4 ms·

I don't think they got big through acquisitions. They simply got big due to first mover advantages, favorable sentiment among investors (which gives them lots o

I don't think they got big through acquisitions. They simply got big due to first mover advantages, favorable sentiment among investors (which gives them lots of capital), network effects that prevent competition, massive patent portfolios (which let them copy smaller company's innovations without consequence), running around regulations (like avoiding sales taxes in US for a long time, or avoiding taxes in Europe), and so on. Yes, there are some acquisitions that added a lot to these companies and took away competition (YouTube, Instagram, Doubleclick, etc.). But the majority of the market share in these companies is not driven by just those pieces. The reality is that we do not have sufficiently modern anti-trust laws to capture the ways in which these companies hurt customers. It doesn't take a 90% market share in some segment or explicit abuse of market position to create harm. Their mere existence is enough, soaking up talent from the market, creating massive centralization of power and influence, and so on. I'm not sure what the best way to address this is, but rather than wasting time proving consumer harm, I think it's better to just treat giant companies differently to limit their size and growth - perhaps graduated corporate income taxes, or automatic splitting up above a certain market cap, or whatever else.

yrgulation 6y ago
> They simply got big due to first mover advantages, Neither facebook nor google were first movers. They actually joined the game at a tome when there were established competitors. But they beat them with a much better execution (and other key ingredients such as those you mentioned) which markets rewarded. Then they started buying off possible threats, effectively blocking late starters as they themselves were, to the point where they became monopolies and, frankly, a nuisance to customers and society.

yrgulation 6y ago

> They simply got big due to first mover advantages, Neither facebook nor google were first movers. They actually joined the game at a tome when there were established competitors. But they beat them with a much better execution (and other key ingredients such as those you mentioned) which markets rewarded. Then they started buying off possible threats, effectively blocking late starters as they themselves were, to the point where they became monopolies and, frankly, a nuisance to customers and society.