quality content involving people who experienced and suffered for dealing with Adam Neumann and B. By how easily we can be misled purely because of another person’s charisma. Very good reporting on a somewhat tragic tale of our times: so long as the surface looks good, we don’t worry so much about the due diligence.

Ellen, bravissima. Congratulations on your podcast. It’s really good.

There is so much good, juicy stuff about this company that I never knew! You can’t make this stuff up! Phenomenal story.

Somebody has to make a movie about this! I mean, this company exemplifies all of what’s wrong with the new era of entrepreneurship and business. Somewhere in there between the Monday tequila and printer getting thrown across the room, I was hooked!

I rapidly consumed the WeWork Foundering season. Great insight, thoroughness, and reporting. Would highly recommend!

The storytelling is okay, but dead set at telling the history of WeWork from a certain perspective. I get it, this isn’t actually a podcast about WeWork—it’s about Adam, the founder, on a podcast called “Founder-ing”. For me, the “taking-sides” perspective is always a letdown. Coupled with the naive interviews of ex-employees that don’t understand that being on salary means you don’t get paid overtime… there’s just a lot of disappointment and frustration as the series goes on. Worth a listen. Maybe. Are there too many episodes. Definitely.

Really enjoyed this podcast. I think they did a good job of looking at the situation from various perspectives and weaving a clear narrative. The reviews that call the employees whining are missing the point. This podcast is called foundering because it is about the founder, and showing the stark difference between that founder and his employees is an important piece of the story. Overall a good listen.

The sound quality and story telling in this podcast is second to none. Many rate the employees as “whining” when they complain about excessively low pay/odd job requirements. The point this podcast makes is comparing these requirements—some very serious with the CEO admitting to underpaying employees—with the overarching goal of WeWork to the outside world and within the company’s own culture. To say that the story of these young employees takes away from the podcast is a gross misunderstanding of a pivotal moment in technology and a failure to see the forest from the trees.

Really enjoyed the show about wework. Can’t wait for the next one.

The story of Adam and Wework is fascinating, but in addition to describing the egregious bad behavior, there is a lot of naive whining about things that are just normal business by entitled children. Its worth a listen but I recommend judicious fast forwarding.

I’ve been following the WeWork saga for a while, especially after my former employer was inspired by the WeWork mantra. This podcast did an excellent job discussing the rise and fall of WeWork - why it became so big, what was at stake, and who really benefited from the unicorn dream - and it was done with sensitivity to the people who invested time, money, and their future in this dream. I was actually sad when the podcast came to an end. I’ll look forward to the next season.

Brilliantly told. Like listening to a friend tell a fascinating story

Really well done, fascinating story

I enjoyed and learned a lot from the WeWork season even though I’m not in the startup world. Has both funny and serious parts and is really interesting!

Well done!

This is a terrific podcast. It’s well-reported and the interviews from people who were there for the rise and fall of WeWork are a nice addition. But it’s also a lot of fun. The podcast tells a lot of great stories.

This is a great look at some Silicon Valley ridiculousness from the inside with lots of good original sources and audio from internal company meetings. Way better than Wondery’s WeWork podcast.

I was always curious about how this company became so overvalued and this definitely broke it down. You probably already have this on your list but Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes would be a great season 2 topic.

I had previously listened to a podcast about we work but as always, Bloomberg does a great job. This was very compelling and well done!! Learned some new things. Great reporting and insight!! Thank you. Highly recommend.

Great coverage of admirable workers who changed the narrative around this scam company. I can only imagine the people decrying them as whiners are part of the Silicon Valley Bro Club. How Adam Neuman got away with this speaks volumes about this country. Bail out and print began with dot.com. They definitely changed things in America. Increased income disparity and corruption. Good job guys.

I think this was a well produced podcast but completely void of real substance. The basis of employees complaints could be leveled at any company in any place. They were salaried employees which is common. The tactics to let an employee go were legal. They stole documents and emails and you are sitting here salaciously reporting on and profiting from it. You get a big fat NOPE from me.