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> Really, you don't see a problem with their "better ask forgiveness than permission" tactic? uh, isn't that what PG and all the other people here constantly s

> Really, you don't see a problem with their "better ask forgiveness than permission" tactic? uh, isn't that what PG and all the other people here constantly say is what you should do in business?

pavel_lishin 15y ago
To be honest, I have no interest in running a startup, so I avoid business-oriented threads. But I don't really believe that they advocate overcharging customers like this, with no warning. If I'm wrong, please include a few citations and I'll admit it.
samdk 15y ago
Not with my money. You taking my money without specifically asking means that I will never, ever do business with you again. (And that I'll specifically warn other people against dealing with you.) "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission" is not a universal truth to be applied to every aspect of startups/tech work. It is often a good idea when there's a lot of bureaucratic red tape and/or you need to get approval from other people about things. This is a very different situation: you're charging your customers ~4x more than they originally paid for something automatically. Are there other companies that do this sort of thing? Sure. Maybe it makes sense financially, but it's not a good way to treat your customers.
- elehack 15y ago
  I might generalize that to say that "better to ask forgiveness than permission" just doesn't apply to customer relations.
rlpb 15y ago
Another thing I think he says (can't find a reference right now) is not to piss off existing customers.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
lsc 15y ago
Yes. But, if you want me as a customer, you better hope that all your competition has similar business practices... otherwise you won't get me as a customer. It wouldn't surprise me if PG felt the same way when buying services; he just prefers to invest in companies with sharp business practices. But, I guess that makes me a bad customer from the point of view of an investor. There are plenty of people who will just take it, and I can certainly see why investors would prefer to focus on those people. It's also important to note that not everyone in the community shares similar standards. Hell, over time the same person might not even have similar standards.

> Really, you don't see a problem with their "better ask forgiveness than permission" tactic? uh, isn't that what PG and all the other people here constantly say is what you should do in business?

pavel_lishin 15y ago

To be honest, I have no interest in running a startup, so I avoid business-oriented threads. But I don't really believe that they advocate overcharging customers like this, with no warning. If I'm wrong, please include a few citations and I'll admit it.

samdk 15y ago

Not with my money. You taking my money without specifically asking means that I will never, ever do business with you again. (And that I'll specifically warn other people against dealing with you.) "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission" is not a universal truth to be applied to every aspect of startups/tech work. It is often a good idea when there's a lot of bureaucratic red tape and/or you need to get approval from other people about things. This is a very different situation: you're charging your customers ~4x more than they originally paid for something automatically. Are there other companies that do this sort of thing? Sure. Maybe it makes sense financially, but it's not a good way to treat your customers.

elehack 15y ago
I might generalize that to say that "better to ask forgiveness than permission" just doesn't apply to customer relations.

rlpb 15y ago

Another thing I think he says (can't find a reference right now) is not to piss off existing customers.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

lsc 15y ago

Yes. But, if you want me as a customer, you better hope that all your competition has similar business practices... otherwise you won't get me as a customer. It wouldn't surprise me if PG felt the same way when buying services; he just prefers to invest in companies with sharp business practices. But, I guess that makes me a bad customer from the point of view of an investor. There are plenty of people who will just take it, and I can certainly see why investors would prefer to focus on those people. It's also important to note that not everyone in the community shares similar standards. Hell, over time the same person might not even have similar standards.