4 ms·

No. Suppose these 8 guys are paid $150k a year on average. Engineers, good ones at least, bring in more than they cost. In some cases like Instagram and Faceboo

by geuis 15y ago

No. Suppose these 8 guys are paid $150k a year on average. Engineers, good ones at least, bring in more than they cost. In some cases like Instagram and Facebook, the ratio of users to engineers is in the millions. Google is similar. When you also bring into account the caché of someone like Rose, the lifetime earnings from that team probably well exceeds what was spent to aquire them.

jpdoctor 15y ago
And how do you think the reasoning went during the telecom and internet bubbles? Hint: Exactly the same. I encountered competing business plans which went along the lines of: Hire a team of 10 badass engineers, sell for $10-20M. It was a helluva time to hire people.
brown9-2 15y ago
Your argument assumes that that "caché" will translate into instant/increased earnings. That is far from a given.
- igrekel 15y ago
  caché = hidden http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cach%C3%A9 http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cach%C3%A9 maybe what you really mean is "cachet" http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachet http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachet I know it doesn't have an accent
  - geuis 15y ago
    You are correct. I don't use the word often (apparently) and always thought the correct spelling for "cachet" was with the little e. Thanks for the tip!
- mdda 15y ago
  Niggle : Cachet is the version that means 'prestige; distinction', caché is 'hidden' - both from 'cacher' (to hide, French).
sbov 15y ago
All employees should bring in more than they cost. Even the fry guy at McDonalds. Otherwise why would you employ them?
- rubyrescue 15y ago
  ... in aggregate. there are lots of people in even small companies that work for "cost centers"...
  - onemoreact 15y ago
    Even "cost centers" are a net benefit, unless something is horribly broken.
- glimcat 15y ago
  Maybe you don't have the data to make that determination. Maybe fries aren't profitable yet, but you're hoping to make them become so. Maybe you have to have fries on the menu even though you make more money off soda.
- repsilat 15y ago
  I'm sure there are a few people that Google employs "Because awesome." The self-driving cars thing comes to mind, though I'm sure that could be explained by giving people another hour every day to sit on the internet looking at ads.
  - dflock 15y ago
    Currently all of the Google Maps data for the US (and increasingly, other parts of the globe) is generated in-house by the street view cars - they don't just generate the data for street view, they also generate most of the data for the actual road layout of the maps now, too. If the cars drove themselves, instead of Google having to pay actual people to drive around every single road on the planet all the time, that would be a pretty huge cost saving, I would imagine.
c1sc0 15y ago
cachet
heretohelp 15y ago
>When you also bring into account the caché of someone like Rose Caché with whom exactly?

by geuis 15y ago

jpdoctor 15y ago

And how do you think the reasoning went during the telecom and internet bubbles? Hint: Exactly the same. I encountered competing business plans which went along the lines of: Hire a team of 10 badass engineers, sell for $10-20M. It was a helluva time to hire people.

brown9-2 15y ago

Your argument assumes that that "caché" will translate into instant/increased earnings. That is far from a given.

igrekel 15y ago
caché = hidden http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cach%C3%A9 http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cach%C3%A9 maybe what you really mean is "cachet" http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachet http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cachet I know it doesn't have an accent
- geuis 15y ago
  You are correct. I don't use the word often (apparently) and always thought the correct spelling for "cachet" was with the little e. Thanks for the tip!
mdda 15y ago
Niggle : Cachet is the version that means 'prestige; distinction', caché is 'hidden' - both from 'cacher' (to hide, French).

sbov 15y ago

All employees should bring in more than they cost. Even the fry guy at McDonalds. Otherwise why would you employ them?

rubyrescue 15y ago
... in aggregate. there are lots of people in even small companies that work for "cost centers"...
- onemoreact 15y ago
  Even "cost centers" are a net benefit, unless something is horribly broken.
glimcat 15y ago
Maybe you don't have the data to make that determination. Maybe fries aren't profitable yet, but you're hoping to make them become so. Maybe you have to have fries on the menu even though you make more money off soda.
repsilat 15y ago
I'm sure there are a few people that Google employs "Because awesome." The self-driving cars thing comes to mind, though I'm sure that could be explained by giving people another hour every day to sit on the internet looking at ads.
- dflock 15y ago
  Currently all of the Google Maps data for the US (and increasingly, other parts of the globe) is generated in-house by the street view cars - they don't just generate the data for street view, they also generate most of the data for the actual road layout of the maps now, too. If the cars drove themselves, instead of Google having to pay actual people to drive around every single road on the planet all the time, that would be a pretty huge cost saving, I would imagine.

c1sc0 15y ago

cachet

heretohelp 15y ago

>When you also bring into account the caché of someone like Rose Caché with whom exactly?