4 ms·

Dropbox got weird. First it was great. Then awesome. Then something happened. Weird features were added. It felt very forced.

sottol 3y ago
Probably had to stoke that VC-fire once growth leveled off and add new "billion dollar ideas".
plorkyeran 3y ago
They successfully built their core product and got it to the point where it only had long-tail improvements and maintenance left to do, but even if it didn’t have the complication of being VC funded you can’t really lay off half the company and declare yourself in maintenance mode once you’ve scaled up.
- 55555 3y ago
  > You can’t really lay off half the company and declare yourself in maintenance mode once you’ve scaled up. You actually can.
  - AYBABTME 3y ago
    How? Psychologically a company that size can't say that and then just maintain status quo: if it aims for that, it will instead rot and die.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - voisin 3y ago
      > if it aims for that, it will instead rot and die Source? Most companies seem to fall striving to reach the next rung on the ladder.
      - AYBABTME 3y ago
        Organizations in aggregate tend to underachieve whatever goal they set out to do. As a leader, "If you run, they walk. If you walk, they stand. If you stand, they sleep.“
        voisin 3y ago
        That’s quite the statement. Source?
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
- esafak 3y ago
  That's when you are supposed to have started building a new offering, not overgrow your existing one.
kredd 3y ago
Basically every big corp implemented their own cloud storage, so they had to compete by adding extra features I would guess? I’m still happy customer for personal needs since I’ve had it for ages and too lazy to switch. But when it comes to work needs, it would be a hard sell. If you’re a corp you probably have everything integrated with Microsoft or Google. If all of your devices are Apple, you can just go with iCloud and not deal with 3rd party integrations. At the end of the day, you’re left off with less number of potential customers, and even then you have to fight with Box for customers.
nextstep 3y ago
Might have been around the time they stopped focusing on users and tried to embed themselves in the National security state. I guess around 2014 when Condoleezza Rice joined the board of directors.
- kristianp 3y ago
  > embed themselves in the National security state What's that about? Sounds unusual.

sottol 3y ago

Probably had to stoke that VC-fire once growth leveled off and add new "billion dollar ideas".

plorkyeran 3y ago

They successfully built their core product and got it to the point where it only had long-tail improvements and maintenance left to do, but even if it didn’t have the complication of being VC funded you can’t really lay off half the company and declare yourself in maintenance mode once you’ve scaled up.

55555 3y ago
> You can’t really lay off half the company and declare yourself in maintenance mode once you’ve scaled up. You actually can.
- AYBABTME 3y ago
  How? Psychologically a company that size can't say that and then just maintain status quo: if it aims for that, it will instead rot and die.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - voisin 3y ago
    > if it aims for that, it will instead rot and die Source? Most companies seem to fall striving to reach the next rung on the ladder.
    - AYBABTME 3y ago
      Organizations in aggregate tend to underachieve whatever goal they set out to do. As a leader, "If you run, they walk. If you walk, they stand. If you stand, they sleep.“
      - voisin 3y ago
        That’s quite the statement. Source?
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
esafak 3y ago
That's when you are supposed to have started building a new offering, not overgrow your existing one.

kredd 3y ago

Basically every big corp implemented their own cloud storage, so they had to compete by adding extra features I would guess? I’m still happy customer for personal needs since I’ve had it for ages and too lazy to switch. But when it comes to work needs, it would be a hard sell. If you’re a corp you probably have everything integrated with Microsoft or Google. If all of your devices are Apple, you can just go with iCloud and not deal with 3rd party integrations. At the end of the day, you’re left off with less number of potential customers, and even then you have to fight with Box for customers.

nextstep 3y ago

Might have been around the time they stopped focusing on users and tried to embed themselves in the National security state. I guess around 2014 when Condoleezza Rice joined the board of directors.

kristianp 3y ago
> embed themselves in the National security state What's that about? Sounds unusual.