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This is how a "good company" starts turning into a "terrible company" by selling its soul to keep increasing shareholder value indefinitely. Eventually the com

by mtgx 8y ago

This is how a "good company" starts turning into a "terrible company" by selling its soul to keep increasing shareholder value indefinitely. Eventually the company, even one like Apple that has more money than it could ever need for the next 2 decades (unless it decides to build an orbital ring for or some enormously expensive project for launching rockets orders of magnitude cheaper into space), starts chasing new paths that make it lose its ethic and its fanbase's trust.

yborg 8y ago
This is the problem with the Valley "growth company" model, there is no concept of how to just ... stop at a certain size and run a sustainable business. The compensation primarily remains focused on getting cashed out by Wall Street, a speculative venue that is fundamentally uninterested in sustainable business models. At some point a company Apple's size can only force revenue growth by becoming fully anti-competitive - buying out competition to obtain unlimited pricing power, and then regulatory capture to make it impossible to compete with them.
- gxs 8y ago
  I asked some big wig about this and his response was basically, population is always growing plus inflation. Guess when looked at through that lease it makes some sense, overall agree with your sentiment. That said, with a giant pile of cash and top notch talent, it probably makes sense for Apple to find new avenues of growth. It’s especially hard for tech companies because we are a long ways from software automating everything it can.
- jackewiehose 8y ago
  > This is the problem with the Valley "growth company" model It's not just Silicon Valley, it's the whole world. To quote the german chancellor Merkel, everyone needs "Wachstum, Wachstum, Wachstum" (growth, growth, growth). So far it worked somehow but I'm not sure that is the best strategy.
cityzen 8y ago
I wanted to comment but couldn’t find the right words. You said exactly what I was thinking. It is hard to reconcile this endless growth model when a company like Apple has billions upon billions in cash. It really makes me realize that the world is just an insatiable monster that will never have enough of anything.
awat 8y ago
If I could like this comment ten times I would. You start stuffing your earnings report with little extra revenues and then all of the sudden you forgot about your original customer while someone else moves in. Then comes the part where you try to hold your customers captive or ditch any “good company” barriers preventing larger revenue. Interesting with Apple because of thier cash position,this could occur over a long timeline (assuming this is whats happening).

by mtgx 8y ago

yborg 8y ago

This is the problem with the Valley "growth company" model, there is no concept of how to just ... stop at a certain size and run a sustainable business. The compensation primarily remains focused on getting cashed out by Wall Street, a speculative venue that is fundamentally uninterested in sustainable business models. At some point a company Apple's size can only force revenue growth by becoming fully anti-competitive - buying out competition to obtain unlimited pricing power, and then regulatory capture to make it impossible to compete with them.

gxs 8y ago
I asked some big wig about this and his response was basically, population is always growing plus inflation. Guess when looked at through that lease it makes some sense, overall agree with your sentiment. That said, with a giant pile of cash and top notch talent, it probably makes sense for Apple to find new avenues of growth. It’s especially hard for tech companies because we are a long ways from software automating everything it can.
jackewiehose 8y ago
> This is the problem with the Valley "growth company" model It's not just Silicon Valley, it's the whole world. To quote the german chancellor Merkel, everyone needs "Wachstum, Wachstum, Wachstum" (growth, growth, growth). So far it worked somehow but I'm not sure that is the best strategy.

cityzen 8y ago

I wanted to comment but couldn’t find the right words. You said exactly what I was thinking. It is hard to reconcile this endless growth model when a company like Apple has billions upon billions in cash. It really makes me realize that the world is just an insatiable monster that will never have enough of anything.

awat 8y ago

If I could like this comment ten times I would. You start stuffing your earnings report with little extra revenues and then all of the sudden you forgot about your original customer while someone else moves in. Then comes the part where you try to hold your customers captive or ditch any “good company” barriers preventing larger revenue. Interesting with Apple because of thier cash position,this could occur over a long timeline (assuming this is whats happening).