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A CEO is supposed to do 1 thing -> generate more profit $ in the future. How he/she does it is up to them. It's not up to you or I to judge if they are doing t

A CEO is supposed to do 1 thing -> generate more profit $ in the future. How he/she does it is up to them. It's not up to you or I to judge if they are doing the right things. Just check if they are accomplishing their goal.

phoehne 4y ago
I disagree, too many instances of CEOs propping up short term results at the expense of future company health, or even existence. We totally get to judge how they accomplish that goal. Otherwise we wind up with Enron, WorldCom, Washington Mutual, Theranos, AIG, etc. Part of that assessment can come from their public persona and how they present themselves and their company. The problem is that most of the business press and sell-side analysts are willing to gloss over evidence of poor character as good qualities. He's not "willing to commit fraud to post a good quarter," he's "is aggressive and unconventional."
- jjmorrison 4y ago
  Sure - but the goal remains the same. More profit $ in the future. CEOs need to build confidence that they can do that sustainably and for a long period of time. And people will judge the methods to build this confidence. But the goal remains the same. Elon has both been very successful and very unconventional in his ability to do this. And that's great - we should always strive to give a lot of freedom in this and allow the best to win. It's a nice mirror of nature - try w/e crazy idea you want, and if it works, it works!
  - McLaren_Ferrari 4y ago
    Profit without product leads straight to jail. Or if you can pivot fast towards a political carrer or a religious cult leader. The goal should be marketshare. That's the true measure of future profitability because it means that you have a huge moat. Tesla is a 20 year old company and in this timeframe it managed to gather 1.3% share of all the cars sold in 2021. There is a reason why Porsches and Ferraris are just as common as Teslas on the road. Porsche and Ferraris might be slightly more expensive but they have been doing it for longer so it balances itself out Tesla was founded in 2002. That's 20 years ago. During the same timeframe Microsoft managed 95% share of Computer OS, Google 90% share of search, Standard Oil 85% of oil production. Hell, even Escobar managed to get 80% of the global cocaine market.
    - jjmorrison 4y ago
      There's laws you need to follow of course. But again, market share is another interesting signal (just like a CEOs behavior) that one might use to assess if they think the company will have a long term ability to generate more $. But the goal is always to generate more $s in the future. Apple's shrinking market share of the smartphone market doesn't matter, because they are achieving their goal of profit generation. Blockbuster died maintaining a great market share of the video store rental market that disappeared. Netflix lost all DVD rental market share and pivoted the whole company to a streaming service. All of them the goal remains generate profits.

phoehne 4y ago

I disagree, too many instances of CEOs propping up short term results at the expense of future company health, or even existence. We totally get to judge how they accomplish that goal. Otherwise we wind up with Enron, WorldCom, Washington Mutual, Theranos, AIG, etc. Part of that assessment can come from their public persona and how they present themselves and their company. The problem is that most of the business press and sell-side analysts are willing to gloss over evidence of poor character as good qualities. He's not "willing to commit fraud to post a good quarter," he's "is aggressive and unconventional."

jjmorrison 4y ago
Sure - but the goal remains the same. More profit $ in the future. CEOs need to build confidence that they can do that sustainably and for a long period of time. And people will judge the methods to build this confidence. But the goal remains the same. Elon has both been very successful and very unconventional in his ability to do this. And that's great - we should always strive to give a lot of freedom in this and allow the best to win. It's a nice mirror of nature - try w/e crazy idea you want, and if it works, it works!
- McLaren_Ferrari 4y ago
  Profit without product leads straight to jail. Or if you can pivot fast towards a political carrer or a religious cult leader. The goal should be marketshare. That's the true measure of future profitability because it means that you have a huge moat. Tesla is a 20 year old company and in this timeframe it managed to gather 1.3% share of all the cars sold in 2021. There is a reason why Porsches and Ferraris are just as common as Teslas on the road. Porsche and Ferraris might be slightly more expensive but they have been doing it for longer so it balances itself out Tesla was founded in 2002. That's 20 years ago. During the same timeframe Microsoft managed 95% share of Computer OS, Google 90% share of search, Standard Oil 85% of oil production. Hell, even Escobar managed to get 80% of the global cocaine market.
  - jjmorrison 4y ago
    There's laws you need to follow of course. But again, market share is another interesting signal (just like a CEOs behavior) that one might use to assess if they think the company will have a long term ability to generate more $. But the goal is always to generate more $s in the future. Apple's shrinking market share of the smartphone market doesn't matter, because they are achieving their goal of profit generation. Blockbuster died maintaining a great market share of the video store rental market that disappeared. Netflix lost all DVD rental market share and pivoted the whole company to a streaming service. All of them the goal remains generate profits.