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Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

wsj.com

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Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#11

Post by Retric »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #8

The fact that companies like Facebook and Google are spending billions of dollars/year on undisclosed research projects is in my view a gigantic failure of corporate governance. I think investors are going to be hugely disappointed when they find out that they thought they put their money into Internet advertising cash cows, and now that money is gone, spent on building jetpacks and space elevators. I do think those…

Scale is important, google makes ~20 billion in profit per year making these relatively minor bets.

Further even if these projects never return a dime directly they have a halo effect which helps the overall company.

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#13

Post by nostrademons »

wil421 wrote: post #4
yannickt wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Click on the "web" link below the HN thread headline. It will direct you to a search page for the article, and the top result will not be paywalled.

That doesn't work and hasn't for some time. I'm not sure if it's for all sites but the web link rarely works for me. Especially the web link for WSJ.

Web link + open article in incognito.

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#14

Post by mc32 »

I still don't get the foray into delivery of physical low value products. The cost of delivery is a sufficient portion of the total value of the products so as to make it economically impractical for most cases.

And we have the example of Peapod and WebVan which didn't just foretell but proved unless it was for specialized markets, it's a proposal for hemorrhaging money. Even if you get automation and you perfect the travelling salesman's problem you're still mostly dealing with low value products. Now, if it was delivery of expensive (Rx) drugs, or maybe even heavy but valuable items like gold or jewelry, legal documents, etc. okay. people will pay for that and you can make a profit but toiletries and pantry goods?

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#15

Post by digi_owl »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #8

The fact that companies like Facebook and Google are spending billions of dollars/year on undisclosed research projects is in my view a gigantic failure of corporate governance. I think investors are going to be hugely disappointed when they find out that they thought they put their money into Internet advertising cash cows, and now that money is gone, spent on building jetpacks and space elevators. I do think those…

Then what is? Seems to me to be very similar to the glory days of PARC and such where they seemed to have the funds to research just about anything. Lets not forget that Xerox brought the world the GUI, laser printer and Ethernet by funding PARC, even if they in the end was not who ended up monetizing the tech (laser printer excluded).

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#17

Post by icebraining »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #8

The fact that companies like Facebook and Google are spending billions of dollars/year on undisclosed research projects is in my view a gigantic failure of corporate governance. I think investors are going to be hugely disappointed when they find out that they thought they put their money into Internet advertising cash cows, and now that money is gone, spent on building jetpacks and space elevators. I do think those…

Just as an example, in Q2 of this year, Alphabet had a 21% YoY increase in revenue, and a 43% YoY increase in profit. Gigantic failure indeed.

Besides, they're public companies. Investors might not know exactly which moonshot projects they're investing in, but the overall numbers are published four times a year. There's no major surprises.

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#19

Post by Tempest1981 »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #8

The fact that companies like Facebook and Google are spending billions of dollars/year on undisclosed research projects is in my view a gigantic failure of corporate governance. I think investors are going to be hugely disappointed when they find out that they thought they put their money into Internet advertising cash cows, and now that money is gone, spent on building jetpacks and space elevators. I do think those…

These moonshot projects also buy them "free" press, and may help attract smart people to go work there.

Re: Silicon Valley Stumbles in World Beyond Software

#20

Post by Analemma_ »

Retric wrote: post #11
KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #8

The fact that companies like Facebook and Google are spending billions of dollars/year on undisclosed research projects is in my view a gigantic failure of corporate governance. I think investors are going to be hugely disappointed when they find out that they thought they put their money into Internet advertising cash cows, and now that money is gone, spent on building jetpacks and space elevators. I do think those…

Scale is important, google makes ~20 billion in profit per year making these relatively minor bets. Further even if these projects never return a dime directly they have a halo effect which helps the overall company.

> Scale is important, google makes ~20 billion in profit per year making these relatively minor bets.

Sorry, what? The Other Bets segment loses $2.5 billion per year.

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