Given that a fair chunk of today's NY Times front page is devoted to Steve Cook rebuking Travis Kalanick, I'm not going to short to incense stocks quite yet.
Ending the cult of the CEO
41–50 of 188 posts
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#42I'm sure the majority of the article is valid, but Apple's stock skyrocketed after Job's death. I'm sure it's an outlier but kind of wish that had been acknowledged given the image used.
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unpack grit and you're left with psychological traits which many normal people have.
So why don't many normal people successfully grow a business?
I think it's basically the shrinking of the middle class and people with enough capital to contemplate starting a business. Looking at the number of business starts shows an ever decreasing number - which correlates with the stagnation of wages and size of the middle class. Also linked, the number of hours worked has increased steadily, as well as a increase in both parents working, so availability of time in households to supply "labor capital" to start businesses has also shrank.
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#44Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Translation: why don't many normal people have trust funds, expensive educations, the disposable income and lack of financial responsibilities to be able to work for free for extended periods of time, friends in industry, investor class connections, or some combination of all of the above plus a shitload of luck.
If those things are required, then why do so many immigrants become entrepreneurs?
They are not required. Many more here who are successful do not have all or any of those things. They just don't talk much.
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#46The way I look at it, there are two kinds of CEOs. There are the ones that founded the company and have led the company according to their own personal vision. Many of them hold stock worth billions and they're generally looked up to as "captains of industry". The other kind is the CEO who is hired by the board of directors. They're usually very well paid and given a lot of stock, but aren't wealthy the way, say, Bil…
would Jeff Bezos be categorized as the second class CEO you describe?
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Translation: why don't many normal people have trust funds, expensive educations, the disposable income and lack of financial responsibilities to be able to work for free for extended periods of time, friends in industry, investor class connections, or some combination of all of the above plus a shitload of luck.
If those things are required, then why do so many immigrants become entrepreneurs?
Many wealthy immigrants have those privlidges...
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#48The way I look at it, there are two kinds of CEOs. There are the ones that founded the company and have led the company according to their own personal vision. Many of them hold stock worth billions and they're generally looked up to as "captains of industry". The other kind is the CEO who is hired by the board of directors. They're usually very well paid and given a lot of stock, but aren't wealthy the way, say, Bil…
Sometimes non-founder CEOs are worth it and can completely turn around the fortunes of a company. For example, Eisner for Disney, Kroc for McDonald's, Welch for GE, Jobs (the second time around), and either Ballmer or Nadela (depending on which one you pick). So I don't think the founder / non-founder distinction holds up.
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#49The way I look at it, there are two kinds of CEOs. There are the ones that founded the company and have led the company according to their own personal vision. Many of them hold stock worth billions and they're generally looked up to as "captains of industry". The other kind is the CEO who is hired by the board of directors. They're usually very well paid and given a lot of stock, but aren't wealthy the way, say, Bil…
The way I look at it, a good CEO can save a company millions (or even billions if it's a large company like Sony) by negotiating better contracts. That is a skill some CEOs have.
Now, if you're going to hire a CEO with that skill, do you think he's not going to also negotiate a good contract for himself? He has that skill.
Re: Ending the cult of the CEO
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing special about starting a company for sure, but successfully growing one takes a lot of grit.
Sure. But I'd want to see a world where headlines like "Entrepreneurs are just rich kids" cease to be, because that headline is only created when entrepreneurship is put on a pedestal and is seen as something that is inherently superior to everything else. People wouldn't feel indignant that it is "unfair that rich kids have an advantage" at the entrepreneurship game (which they absolutely do), if entrepreneurship we…
> if entrepreneurship weren't seen as this holy grail mount Kilimanjaro thing.
So you want successful entrepreneurs to be poor? It's only seen as a holy grail because it allows for tremendous fiscal success.