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Agreed. They're companies trying to avoid taxes or regulation. Only companies on the downslide really consider that as an relevant option.
by Hypx 6y ago
Agreed. They're companies trying to avoid taxes or regulation. Only companies on the downslide really consider that as an relevant option.
- dkobran 6y agoSome folks in my network are ex-Oracle and my understanding is that the company is run by the CFO and a huge group of MBAs. Any company where the bean counters are at the helm are optimizing for things like quarterly earnings, tax savings like you said, etc. This is the stage where they milk whatever they can out of a dying cash cow. There’s nothing interesting to me about this flavor of capitalism and I don’t think it’s something America should be proud of producing. Conversely, technology innovation and the entire ecosystem in Silicon Valley is really special and almost irreplicable. Note: I have nothing against MBAs, I just don’t think it’s appropriate for them to have the loudest voice at a non-financial institution. They serve a critical role but it’s a supporting one and not suitable to leadership / company direction.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y agoGrowth at geriatric tech companies like IBM, HP, Oracle, etc. is largely inorganic, driven by well-negotiated acquisitions of smaller B2B software companies. It takes MBAs to do this sort of work, and while it isn't for me, I don't think it's the worst business model out there.
- barnesto 6y agoit doesn't take an MBA to do that work
- skinnymuch 6y agoWhy does it take an MBA to do that work?
- ativzzz 6y agoYou don't need an MBA for the financial/high level business knowledge requirements (though many people involved in this have one), but the people networks that MBA programs provide are very beneficial in getting connected to the right person at the right company.
- skinnymuch 6y agoSo MBA actually means MBA from top 10, maybe top 15 school? I can’t imagine the network being too useful for the 25th best MBA program. My friends have only recently graduated from their MBAs. Will be interesting to see if their networks help.
- ativzzz 6y agoThe main value of an MBA is the network. I think lower tier schools can work well if they are tight knit and the graduates tend to stay local to the school. The top tier schools will just have people making more money at more "prestigious" companies.
- abfan1127 6y agoI've seen a lot of tech companies with CFOs as leaders and you're 100% right. They have a certain set of tools and fix those types of problems, which usually aren't the ways to lead tech companies. I think every company should be lead by a person who has a strong background in the company's main role. I have seen finance background CEOs get replaced and the Company began to thrive again. Its not a bad investing idea!
- 0x445442 6y agoLike TSLA?
- _fat_santa 6y agoCorrect me if I'm wrong but I believe only Musk is moving to Texas, not Telsa. Thought at this point they are basically one in the same.
- beamatronic 6y agoTesla is building factories in Texas. Long term Texas makes more sense for manufacturing as there are established supply chains there.
- mrlala 6y agoYou also probably have tons of cheap flat land that is ideal for manufacturing? So that would seem to make sense.
- mainstreemm 6y agoThe Midwest has that too. But it also has unions. :)
- blaser-waffle 6y agoIt's also a lot further away from the Mexico border, where an awful lot of car parts are manufactured. A whole lot of those parts are already flowing through TX as it is, easier to dip into the existing streams than build new supply chains. Also a lot of bigger, tech friendly cities -- Dallas, Austin, and Houston is poised to overtake Chicago as the 3rd largest city in the US within a decade or two. Kanasas may be similar in terms of taxes and political climate (unions) but all its really got going for it is empty space. Ditto for much of the rest of the Midwest.
- SmokeyHamster 6y ago
- SmokeyHamster 6y agoTo be fair, here's the complete list of companies in the known universe that don't try to avoid taxes or regulation: [error data not found] There's a cost of moving. California's taxes and regulations are bad, bad enough to force many out, but not all. If things continue on their present course, even Google and Amazon, who personally like the political climate there, will have to start looking elsewhere.
- joubert 6y ago> Amazon Headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Not California.
- njarboe 6y agoWhich also does not have state income tax.
- mtnGoat 6y agonah, we got some of the highest sales tax in the country instead.
- njarboe 6y agoSure, but California has similar levels of sales tax to Washington and the highest state income taxes in addition.
- mtnGoat 6y agoYea, the stats always say Washington has some of the highest sales tax, but i am shocked at how much i pay when in SF/LA/NYC. My tax burden has certainly lowered since moving from CA to WA, kinda miss the weather though.
- patagonia 6y agoFunny to point this out. Bezos literally packed up his car and drove from NYC to Seattle in order to avoid Internet commerce taxes.
- dcolkitt 6y ago> They're companies trying to avoid taxes or regulation. Only companies on the downslide really consider that as an relevant option. Which is why continental Europe has so many fast-growing tech companies.
- maedla 6y agoI think that the work culture in Europe is also a factor. Europeans are much less willing to work the way a lot of the startups expect.
- notsureaboutpg 6y agoThis isn't true at all. There are people everywhere willing to work their butts off and people everywhere who are wanting to do 9-5 work/life balance. Those in Europe who want to work the way startups expect tend to try it in the USA. Not always, but many of them do.
- wcarron 6y agoGood for them. American work culture is...well, retarded (I couldn't think of a less offensive term that also describes it well).
- AzzieElbab 6y agoHave you visited Asia?
- wcarron 6y agoNot as an adult, no.
- chrshawkes 6y agoLike Tesla.