4 ms·
Ask HN: What is the future of businesses that operate to make a profit?
I just had a look at stocks for a bunch of SaaS companies in USA. None of them had ever shown a profit, or at least not in the last 5 years.
Coming from a school of thought that prescribes, "Profit is the lifeblood of an organisation", "Sales is vanity, Profit is sanity" I wonder to myself what will happen to those that think and try to practice so as bean counters seep into every industry and people borrow or raise money for perpetual growth and never show a profit. No doubt this will have an effect on the rest of us as we will be unable to compete with the growth machines who are by the way not loyal to anyone except their growth.
I wonder what the end of this will be. Will everyone who has to make a living either have to choose to provide a service or take up full-time employment with organisations that it's impossible to agree with?
I run a small profitable software business, have an X membership and am quite engaged consumer myself but within limits. Not gonna lie some of what I see really scares me.
- anovikov 3y agoCompanies that prioritise profit vs growth are those who achieved limits of growth and can't grow anymore - they also have the greatest market power so can extract lots of profit. They are called "blue chips". Think Microsoft. Others tend to either grow to get there, or to get acquired by one of them, or to eventually go bust.
- dotcoma 3y agoI’m not saying you are wrong; I am just asking if this is the only way to do business, or the best way.
- r_singh 3y agoIMHO the best way is that of SmugMug who managed to not only outlive but also eventually acquire the oh so hyped and much more funded competitor that I would’ve guessed would have finished any profitable business in its category all while staying true to their users. Customers who make rational buying decisions can be so powerful.
- BrownZalam 3y ago[flagged]