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Hasn't Twitter racked up 2.5B in losses and yet to turn a profit (though reportedly close to doing it for the first time ever). 2.5B in losses for a platform yo

by gdilla 9y ago

Hasn't Twitter racked up 2.5B in losses and yet to turn a profit (though reportedly close to doing it for the first time ever). 2.5B in losses for a platform you could build and scale for what, $10M now. Very questionably successful - some people got rich so yes, i suppose?

geekamongus 9y ago
It's now the platform for official communications from the US Government's Executive Branch, so you can expect it to worsen based on red tape alone.
scarface74 9y ago
That's why I added (questionable). I've made the mistake at one company of thinking that my job was to architect solid software that was sustainable for the long term. What they really wanted was to have software that was "good enough" and had all of the checkbox features to be attractive to potential acquirers so the investors would stop breathing down their necks.
- candiodari 9y ago
  Twitter "made 2.5B losses". Yeah ... that's bad ... but not from the perspectives of investors. Jack Dorsey became a billionaire from those losses. The same is true for probably all other early investors. For an investment in Twitter to have done really badly, there was a "bear" period of about 2 years. And before you say it, remember that even Google stock dropped 60%, Facebook's 70%. Twitter's drop actually looks pretty reasonable in comparison. So firstly, I don't think twitter is bad, and secondly, I don't think people have given up on twitter, and thirdly, that seems pretty justified.
  - scarface74 9y ago
    A business model is by definition "bad" if it doesn't make sustainable profits. Of course you have to allow for time, but Twitter isn't a startup.
    - candiodari 9y ago
      Well I would be very happy indeed if I ever make a business for myself 10x as bad as twitter. Wouldn't you ?
      - scarface74 9y ago
        As a founder - yes, if I could convince VCs to give me enough money to fund a money losing venture long enough to take public to get the market to value my company at a few billion. As an employee who has a job because the company exists? Yes As a retail investor - I wouldn't be quite as happy.
jcadam 9y ago
That has little to do with their architecture, methinks.
- scarface74 9y ago
  People have been asking for years why Twitter is so bloated with employees. A lot of people think that the bloat is partially caused by a poor architecture that they have to maintain. Contrast that to the small staff that Instagram had before getting acquired. It's still run on a relatively small staff now.

by gdilla 9y ago

geekamongus 9y ago

It's now the platform for official communications from the US Government's Executive Branch, so you can expect it to worsen based on red tape alone.

scarface74 9y ago

That's why I added (questionable). I've made the mistake at one company of thinking that my job was to architect solid software that was sustainable for the long term. What they really wanted was to have software that was "good enough" and had all of the checkbox features to be attractive to potential acquirers so the investors would stop breathing down their necks.

candiodari 9y ago
Twitter "made 2.5B losses". Yeah ... that's bad ... but not from the perspectives of investors. Jack Dorsey became a billionaire from those losses. The same is true for probably all other early investors. For an investment in Twitter to have done really badly, there was a "bear" period of about 2 years. And before you say it, remember that even Google stock dropped 60%, Facebook's 70%. Twitter's drop actually looks pretty reasonable in comparison. So firstly, I don't think twitter is bad, and secondly, I don't think people have given up on twitter, and thirdly, that seems pretty justified.
- scarface74 9y ago
  A business model is by definition "bad" if it doesn't make sustainable profits. Of course you have to allow for time, but Twitter isn't a startup.
  - candiodari 9y ago
    Well I would be very happy indeed if I ever make a business for myself 10x as bad as twitter. Wouldn't you ?
    - scarface74 9y ago
      As a founder - yes, if I could convince VCs to give me enough money to fund a money losing venture long enough to take public to get the market to value my company at a few billion. As an employee who has a job because the company exists? Yes As a retail investor - I wouldn't be quite as happy.

jcadam 9y ago

That has little to do with their architecture, methinks.

scarface74 9y ago
People have been asking for years why Twitter is so bloated with employees. A lot of people think that the bloat is partially caused by a poor architecture that they have to maintain. Contrast that to the small staff that Instagram had before getting acquired. It's still run on a relatively small staff now.