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> I think a lot of these products aren’t monetized because they’re actually bad businesses or failed venture Gmail, for example, would be a fabulous standalone

by crmd 2y ago

> I think a lot of these products aren’t monetized because they’re actually bad businesses or failed venture Gmail, for example, would be a fabulous standalone business with a normal (subscription) business model like other premium email services. I would love to run that spinoff. YouTube: fabulous standalone company. Would love to be working there when they IPO. I’m sure there are more. The business units that can’t survive except for “platform charity” should shutdown, go open source, sell their assets, etc. and the developers should move on to found new startups. These big mega-platforms have sucked most of the oxygen out of the tech industry and it’s in the best interest of everyone except their major shareholders to break them up.

vineyardmike 2y ago
The examples you’ve provided aren’t “platform-charities”. They’re already massive businesses with healthy revenue streams that are aggressively monetized. Look at Google Assistant or Alexa and their speakers. Losing Billions a year. Look at smaller products like Google Fi or Fiber. Google Podcasts. Google Translate. Google Voice. WhatsApp. Quest/Oculus. Amazon Go stores. Apple HomeKit. It’s the long-tail of small-use products that would be hurt. No one doubts that an ad-supported product with multiple billions of users would be a great standalone business.
- ksec 2y ago
  Thank You. It is somewhat a lot of these are pointing out the obvious. But have to be written out.
dieortin 2y ago
99% of Gmail users would not pay for the service, and would just move to other provider. I don’t know how you can think they can operate as a subscription service and act like nothing changes.
- vineyardmike 2y ago
  Not OP, but Gmail is and could continue to be ad supported. Gmail also is a subscription service offered to enterprises, and it is a very lucrative service for Google.
- ncruces 2y ago
  Worse. A small but significant percentage would actually pay ransom for it, just because moving is a pain. No one new would join, though.
scarface_74 2y ago
How much would YouTube Inc make without having its infrastructure subsidized by Google corporate and taking advantage of Google’s ad network And you speak of “platform charity”. But not thinking about VC charity?

by crmd 2y ago

vineyardmike 2y ago

The examples you’ve provided aren’t “platform-charities”. They’re already massive businesses with healthy revenue streams that are aggressively monetized. Look at Google Assistant or Alexa and their speakers. Losing Billions a year. Look at smaller products like Google Fi or Fiber. Google Podcasts. Google Translate. Google Voice. WhatsApp. Quest/Oculus. Amazon Go stores. Apple HomeKit. It’s the long-tail of small-use products that would be hurt. No one doubts that an ad-supported product with multiple billions of users would be a great standalone business.

ksec 2y ago
Thank You. It is somewhat a lot of these are pointing out the obvious. But have to be written out.

dieortin 2y ago

99% of Gmail users would not pay for the service, and would just move to other provider. I don’t know how you can think they can operate as a subscription service and act like nothing changes.

vineyardmike 2y ago
Not OP, but Gmail is and could continue to be ad supported. Gmail also is a subscription service offered to enterprises, and it is a very lucrative service for Google.
ncruces 2y ago
Worse. A small but significant percentage would actually pay ransom for it, just because moving is a pain. No one new would join, though.

scarface_74 2y ago

How much would YouTube Inc make without having its infrastructure subsidized by Google corporate and taking advantage of Google’s ad network And you speak of “platform charity”. But not thinking about VC charity?