4 ms·

What did they screw up, though? Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?

by ericb 4y ago

sharkweek 4y ago
Yes, essentially. “Do you care to know why I'm in this chair with you all? I mean, why I earn the big bucks? I'm here for one reason and one reason alone. I'm here to guess what the music might do a week, a month, a year from now. That's it. Nothing more. And standing here tonight, I'm afraid that I don't hear - a - thing. Just... silence.” -John Tuld, Margin Call
- nobleach 4y ago
  Imagine that they DIDN'T hire more people when they grew by 3x. See how much people complain about the grind at AWS. People are extraordinarily overworked. We'd be reading "Why I left Stripe" posts and calling out the CEOs for not scaling up properly.
  - hirsin 4y ago
    Stripe was already known (in my circles at least) for being a ~grinder~ long hours type place. Not neccesarily because they're understaffed but because it was a work work work culture.
    - clpm4j 4y ago
      That's what I've seen (from the outside, with some friends who work at Stripe) as well - it's the old investment banking / management consulting work culture, i.e. your job is your life.
Barrin92 4y ago
preparing for an eventual end to the free money rally instead of over-hiring isn't exactly something I'd consider to fall into the realm of psychic abilities. is "we're a fast growing business but this cannot last indefinitely, let's not overexpand" ´really too much to ask for? It's constantly happening to tech companies because of their internal fantasies.
- ericb 4y ago
  If they under-expand, people will similarly complain when their stock languishes compared to other stocks and the board will replace them with someone telling a growth story. The only thing the stock market rewards is growth, so is it really their fantasy?
  - candiddevmike 4y ago
    In this case, stripe is private, so their stock performance is mostly moot.
- dehrmann 4y ago
  I'm not convinced free money is as much of an issue as large consumer demand shifts after covid. Inflation-adjusted, money is still free.
pmoriarty 4y ago
"Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?" Isn't it interesting how we want to absolve execs of all blame when they bet wrong and get unlucky, but declare them geniuses and masters of business when they bet right and get lucky?
- scarface74 4y ago
  Yes and we really should be crying for the software developers who worked for slave wages and had no opportunity to save.
  - pmoriarty 4y ago
    At least they did something useful and actually earned their pay.
    - chasebank 4y ago
      Like creating a company that gives thousands of people jobs? Or creating infrastructure to enable millions of web based businesses the ability to mindlessly process payments? God, I miss the old HN. This place is reddit now.
      - idealmedtech 4y ago
        Another entry in the decades-long saga: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=149257 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=149257
      - pmoriarty 4y ago
        Who built the railroads? J. P. Morgan, or the millions of people who worked for him? Not surprising to see execs and founders on here patting each other on the back and trying to convince everyone that they deserve their millions because of how innovative they are all the "value" they create. Looks like the old HN to me.
        4y ago

What did they screw up, though? Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?

by ericb 4y ago

What did they screw up, though? Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?

Yes, essentially. “Do you care to know why I'm in this chair with you all? I mean, why I earn the big bucks? I'm here for one reason and one reason alone. I'm here to guess what the music might do a week, a month, a year from now. That's it. Nothing more. And standing here tonight, I'm afraid that I don't hear - a - thing. Just... silence.” -John Tuld, Margin Call

nobleach 4y ago
Imagine that they DIDN'T hire more people when they grew by 3x. See how much people complain about the grind at AWS. People are extraordinarily overworked. We'd be reading "Why I left Stripe" posts and calling out the CEOs for not scaling up properly.
- hirsin 4y ago
  Stripe was already known (in my circles at least) for being a ~grinder~ long hours type place. Not neccesarily because they're understaffed but because it was a work work work culture.
  - clpm4j 4y ago
    That's what I've seen (from the outside, with some friends who work at Stripe) as well - it's the old investment banking / management consulting work culture, i.e. your job is your life.

Barrin92 4y ago

preparing for an eventual end to the free money rally instead of over-hiring isn't exactly something I'd consider to fall into the realm of psychic abilities. is "we're a fast growing business but this cannot last indefinitely, let's not overexpand" ´really too much to ask for? It's constantly happening to tech companies because of their internal fantasies.

ericb 4y ago
If they under-expand, people will similarly complain when their stock languishes compared to other stocks and the board will replace them with someone telling a growth story. The only thing the stock market rewards is growth, so is it really their fantasy?
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  In this case, stripe is private, so their stock performance is mostly moot.
dehrmann 4y ago
I'm not convinced free money is as much of an issue as large consumer demand shifts after covid. Inflation-adjusted, money is still free.

pmoriarty 4y ago

"Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?" Isn't it interesting how we want to absolve execs of all blame when they bet wrong and get unlucky, but declare them geniuses and masters of business when they bet right and get lucky?

scarface74 4y ago
Yes and we really should be crying for the software developers who worked for slave wages and had no opportunity to save.
- pmoriarty 4y ago
  At least they did something useful and actually earned their pay.
  - chasebank 4y ago
    Like creating a company that gives thousands of people jobs? Or creating infrastructure to enable millions of web based businesses the ability to mindlessly process payments? God, I miss the old HN. This place is reddit now.
    - idealmedtech 4y ago
      Another entry in the decades-long saga: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=149257 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=149257
    - pmoriarty 4y ago
      Who built the railroads? J. P. Morgan, or the millions of people who worked for him? Not surprising to see execs and founders on here patting each other on the back and trying to convince everyone that they deserve their millions because of how innovative they are all the "value" they create. Looks like the old HN to me.
      - 4y ago