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The last two paragraphs sure contorted my face into an…interesting expression. I’m confused at how Zuck has proven himself to be a particularly dynamic and cap

by dangus 1y ago

The last two paragraphs sure contorted my face into an…interesting expression. I’m confused at how Zuck has proven himself to be a particularly dynamic and capable CEO compared to peers. Facebook hasn’t had new product success outside of acquisitions in at least a decade. The fact that a newcomer like TikTok came and ate Instagram’s lunch is downright embarrassing. Meta Quest is a cash-bleeding joke of a side quest that Zuck thought justified changing the name of the company. The kind of customer trustworthiness gap between Meta and competitors like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon is astounding, and I would consider it a major failure by Meta’s management that was entirely preventable. [1] Microsoft runs their own social network (LinkedIn) and Google reads all your email and searches and they are somehow trusted more than twice as much as Meta. This trust gap actively prevents Meta from launching new products in areas that require trustworthiness. Personally I don’t think Meta is spending $14B to hire a single guy, they’re spending $14B in hopes of having a stake in some other company that can make a successful new product - because by now they know that they can’t have success on their own. [1] https://allaboutcookies.org/big-tech-trust https://allaboutcookies.org/big-tech-trust

paulpauper 1y ago
Facebook hasn’t had new product success outside of acquisitions in at least a decade. You don't need a 'new trick' when the main business is so frigging profitable and scalable. There is this myth that companies need to keep innovating. At a certain point, when the competition is so weak, you don't. Tobacco stocks have been among the best investment over the past century even though the product never changed. Or Walmart--it's the same type of store, but scaled huge. The fact that a newcomer like TikTok came and ate Instagram’s lunch is downright embarrassing. Not really. Instagram is more popular than ever and much more profitable. It's not all or nothing .Both sites can coexist and thrive, like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
- dangus 1y ago
  Sure, a lot of companies don’t need to keep innovating. But still, TikTok passed Instagram active users. This would be like if Universal theme parks surpassed Disney Parks in revenue. Sure, they can both coexist, but it’s an embarrassing reflection of mismanagement when a company that is so far ahead is surpassed by a competitor with better management working with fewer resources. And there are a lot of examples like IBM, Kodak, and General Electric where the company appears untouchable with no need to innovate until suddenly they really do need to innovate and it all collapses around them.
  - pavlov 1y ago
    > "TikTok passed Instagram active users. This would be like if Universal theme parks surpassed Disney Parks in revenue" It's like if a Universal theme park surpassed Disneyland Paris in revenue. Meta has other properties too.
    - dangus 1y ago
      Yes, Meta has other properties: - Quest was an acquisition (not an original idea) and has been a money sink, VR market is declining. - Instagram was an acquisition and as mentioned was surpassed in userbase by a newcomer despite cloning TikTok’s functionality relatively early. - Facebook has a declining userbase. It’s still huge but it’s declining. - Threads is the most impressive “original” new Meta product in terms of adoption but it’s about half the size of Twitter if not smaller, and growth is reported as slowing. It’s also mostly recruiting the same users who are already in Instagram. - Meta Workplace got sunsetted and failed I’m not betting against Meta as I acknowledge that they’re a cash cow, but I think that a better CEO for the company exists and could have done better. I think a better CEO would have beat TikTok, I think a better CEO would have Meta competing in more platforms than just social media, and a better CEO would have been able to maintain a better reputation for privacy and security or at least do a better job of separating Facebook’s reputation from the rest of the company. Something like Meta Workplace was doomed from the start at least in part because companies don’t trust Meta with their sensitive data. That is the CEO’s fault.
babelfish 1y ago
…have you seen $META?
- dangus 1y ago
  Have you looked up the stock price of Eastman Kodak from 1979?
theahura 1y ago
I'm a Zuck fan, and I think I could mount a compelling case for that take. But that was not the article to do so. And people can def disagree, there's good arguments on the other side
- dangus 1y ago
  Imagine being a fan of a billionaire, a state of existence which should not exist.
aprilthird2021 1y ago
> Facebook hasn’t had new product success outside of acquisitions in at least a decade. Wrong metric to evaluate dynamism and capability. Also the Ray Ban Metas have been pretty successful. They consistently sell out
- Eggpants 1y ago
  It takes special kind of loser to pay to wear a video and microphone live feed to Facebook.
- dangus 1y ago
  2 million pairs since 2023, for comparison Nintendo sold 3 million Switch 2 consoles in one day. And what is the long-term revenue strategy for ray ban meta glasses? You buy the glasses and then what?

by dangus 1y ago

paulpauper 1y ago

Facebook hasn’t had new product success outside of acquisitions in at least a decade. You don't need a 'new trick' when the main business is so frigging profitable and scalable. There is this myth that companies need to keep innovating. At a certain point, when the competition is so weak, you don't. Tobacco stocks have been among the best investment over the past century even though the product never changed. Or Walmart--it's the same type of store, but scaled huge. The fact that a newcomer like TikTok came and ate Instagram’s lunch is downright embarrassing. Not really. Instagram is more popular than ever and much more profitable. It's not all or nothing .Both sites can coexist and thrive, like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

dangus 1y ago
Sure, a lot of companies don’t need to keep innovating. But still, TikTok passed Instagram active users. This would be like if Universal theme parks surpassed Disney Parks in revenue. Sure, they can both coexist, but it’s an embarrassing reflection of mismanagement when a company that is so far ahead is surpassed by a competitor with better management working with fewer resources. And there are a lot of examples like IBM, Kodak, and General Electric where the company appears untouchable with no need to innovate until suddenly they really do need to innovate and it all collapses around them.
- pavlov 1y ago
  > "TikTok passed Instagram active users. This would be like if Universal theme parks surpassed Disney Parks in revenue" It's like if a Universal theme park surpassed Disneyland Paris in revenue. Meta has other properties too.
  - dangus 1y ago
    Yes, Meta has other properties: - Quest was an acquisition (not an original idea) and has been a money sink, VR market is declining. - Instagram was an acquisition and as mentioned was surpassed in userbase by a newcomer despite cloning TikTok’s functionality relatively early. - Facebook has a declining userbase. It’s still huge but it’s declining. - Threads is the most impressive “original” new Meta product in terms of adoption but it’s about half the size of Twitter if not smaller, and growth is reported as slowing. It’s also mostly recruiting the same users who are already in Instagram. - Meta Workplace got sunsetted and failed I’m not betting against Meta as I acknowledge that they’re a cash cow, but I think that a better CEO for the company exists and could have done better. I think a better CEO would have beat TikTok, I think a better CEO would have Meta competing in more platforms than just social media, and a better CEO would have been able to maintain a better reputation for privacy and security or at least do a better job of separating Facebook’s reputation from the rest of the company. Something like Meta Workplace was doomed from the start at least in part because companies don’t trust Meta with their sensitive data. That is the CEO’s fault.

babelfish 1y ago

…have you seen $META?

dangus 1y ago
Have you looked up the stock price of Eastman Kodak from 1979?

theahura 1y ago

I'm a Zuck fan, and I think I could mount a compelling case for that take. But that was not the article to do so. And people can def disagree, there's good arguments on the other side

dangus 1y ago
Imagine being a fan of a billionaire, a state of existence which should not exist.

aprilthird2021 1y ago

> Facebook hasn’t had new product success outside of acquisitions in at least a decade. Wrong metric to evaluate dynamism and capability. Also the Ray Ban Metas have been pretty successful. They consistently sell out

Eggpants 1y ago
It takes special kind of loser to pay to wear a video and microphone live feed to Facebook.
dangus 1y ago
2 million pairs since 2023, for comparison Nintendo sold 3 million Switch 2 consoles in one day. And what is the long-term revenue strategy for ray ban meta glasses? You buy the glasses and then what?