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It sounds like a new spin on 1980s-style corporate raiding? Pillaging a company then moving on, leaving behind the carcass. I can't see how this behavior helps
by hnzix 8y ago
It sounds like a new spin on 1980s-style corporate raiding? Pillaging a company then moving on, leaving behind the carcass. I can't see how this behavior helps us as a society, it's legal but unethical.
- pas 8y agoI don't know if it's good or bad, but we like to think that vultures fill a niche, make ecosystems richer. Sure, our economies and ecosystem of firms doesn't necessarily have to look like a full out evolutionary war for resources, but .. it sort of does, and it's not going to change any time soon. So, im that sense if we want stable and nice companies, we have to care for them. Sort of like we do with pandas, rhinos, and so on. One possibility is doing pledge, using corporate bylaws to try to guarantee some of that niceness. Do it through IT (and startup, and VC and so) communities' wall of fame/shame.
- mbrumlow 8y agoThe problem is these vultures tend to swoop in while the company is still alive and kicking. Everybody expects their company to do amazing in 3 to 5 years and if does not they kick it to the curb. The problem is if you look at all the amazing companies that are doing really well. The majority of them took near 10 years to come to their own. Half the amazing companies in SV if ran buy these PE guys would not exist if they were given to them at year 5 of their life.
- pas 8y agoIf it was that alive and kicking founders wouldn't have sold it off to the vultures. :/ There's difference between PE and PE. Look at SoftBank's Vision fund, they want to invest still more than 100B USD (it's already at around a 100), they want to fuel growth of sectors, etc. And then there's "company turnaround management", where the employee count chart gets turned around, and cashflow becomes king.