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Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

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101–110 of 195 posts

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. There were reports that came out from several sources that Evan ignored all feedback from product and design including hard numbers from early tests. There were apparently several groups internally that tried to stop the massive changes from dropping without adequate testing and iteration. Those groups were overridden by Evan in favor of "vision" and that apparent lack of di…

> then the board should absolutely give him the boot in the next 24 months. Very funny, Snapchat has two classes of stock and he owns enough of the kind that matters that no one can oust him. I looked through the S-1 when they were going public and decided owning the shares they were selling to the public was the equivalent of a "board observer" seat. You are free to watch him run his company, but it is still his com…

Exactly, I was going to write the same thing, although with a small, but perhaps quite important correction: “You are free to watch him ruin his company, but it is still his company”

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#102

They had a working thing and then ruined it. I’m not sure how they managed to do that with a product change. Didn’t they have a way to release changes and measure impact before just forcing it on their entire user base? Once a company gets to this level, they need to recognize the role that luck played into their original product and design. They hit a resonance with people, and it was probably more luck and timing t…

I think you hit the nail on the head here. There were reports that came out from several sources that Evan ignored all feedback from product and design including hard numbers from early tests. There were apparently several groups internally that tried to stop the massive changes from dropping without adequate testing and iteration. Those groups were overridden by Evan in favor of "vision" and that apparent lack of di…

A real leader would resign.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#103
post #31

Here's coverage without an insanely user hostile "WE ARE PART OF OATH YOUR PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT (BUT IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND SETTINGS TO DISABLE COOKIES)" lightbox which cannot be dismissed: https://cheddar.com/videos/snap-ceo-evan-spiegel-company-mem...

Ublock Origin plus Cookiemonster list - I never see a cookie banner.

Thanks for that. Didn't know about this list.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#104

As a college student who’s only social media comes through Snapchat, I’m glad that they will be making changes. The redesign doesn’t make much sense and just made things more confusing if anything. I have 12+ friends in a group which we use to coordinate hanging out and to generally chat about things we find interesting. I haven’t used the stories functionality in over a year. I really think the move to focusing on c…

Just curious (I don't use Snapchat as I'm a fair bit older then the target demographic), why do you use it to chat rather than an actual IM? Eg Telegram or Discord or Wire.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#105
post #100
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad thing is that it applies to many other companies these days, most notably Facebook, Google et al. Why do people buy common shares which give them no voting rights as a shareholder? Sure while company is minting money (or debt and marketshare) you can find a greater fool to offload your shares. However when things turn the Zynga way, what recourse do you have with these no vote shares? At least Bond holders an…

You have rights if you own enough right? Also why are there two kind of shares?

Because the original investors don't want their shares to be diluted.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#106
post #100
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad thing is that it applies to many other companies these days, most notably Facebook, Google et al. Why do people buy common shares which give them no voting rights as a shareholder? Sure while company is minting money (or debt and marketshare) you can find a greater fool to offload your shares. However when things turn the Zynga way, what recourse do you have with these no vote shares? At least Bond holders an…

You have rights if you own enough right? Also why are there two kind of shares?

Google stock is organized into different classes with different voting rights and amounts of shares (a few years ago a new class came out without voting shares but got dividends first, if I recall correctly), and the founders have control as long as they want it. At the time, I thought this was dangerous since the current king might be good (ie the founders) but what if the next king who has control was someone who has wants to control people through tyrannical means using their entire life histories (ie google tracking on everything).

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#107
post #3

Why did they ignore Android usability and performance for so long? Also, I guess one of the cool things was the mystery meat UX but I wonder if that hurt them as they tried to garner broad appeal? Sometimes I see other people's Snaps and have no idea how they did certain things like effects, text, or interactive elements.

Market segmentation. Apple users are worth more money. Which kinda makes this pivot to the developing world a bit of head scratcher. High ARPC was one of the key differentiators they promoted back during their IPO.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#108
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then the board should absolutely give him the boot in the next 24 months. Very funny, Snapchat has two classes of stock and he owns enough of the kind that matters that no one can oust him. I looked through the S-1 when they were going public and decided owning the shares they were selling to the public was the equivalent of a "board observer" seat. You are free to watch him run his company, but it is still his com…

The sad thing is that it applies to many other companies these days, most notably Facebook, Google et al. Why do people buy common shares which give them no voting rights as a shareholder? Sure while company is minting money (or debt and marketshare) you can find a greater fool to offload your shares. However when things turn the Zynga way, what recourse do you have with these no vote shares? At least Bond holders an…

I think we're going to see less of that. A few companies with founder control through multiple classes of stock have screwed up badly. It's now a negative with investors.

For many decades, the New York Stock Exchange refused to list stocks that had multiple classes of stock, except for a few companies such as Ford Motor that were grandfathered in. But they no longer have enough clout to make that stick.

Google and Facebook got away with it because they were highly profitable before the IPO. Snap was not like that.[1] They went public while still losing money, and with way too high a valuation. It's been all downhill since the IPO.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertberger/2017/03/07/snapcha...

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. There were reports that came out from several sources that Evan ignored all feedback from product and design including hard numbers from early tests. There were apparently several groups internally that tried to stop the massive changes from dropping without adequate testing and iteration. Those groups were overridden by Evan in favor of "vision" and that apparent lack of di…

A real leader would resign.

A real leader who resigns is no longer a leader; source _The Prince_. A real leader controls power and makes things better. Let's see if he is. (I know nothing about Snapchat but I know word meanings)
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