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As I see it, with physical goods, unlike software, production costs go up with revenue. So you can't simply growth hack your way out of fundamental inefficienci

As I see it, with physical goods, unlike software, production costs go up with revenue. So you can't simply growth hack your way out of fundamental inefficiencies.

mdorazio 6y ago
Yes and no. With physical products, it's usually non-linear due to economies of scale. The more you make, the cheaper the unit cost gets. But there are often other challenges with scale, like distribution and large capital injections needed to order raw materials and scale up factories.
scrozier 6y ago
"We're losing $1.00 on every sale, but we'll make it up in volume!" (I can't remember where this comes from.)
- GauntletWizard 6y ago
  There’s a similar concept explored in Catch-22[1]: Milo buys eggs for $.07, and sells them to the mess hall for $.05 What the mess hall doesn’t know and doesn’t look into is that Milo is running the wholesaler, too - He buys eggs elsewhere for $.01, provides the egg to middlemen for $.045, and buys it back from the middlemen for $.07. For each egg sold, he’s losing $.02 selling it to the mess hall - But making $0.035 selling it to the middlemen. He can’t sell it directly to the mess hall, because the entrenched middlemen would cry foul, and likely have the connections to make it stick (or simply the thuggery to make his life hard if he doesn’t cut them in). Sometimes, you’re not selling ice-cream - You’re selling milk, and the sugar is a loss-leader. [1] I found the relevant quote at https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-has-a-share/ https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-...
- throw_away 6y ago
  https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/first-citiwide-bank-change-ii/n9703 https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/first-citiwide...
  - telesilla 6y ago
    Non US link: https://youtu.be/KodqIPMbyUg https://youtu.be/KodqIPMbyUg
- Tyr42 6y ago
  https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html Was it from order of the stick?

As I see it, with physical goods, unlike software, production costs go up with revenue. So you can't simply growth hack your way out of fundamental inefficiencies.

mdorazio 6y ago

Yes and no. With physical products, it's usually non-linear due to economies of scale. The more you make, the cheaper the unit cost gets. But there are often other challenges with scale, like distribution and large capital injections needed to order raw materials and scale up factories.

scrozier 6y ago

"We're losing $1.00 on every sale, but we'll make it up in volume!" (I can't remember where this comes from.)

GauntletWizard 6y ago
There’s a similar concept explored in Catch-22[1]: Milo buys eggs for $.07, and sells them to the mess hall for $.05 What the mess hall doesn’t know and doesn’t look into is that Milo is running the wholesaler, too - He buys eggs elsewhere for $.01, provides the egg to middlemen for $.045, and buys it back from the middlemen for $.07. For each egg sold, he’s losing $.02 selling it to the mess hall - But making $0.035 selling it to the middlemen. He can’t sell it directly to the mess hall, because the entrenched middlemen would cry foul, and likely have the connections to make it stick (or simply the thuggery to make his life hard if he doesn’t cut them in). Sometimes, you’re not selling ice-cream - You’re selling milk, and the sugar is a loss-leader. [1] I found the relevant quote at https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-has-a-share/ https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-...
throw_away 6y ago
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/first-citiwide-bank-change-ii/n9703 https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/first-citiwide...
- telesilla 6y ago
  Non US link: https://youtu.be/KodqIPMbyUg https://youtu.be/KodqIPMbyUg
Tyr42 6y ago
https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0135.html Was it from order of the stick?