3 ms·

The "street" is clueless. Not only does Google have plenty of cash to burn, but this could snowball into something that pays off for them. Google has a vested i

by samd 17y ago

The "street" is clueless. Not only does Google have plenty of cash to burn, but this could snowball into something that pays off for them. Google has a vested interest in a faster internet, just like shipping companies have a vested interest in better highways.

brianobush 17y ago
Spot on. The street looks quarter to quarter. Looking ahead for the next big thing is next to impossible for that mindset. This is where google got it right in setting up two classes of shares to keep wall street from messing up the big plans.
- csmeder 17y ago
  This is the problem with going public. You are dictated by the street and its short term goals. The street has no vision. And this sucks because they hold the power? (Steve Jobs gets a little leeway because hes proven over and over again.) Investors can vote out board members if they think this is stupid right? And board members out of fear can fire the visionaries. By going public google's balls are in the grip of the street and at its whim? I never plan on going public for this reason, but enlighten me if I'm wrong. To me it seems like "don't be evil"/visionary and being a public company can't go hand in hand.
  - samd 17y ago
    As far as I know Larry and Sergey own a controlling interest in Google. Not a majority interest, but they own most of the controlling stock. So I think they can basically do what they want.
    - Devilboy 17y ago
      As of today they still own more than 50% of the company together, although they have announced that they'll sell stock that will reduce this to a bit less than 50% over the next few years. (Not that it will really matter in terms of their control over the company)
    - brianobush 17y ago
      they also own shares that have more voting power. I can't recall the details, but one of their votes has more weight than the publicly traded shares do.
MikeCapone 17y ago
They will benefit from a faster internet, they will reap rewards from infrastructure investments that other ISPs will make to keep up, and they will get some nice brand equity out of it.

by samd 17y ago

brianobush 17y ago

Spot on. The street looks quarter to quarter. Looking ahead for the next big thing is next to impossible for that mindset. This is where google got it right in setting up two classes of shares to keep wall street from messing up the big plans.

csmeder 17y ago
This is the problem with going public. You are dictated by the street and its short term goals. The street has no vision. And this sucks because they hold the power? (Steve Jobs gets a little leeway because hes proven over and over again.) Investors can vote out board members if they think this is stupid right? And board members out of fear can fire the visionaries. By going public google's balls are in the grip of the street and at its whim? I never plan on going public for this reason, but enlighten me if I'm wrong. To me it seems like "don't be evil"/visionary and being a public company can't go hand in hand.
- samd 17y ago
  As far as I know Larry and Sergey own a controlling interest in Google. Not a majority interest, but they own most of the controlling stock. So I think they can basically do what they want.
  - Devilboy 17y ago
    As of today they still own more than 50% of the company together, although they have announced that they'll sell stock that will reduce this to a bit less than 50% over the next few years. (Not that it will really matter in terms of their control over the company)
  - brianobush 17y ago
    they also own shares that have more voting power. I can't recall the details, but one of their votes has more weight than the publicly traded shares do.

MikeCapone 17y ago

They will benefit from a faster internet, they will reap rewards from infrastructure investments that other ISPs will make to keep up, and they will get some nice brand equity out of it.