If I may return to the biology analogy too; human beings get a lot of benefit from walking erect, but our backs and our feet are sometimes sore because we are made of parts that were put together before we could walk erect.

For a long time there was a kind of cultural chauvinism: the idea that if you just played Mozart to people in the Amazon or to hunter-gatherer groups in the South Pacific, they'd instantly recognize its greatness, maybe even see God. But of course, they don't experience it that way at all.

At WeWork, we believe creators are anyone that's pursuing their passions and contributing to a mission. You may be an artist who is working on an innovative new project, a freelance software engineer providing client services or a director of HR at a Fortune 500 company that's trying to build a dynamic work environment for employees – regardless of your company size, title or function, you are working towards creating meaning, intention and purpose within your life.

It seems to be a part of our evolutionary journey to feel separate, living within the confines of an ego-driven narrative, experiencing a sense of limitation and disconnection from others. In essence, we suffer from a mistaken identity, identifying ourselves as individuals rather than recognizing our interconnectedness.

There's a concept in psychology called naïve realism. We think we see the world perfectly and assume that everyone sees it the way we do. If they don't? if they disagree? Our assumption is that they are wrong, and that they are misinformed. It's a natural inclination we all have which stops us putting ourselves in the other's shoes.

We mustn't focus exclusively on this threat, and it tends to be the case that the global elite does. I was at Davos in January 2020 and climate change was the agenda – and the pandemic had already begun! It was quite difficult to persuade people that there might be a nearer-term threat facing us than climate change.

You cannot trust Russia, that Putin is rebuilding the Russian Empire and they are fighting not to win, but to rebuild their empire as an ideological way to resolve domestic issues, and further feed evil.

There's definitely a sense that regulators don't understand how firms operate and the practicalities of what they do- and hence that regulations won't help resolve the issues, such as governance issues, that are there.

Industry expertise can sometimes be a hindrance in innovation. Those deeply entrenched in an industry are often the least likely to disrupt it.

The world we see is always constructed by our brain. We never have direct access to the world in itself; we only have access to the model our brain is constructing. It works as a sort of 'best guess.' The brain isn't trying to find the absolute truth or create a perfect replica of the outside world's structure. It's trying to find a model that works—one that is adaptive and allows you to function.

When you choose not to raise funds... think of it in terms of stages or ladders. These years give you knowledge capital, valuable relationships both within and outside the company, and other vital assets. From there, think of bootstrapping like a multi-stage booster rocket, where each stage propels and prepares you for the next, and the momentum continues building.

I look at every negotiation as an opportunity to solve a problem between me and the other negotiator. They are not my adversary – I need them – and they need me.