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This is sad. Back in school we had to read "The Goal", about how a new manager is able to turn around a dying manufacturing plant and save it from closure, by f

by Allocator2008 18y ago

This is sad. Back in school we had to read "The Goal", about how a new manager is able to turn around a dying manufacturing plant and save it from closure, by focusing on "the goal", namely profit. Sorry darlings but saving the planet is not "the goal". Profit, and only profit is. KP is going to have to learn this the hard way evidently.

Harj 18y ago
i'm pretty sure KP know the goal is profit. they're VC's, by definition the only criteria for success they have is making money.
- newt0311 18y ago
  Their recent actions and results indicate otherwise.
gleb 18y ago
The cleantech play is hardly altruistic. Rather it's a bet on ability to extract government subsidies to make profits, and to time the market for a successful exit. Note the lobbying cleantech VCs are doing in Washington DC, and consider Al Gore hire in terms of its lobbying power, especially if Democrats come to power. While making money by transferring wealth from taxpayers to institutional investors is arguably unethical, you can't fault its business viability.
nostrademons 18y ago
I always thought Drucker had a better philosophy: "A company's primary responsibility is to serve its customers. Profit is not the primary goal, but rather an essential condition for the company's continued existence." You can find plenty of examples of companies that have crashed and burned because they believed profit and only profit was the goal, eg. Enron.
- jraines 18y ago
  Enron was more about maximizing the share price, not profit. Exagerrating profit was a part of this, but not as much as bamboozling people about the company's future prospects (e.g. Enron Broadband). This is still a problem in our economy. There's too much pressure to "beat the Street". I worry what effect this will have on Google over the next 5-20 years.
- parker 18y ago
  That may be the best quote I've read in awhile. I've convinced that profit is a function of creating happiness, both with your customers and within your company. Thanks for sharing that.

Harj 18y ago

i'm pretty sure KP know the goal is profit. they're VC's, by definition the only criteria for success they have is making money.

newt0311 18y ago
Their recent actions and results indicate otherwise.

gleb 18y ago

The cleantech play is hardly altruistic. Rather it's a bet on ability to extract government subsidies to make profits, and to time the market for a successful exit. Note the lobbying cleantech VCs are doing in Washington DC, and consider Al Gore hire in terms of its lobbying power, especially if Democrats come to power. While making money by transferring wealth from taxpayers to institutional investors is arguably unethical, you can't fault its business viability.

nostrademons 18y ago

I always thought Drucker had a better philosophy: "A company's primary responsibility is to serve its customers. Profit is not the primary goal, but rather an essential condition for the company's continued existence." You can find plenty of examples of companies that have crashed and burned because they believed profit and only profit was the goal, eg. Enron.

jraines 18y ago
Enron was more about maximizing the share price, not profit. Exagerrating profit was a part of this, but not as much as bamboozling people about the company's future prospects (e.g. Enron Broadband). This is still a problem in our economy. There's too much pressure to "beat the Street". I worry what effect this will have on Google over the next 5-20 years.
parker 18y ago
That may be the best quote I've read in awhile. I've convinced that profit is a function of creating happiness, both with your customers and within your company. Thanks for sharing that.