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Regardless of motive, the whole asset-sharing startup bubble is a pretty effective wealth redistribution scheme. It took billionaires' money and used it to sub

Regardless of motive, the whole asset-sharing startup bubble is a pretty effective wealth redistribution scheme. It took billionaires' money and used it to subsidize taxi rides, shared work spaces, and dog walking. At the least, maybe Masayoshi is a reluctant Robin Hood?

magduf 7y ago
If SoftBank wants to do something more productive with all that cash, I propose they invest a huge amount in some Japanese aircraft manufacturer so they can start building planes competitive with the 737MAX. The aircraft market is screaming for something like this, with the existing duopoly between Boeing and Airbus, and seemingly a new article every week about how bad Boeing is (today, it's some new whisleblower former 737 production manager alleging production problems with the plane). China is working on building such aircraft, but surely Japanese-made aircraft would be trusted much more. This would certainly be a much better use of VC money than subsidizing dog-walking.
- deleted 7y ago
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- kalleboo 7y ago
  Mitsubishi is starting deliveries of their regional jet next year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_SpaceJet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_SpaceJet I don't think throwing more money at the problem will speed it up too much, they need to build up the institutional knowledge with smaller projects like this before jumping on a jumbo jet.
  - magduf 7y ago
    Yeah, I've read about that, and it's good news, but more investment does allow faster expansion because building bigger planes requires capital investment in facilities. But you're right, you can only expand so fast because you have to build up institutional knowledge, however I will point out that I wasn't proposing that they jump right to jumbo jets, only that they need to more quickly build jets competitive with the 737MAX (which is a mid-size jet). Eventually it'd be great if they also built jumbo jets, but what the market needs the most right now is a modern 737 replacement made by someone other than Boeing. Boeing isn't trustworthy any more, and they're still bound and determined to stick with a 50-year-old airframe design no matter what. I'll also suggest that, with lots of investment funding, not only could they buy more equipment and land and build facilities, they could also poach valuable employees from other aircraft makers to build up that institutional knowledge more quickly. Surely there's some disgruntled Boeing engineers who value quality and safety over executive bonuses who might like to work for a while in Nagoya?

magduf 7y ago

If SoftBank wants to do something more productive with all that cash, I propose they invest a huge amount in some Japanese aircraft manufacturer so they can start building planes competitive with the 737MAX. The aircraft market is screaming for something like this, with the existing duopoly between Boeing and Airbus, and seemingly a new article every week about how bad Boeing is (today, it's some new whisleblower former 737 production manager alleging production problems with the plane). China is working on building such aircraft, but surely Japanese-made aircraft would be trusted much more. This would certainly be a much better use of VC money than subsidizing dog-walking.

deleted 7y ago
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kalleboo 7y ago
Mitsubishi is starting deliveries of their regional jet next year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_SpaceJet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_SpaceJet I don't think throwing more money at the problem will speed it up too much, they need to build up the institutional knowledge with smaller projects like this before jumping on a jumbo jet.
- magduf 7y ago
  Yeah, I've read about that, and it's good news, but more investment does allow faster expansion because building bigger planes requires capital investment in facilities. But you're right, you can only expand so fast because you have to build up institutional knowledge, however I will point out that I wasn't proposing that they jump right to jumbo jets, only that they need to more quickly build jets competitive with the 737MAX (which is a mid-size jet). Eventually it'd be great if they also built jumbo jets, but what the market needs the most right now is a modern 737 replacement made by someone other than Boeing. Boeing isn't trustworthy any more, and they're still bound and determined to stick with a 50-year-old airframe design no matter what. I'll also suggest that, with lots of investment funding, not only could they buy more equipment and land and build facilities, they could also poach valuable employees from other aircraft makers to build up that institutional knowledge more quickly. Surely there's some disgruntled Boeing engineers who value quality and safety over executive bonuses who might like to work for a while in Nagoya?