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I can't stand comments like this, pointlessly berating the CEO when you're not even a client. This is a forum for startups: startups frequently pivot in their s

I can't stand comments like this, pointlessly berating the CEO when you're not even a client. This is a forum for startups: startups frequently pivot in their search for product market fit. What do you expect him to do, have the company go under to maintain an unprofitable business segment? Have a layoff to cut costs? Who would that benefit? Guess what: if every time a CEO writes a comment on this forum, angry-for-no-reason people show up to hurl vitriol at them, then eventually they will stop showing up to write comments. Stop it.

ouid 4y ago
>hurl vitriol. This is criticism and advice. It is not this forum's job to tell people that their ideas are good and their business models are sound when they arent. It seems like the claim is that it is a worse idea than you think to fire your customers.
- blagie 4y ago
  That's the exact claim. It's not a pure calculation on individual customer ROI. In most cases, grandfathering in existing customers (keeping in mind I'm not one of them for Brex, so have no axe to grind) is simply good business. The reputational benefit far outweighs the cost. The flip side is that if you are evaluating vendors, this kind of stability is worth looking at: - Do they have a track record of customer-disruptive pivots? - Are they structured (e.g. have revenues or funding) to be around for the long-term? Or might they disappear overnight, taking your business down with them? - Are you being subsidized for growth? Do you expect for this to flip to being a cash cow at some point? The wisdom when I was younger was "No one got fired for buying IBM." It annoyed me at the time, but having done a few ventures, I understand that wisdom now. It takes 10-20 years for a unicorn to exit. If you have a dozen vendors who are positioned such that a pivot on their side can cripple your business, and those vendors have a mean time between such pivots of 5 years, you won't last long. With both employees and vendors, a good thing to look at is history of value-creation. If an employee created value everywhere they've worked, they're probably a good hire. If they've burned value at each place they've been, they're probably a bad hire.
jascii 4y ago
I find it very useful to hear why people choose not to use my products, I find there is some selection bias in the opinions of people who are already customers.
exotree 4y ago
There was valid points made that were forward but certainly didn’t strike me as angry. And I agree with the sentiment. I am weary of more and more startups and companies like Google these days. I can’t rely on a lot of them.

ouid 4y ago

>hurl vitriol. This is criticism and advice. It is not this forum's job to tell people that their ideas are good and their business models are sound when they arent. It seems like the claim is that it is a worse idea than you think to fire your customers.

blagie 4y ago
That's the exact claim. It's not a pure calculation on individual customer ROI. In most cases, grandfathering in existing customers (keeping in mind I'm not one of them for Brex, so have no axe to grind) is simply good business. The reputational benefit far outweighs the cost. The flip side is that if you are evaluating vendors, this kind of stability is worth looking at: - Do they have a track record of customer-disruptive pivots? - Are they structured (e.g. have revenues or funding) to be around for the long-term? Or might they disappear overnight, taking your business down with them? - Are you being subsidized for growth? Do you expect for this to flip to being a cash cow at some point? The wisdom when I was younger was "No one got fired for buying IBM." It annoyed me at the time, but having done a few ventures, I understand that wisdom now. It takes 10-20 years for a unicorn to exit. If you have a dozen vendors who are positioned such that a pivot on their side can cripple your business, and those vendors have a mean time between such pivots of 5 years, you won't last long. With both employees and vendors, a good thing to look at is history of value-creation. If an employee created value everywhere they've worked, they're probably a good hire. If they've burned value at each place they've been, they're probably a bad hire.

jascii 4y ago

I find it very useful to hear why people choose not to use my products, I find there is some selection bias in the opinions of people who are already customers.

exotree 4y ago

There was valid points made that were forward but certainly didn’t strike me as angry. And I agree with the sentiment. I am weary of more and more startups and companies like Google these days. I can’t rely on a lot of them.