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You're not gonna like this. The Commodore story is a classic business story, and here is the gist of it: Commodore demo'ed a new computer, but CEO hyped up the

by mahmud 16y ago

You're not gonna like this. The Commodore story is a classic business story, and here is the gist of it: Commodore demo'ed a new computer, but CEO hyped up the subsequent version so much that nobody bought this first version, and Commodore went down. Question is, what was the context of his suggestion? Does your product, its manual or any of the marketing literature make more promises about upcoming features than what it already offers? If so, then the prick is right. Further into your comments I find this following alarming statement, among other passive aggressive remarks: "1) Let this guy sink his own ship by cutting all internal support out from under him -- he thinks he's so good; he can prove it." You just don't think like that. Never ever undermine the business to spite someone. But get up and publicly and blatantly refuse to work with him, if you want, but do not undermine his ability to work with you.

comatose_kid 16y ago
I think you mean Osborne computers, not Commodore?
- mahmud 16y ago
  Wow, I swung aaand missed. Yes, you're right. But I have a deep suspicion the OP also meant Osborne, unless Commodore too has a product introduction fail story.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - iuguy 16y ago
    The Amiga 600 was a train-wreck, or as in the words of then Commodore UK MD David Pleasance, "a complete and utter screw-up". It was supposed to be 50-60$ cheaper than it's predecessor, the A500+ but worked out about 50$ more expensive than the A500, while missing a numeric keypad (which was used for flight sims and other software) and any true Amiga fan would've avoided as it offered nothing over an A500+ with the A1200 only 6 months away. To be fair, the latter part of Commodore's life (post-Tramiel) was a great exercise in how not to run a large company with a leading product.
hga 16y ago
As noted, this was Osborne, but even more importantly, Osborne (the man) later said that this was just an excuse for ... a general failure to execute, as I recall. I'm pretty sure I read this in The Wall Street Journal, if you have access to their archives you ought to be able to find it.
HN_adv_seeker 16y ago
I trusted HN to know it was Osborne. So, I didn't make the obvious correction in the story, nor the more subtle point that Osborne was about to get crushed by IBM, nor yet the point that it's clear in today's world that showing early adopter customers unreleased product to get feedback is frequently a good plan. Re: your work advice, I'm mulling over exactly this point -- there's a question of timing here, I think. Is it better for the business for me to keep this guy afloat, since I have not been able to get him booted? Not everything in business needs to happen realtime, although I would like this situation sorted out sooner rather than later. I confess I don't really understand the difference between refusing to work with him and undermining his ability to work with me, but I think I get your point regarding a good outcome for the business being the primary goal.

by mahmud 16y ago

comatose_kid 16y ago

I think you mean Osborne computers, not Commodore?

mahmud 16y ago
Wow, I swung aaand missed. Yes, you're right. But I have a deep suspicion the OP also meant Osborne, unless Commodore too has a product introduction fail story.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- iuguy 16y ago
  The Amiga 600 was a train-wreck, or as in the words of then Commodore UK MD David Pleasance, "a complete and utter screw-up". It was supposed to be 50-60$ cheaper than it's predecessor, the A500+ but worked out about 50$ more expensive than the A500, while missing a numeric keypad (which was used for flight sims and other software) and any true Amiga fan would've avoided as it offered nothing over an A500+ with the A1200 only 6 months away. To be fair, the latter part of Commodore's life (post-Tramiel) was a great exercise in how not to run a large company with a leading product.

hga 16y ago

As noted, this was Osborne, but even more importantly, Osborne (the man) later said that this was just an excuse for ... a general failure to execute, as I recall. I'm pretty sure I read this in The Wall Street Journal, if you have access to their archives you ought to be able to find it.

HN_adv_seeker 16y ago

I trusted HN to know it was Osborne. So, I didn't make the obvious correction in the story, nor the more subtle point that Osborne was about to get crushed by IBM, nor yet the point that it's clear in today's world that showing early adopter customers unreleased product to get feedback is frequently a good plan. Re: your work advice, I'm mulling over exactly this point -- there's a question of timing here, I think. Is it better for the business for me to keep this guy afloat, since I have not been able to get him booted? Not everything in business needs to happen realtime, although I would like this situation sorted out sooner rather than later. I confess I don't really understand the difference between refusing to work with him and undermining his ability to work with me, but I think I get your point regarding a good outcome for the business being the primary goal.