4 ms·

The absolute lack of vision in post millennium HP leadership is so toxic to innovation. It's a good case study in the pointlessness of obsessing over tech compa

The absolute lack of vision in post millennium HP leadership is so toxic to innovation. It's a good case study in the pointlessness of obsessing over tech company financials.

datameta 1y ago
I wonder how many companies had this play out? IBM is another famous example of internal rot of engineering excellence in the 2000s as the business shell was gives fresh coats of paint and varnish.
- bigbuppo 1y ago
  Hey buddy, would you like to try Google Gemini AI? You can easily find it using the same button on your android phone you used to use for quick access to emergency services. We have AI. WE HAVE AI. Why aren't you using our AI? What if we replaced our stagnating search with AI? Would you use it then? Please? It's AI, which is the future! We're so focused on AI we fired everybody that wasn't working on AI. AI.
  - msgodel 1y ago
    I love looking at Coreweave's long description for their stock. It says AI 32x. That's huge AI to price ratio!
mrweasel 1y ago
HP had everything, hardware business, multiple CPU designs, operating system (quite a few actually), they where hiring Linux developers pretty early on, an extensive software portfolio (mostly enterprise stuff that I can do without, but companies bought it) and had I'd say fairly good working relationship with software partners, like Oracle and Microsoft. Now you have two HPs: - HPE, pretty much a shell of a company. Maintainers of HP-UX, (former) maker of Itanium servers and caretaker of Cray (but also the company that seems to have misplaced the Irix source code). - HP, Maker of shitty printer products and expensive toner. How do you go from having everything to be a joke of a company/companies?
- geodel 1y ago
  Well if autonomy bet worked out well they could have challenged Google. :)
- harrydehal 1y ago
  Worth pointing out that HPE also acquired Aruba Networks and Juniper Networks – not sure how both those networking portfolios look like post-acquisition.
  - mrweasel 1y ago
    True, both are solid networking companies in my opinion. Juniper is already slipping on support and pricing though, and we'll be replacing all our Juniper gear starting this summer.
  - bc569a80a344f9c 1y ago
    HPE wants to buy Juniper. The DOJ has blocked the deal and that lawsuit is expected to play out next month.
- eGQjxkKF6fif 1y ago
  Simple. The execs steal all the innovative IP, start new ventures, drain HP dry with its encredible decision making; completely fuck the Linux devs, use their works and contributions to OSS in the new ventures and then new waves of innovation/competition came about and what was settled upon was whatever looked profitable on quarterlies so servers, and printers. I'm not saying that's what happened. But, it's a capitalistic type world.
- HeckFeck 1y ago
  > HPE Also with one of the worst logos ever. Have you seen RECTANGLE? It encapsulates our venerable company in two dimensional space. It's at least honest - Three dimensions would imply we're solid, and four would imply that we're moving anywhere.
  - mrweasel 1y ago
dec0dedab0de 1y ago
didn't they turn down the apple I in the 70s?
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
duxup 1y ago
A lot of companies get this process and ideology about how things work ... and that's it, no matter what the business conditions they can't do anything different. Every department and every possible person who would approve or deny something is set in their ways.
MPSFounder 1y ago
It is amazing how con men make it. Leo has an atrocious track record, yet he is still getting into advisory roles because he was CEO of HP (despite being fired and losing BILLIONS in his short tenure). A girl scout would have made better CEO and cut losses. All it takes is for someone to be propped up by an establishment; they make a career out of it, despite lacking the technical skills to run a brothel. He was worse than Carly by miles. I do not agree with the author: HP is a dying company. While its current technical leadership is savvy, it is not the company Hewlett built. Disruption from the inside cannot fix a company that has been plagued (similar to Boeing).
AdrianB1 1y ago
It is not specific to HP, but to the top management style of that era; I know multiple companies that went through similar things, some from inside (can't give names), it was a similar story: moving from deep technical expertise to soft "software and services" mantra that fits weak CxO. At the same time other companies that had more technical CxO did much better, these are the companies that are on top today. There is no much differentiation in the IT services space, lately they provide worm bodies to clients and not much more, or nothing at all. There is no competition, there is no differentiation, it is the place where old elephants go to die. And the CEO of HP at that time had the vision to go there.

The absolute lack of vision in post millennium HP leadership is so toxic to innovation. It's a good case study in the pointlessness of obsessing over tech company financials.

datameta 1y ago

I wonder how many companies had this play out? IBM is another famous example of internal rot of engineering excellence in the 2000s as the business shell was gives fresh coats of paint and varnish.

bigbuppo 1y ago
Hey buddy, would you like to try Google Gemini AI? You can easily find it using the same button on your android phone you used to use for quick access to emergency services. We have AI. WE HAVE AI. Why aren't you using our AI? What if we replaced our stagnating search with AI? Would you use it then? Please? It's AI, which is the future! We're so focused on AI we fired everybody that wasn't working on AI. AI.
- msgodel 1y ago
  I love looking at Coreweave's long description for their stock. It says AI 32x. That's huge AI to price ratio!

mrweasel 1y ago

HP had everything, hardware business, multiple CPU designs, operating system (quite a few actually), they where hiring Linux developers pretty early on, an extensive software portfolio (mostly enterprise stuff that I can do without, but companies bought it) and had I'd say fairly good working relationship with software partners, like Oracle and Microsoft. Now you have two HPs: - HPE, pretty much a shell of a company. Maintainers of HP-UX, (former) maker of Itanium servers and caretaker of Cray (but also the company that seems to have misplaced the Irix source code). - HP, Maker of shitty printer products and expensive toner. How do you go from having everything to be a joke of a company/companies?

geodel 1y ago
Well if autonomy bet worked out well they could have challenged Google. :)
harrydehal 1y ago
Worth pointing out that HPE also acquired Aruba Networks and Juniper Networks – not sure how both those networking portfolios look like post-acquisition.
- mrweasel 1y ago
  True, both are solid networking companies in my opinion. Juniper is already slipping on support and pricing though, and we'll be replacing all our Juniper gear starting this summer.
- bc569a80a344f9c 1y ago
  HPE wants to buy Juniper. The DOJ has blocked the deal and that lawsuit is expected to play out next month.
eGQjxkKF6fif 1y ago
Simple. The execs steal all the innovative IP, start new ventures, drain HP dry with its encredible decision making; completely fuck the Linux devs, use their works and contributions to OSS in the new ventures and then new waves of innovation/competition came about and what was settled upon was whatever looked profitable on quarterlies so servers, and printers. I'm not saying that's what happened. But, it's a capitalistic type world.
HeckFeck 1y ago
> HPE Also with one of the worst logos ever. Have you seen RECTANGLE? It encapsulates our venerable company in two dimensional space. It's at least honest - Three dimensions would imply we're solid, and four would imply that we're moving anywhere.
- mrweasel 1y ago

dec0dedab0de 1y ago

didn't they turn down the apple I in the 70s?

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

duxup 1y ago

A lot of companies get this process and ideology about how things work ... and that's it, no matter what the business conditions they can't do anything different. Every department and every possible person who would approve or deny something is set in their ways.

MPSFounder 1y ago

It is amazing how con men make it. Leo has an atrocious track record, yet he is still getting into advisory roles because he was CEO of HP (despite being fired and losing BILLIONS in his short tenure). A girl scout would have made better CEO and cut losses. All it takes is for someone to be propped up by an establishment; they make a career out of it, despite lacking the technical skills to run a brothel. He was worse than Carly by miles. I do not agree with the author: HP is a dying company. While its current technical leadership is savvy, it is not the company Hewlett built. Disruption from the inside cannot fix a company that has been plagued (similar to Boeing).

AdrianB1 1y ago

It is not specific to HP, but to the top management style of that era; I know multiple companies that went through similar things, some from inside (can't give names), it was a similar story: moving from deep technical expertise to soft "software and services" mantra that fits weak CxO. At the same time other companies that had more technical CxO did much better, these are the companies that are on top today. There is no much differentiation in the IT services space, lately they provide worm bodies to clients and not much more, or nothing at all. There is no competition, there is no differentiation, it is the place where old elephants go to die. And the CEO of HP at that time had the vision to go there.