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> It seems they care more about their shareholders than their customers. isn't this how publicly-traded companies are supposed to work? I agree on critizicing

> It seems they care more about their shareholders than their customers. isn't this how publicly-traded companies are supposed to work? I agree on critizicing that approach and capitalism model, but I don't understand how that isn't common knowledge here.

philjohn 5y ago
It could be argued that if you don't care about your customers, you won't be in business long enough to please your shareholders.
oxfordmale 5y ago
Of course the sole purpose of a publicly traded company is to maximise the revenue for its shareholders, however, you can take a long term or short term approach on this. Okta appeared to have kept this under wraps to prevent a shareholders backlash (short term approach) However, as a result they achieved the opposite, as the share price is still down this morning. This may of course be a temporarily glitch, however, I can see it resulting in a temporary loss of revenue. If I would be evaluating Okta versus a different solution right now, this may well sway my decision.
- JshWright 5y ago
  I suspect there are plenty of current customers that are considering a change, not just prospects.
- vel0city 5y ago
  It doesn't have to be. If the shareholders want the company to otherwise cease operations and throw a big ice cream party for all the shareholders every Friday they can choose to do that. There's nothing that forces a public company to focus only on maximizing shareholder value, they just have to be open and honest about the goals of the company and try and meet the shareholder expectations.
rootlocus 5y ago
Companies who care about their customers usually do better in the long run. You can look up "long term greedy" for an example.
snowwrestler 5y ago
No, it is not how publicly traded companies are supposed to work. Publicly traded companies can set whatever priorities they want; the law only requires certain levels of accurate reporting. If shareholders think a company is too focused on customers, or not enough on shareholders, their options are simply to complain or sell the stock, or both.
- ensignavenger 5y ago
  They can vote for different board members or do shareholder initiatives as well.

philjohn 5y ago

It could be argued that if you don't care about your customers, you won't be in business long enough to please your shareholders.

oxfordmale 5y ago

Of course the sole purpose of a publicly traded company is to maximise the revenue for its shareholders, however, you can take a long term or short term approach on this. Okta appeared to have kept this under wraps to prevent a shareholders backlash (short term approach) However, as a result they achieved the opposite, as the share price is still down this morning. This may of course be a temporarily glitch, however, I can see it resulting in a temporary loss of revenue. If I would be evaluating Okta versus a different solution right now, this may well sway my decision.

JshWright 5y ago
I suspect there are plenty of current customers that are considering a change, not just prospects.
vel0city 5y ago
It doesn't have to be. If the shareholders want the company to otherwise cease operations and throw a big ice cream party for all the shareholders every Friday they can choose to do that. There's nothing that forces a public company to focus only on maximizing shareholder value, they just have to be open and honest about the goals of the company and try and meet the shareholder expectations.

rootlocus 5y ago

Companies who care about their customers usually do better in the long run. You can look up "long term greedy" for an example.

snowwrestler 5y ago

No, it is not how publicly traded companies are supposed to work. Publicly traded companies can set whatever priorities they want; the law only requires certain levels of accurate reporting. If shareholders think a company is too focused on customers, or not enough on shareholders, their options are simply to complain or sell the stock, or both.

ensignavenger 5y ago
They can vote for different board members or do shareholder initiatives as well.