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I beg to differ. The purpose of the company is what those in power of the company decide it to be. While in the absolute majority of cases it is profit, there _

I beg to differ. The purpose of the company is what those in power of the company decide it to be. While in the absolute majority of cases it is profit, there _are_ exceptions. Most notable exception would be SpaceX, which has its sights set on Mars transportation, with profits mainly serving as the stepping stones.

e-clinton 5y ago
Seems they have a fantastic PR department
_Algernon_ 5y ago
lol. Must be fun having your tongue so far up Musk's ass.
- dang 5y ago
  Posting like this will get you banned on HN, regardless of how wrong other people are or you feel they are. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
grsmvg 5y ago
That works because the purpose — at least currently — doesn't actually cannibalise on the profits.
- mach1ne 5y ago
  Yes and no. By definition, the company does what those in power make it do, even if it is against the profits. No company can operate independently with zero margin however.
swypych 5y ago
In Canada, the duty of care, or fiduciary responsibility of the directors is to the corporation. This can be shareholders, environment, employees, and anything else that makes up the corp. This is a fairly recent ruling and is vague but I think begins to recognize the complexity of the balancing act a director must take into consideration when making a decision. I think it’s easy to throw headlines around “Facebook does not care about you…” and maybe this is true, but I would argue that they do care, and they care a lot, as you are there primary source of income and if they loose you, they will cease to be an operating company. They definitely push the boundaries, and I hope society and FB course correct soon as sometimes it’s hard to put their experiments in the search of new revenue back in the their box. SpaceX is a private venture, with the vast majority of shares being held by one person, who is also the CEO. I would argue SpaceX mission is what ever Elon says it is, as he is the primary shareholder. All that to say, IMO Elon thinks on a different timescale than most, and also with varying priorities over that time horizon, and I would not bet he would do all of this without the eventual long term payoff being part of his plan, even if it is decades away from when he started. Elons formula , build profitable company, take profit from company, repeat

e-clinton 5y ago

Seems they have a fantastic PR department

_Algernon_ 5y ago

lol. Must be fun having your tongue so far up Musk's ass.

dang 5y ago
Posting like this will get you banned on HN, regardless of how wrong other people are or you feel they are. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

grsmvg 5y ago

That works because the purpose — at least currently — doesn't actually cannibalise on the profits.

mach1ne 5y ago
Yes and no. By definition, the company does what those in power make it do, even if it is against the profits. No company can operate independently with zero margin however.

swypych 5y ago

In Canada, the duty of care, or fiduciary responsibility of the directors is to the corporation. This can be shareholders, environment, employees, and anything else that makes up the corp. This is a fairly recent ruling and is vague but I think begins to recognize the complexity of the balancing act a director must take into consideration when making a decision. I think it’s easy to throw headlines around “Facebook does not care about you…” and maybe this is true, but I would argue that they do care, and they care a lot, as you are there primary source of income and if they loose you, they will cease to be an operating company. They definitely push the boundaries, and I hope society and FB course correct soon as sometimes it’s hard to put their experiments in the search of new revenue back in the their box. SpaceX is a private venture, with the vast majority of shares being held by one person, who is also the CEO. I would argue SpaceX mission is what ever Elon says it is, as he is the primary shareholder. All that to say, IMO Elon thinks on a different timescale than most, and also with varying priorities over that time horizon, and I would not bet he would do all of this without the eventual long term payoff being part of his plan, even if it is decades away from when he started. Elons formula , build profitable company, take profit from company, repeat