A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#41

Post by CodeWriter23 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:44 PM UTC

happycube wrote: post #12

magoon wrote: post #6

This reminds me of Adam Osborne, who tanked sales of his new Osbourne 1 by prematurely bragging about the future Osbourne 2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

Interesting that much of what sunk Osborune was actually a sunk cost fallacy from the $150K of assembled Osbourne 1 boards... if they had been sold off to a liquidator or hobbiests, they might've still turned a profit on em in the end. At the very least they could've scrapped the boards and taken the tax writeoff.

Companies like Osborne and many others in the early-80’s microcomputer game were built by engineers who had taken a second mortgage. So when the cash ran out, there weren’t second chances via creative finance. Many ended up going back to their old high-paying jobs to pay down their debt and keep the house.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#42

Post by Ididntdothis » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:44 PM UTC

dragontamer wrote: post #28

smallgovt wrote: post #15

I think the more interesting lesson to learn from this was how Ratner was able to deal and cope with the public embarrassment following the mishap. It reminds me of this TED talk where Jon Ronson talks about how public shaming has gone out of control with the advent of social media: https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_what_happens_when_onlin...

Actually, the best "public shaming" talk I've seen are the ones given by Monica Lewinsky. When you consider that Monica Lewinsky was 22 years old during the time of the scandal, a lot of the stuff going on was simply outside of her control. Seeing things from her perspective is pretty interesting, to say the least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg John Oliver starts the discussion, but there is a Lewinsky…

I never understood why Lewinsky got ridiculed that much. If anything she was a victim in the whole thing. Or am I missing something?

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#43

Post by the8472 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:45 PM UTC

cat199 wrote: post #20

yummypaint wrote: post #2

All the guy did was be honest, and its not like he revealed anything people didnt know already. Seems like an emperors new clothes kind of situation.

calling it 'crap' is quite a different thing from saying it is 'affordable' and 'a good value', even if both imply the same thing w/r/t cost:quality vs absolute quality in that product family - one will get you bad press and social stigma, the other will win you fans. it's all about presentation.

seems like a bug in humans, since the material reality underlying those statements is the same.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#44

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:46 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #42

dragontamer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the best "public shaming" talk I've seen are the ones given by Monica Lewinsky. When you consider that Monica Lewinsky was 22 years old during the time of the scandal, a lot of the stuff going on was simply outside of her control. Seeing things from her perspective is pretty interesting, to say the least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg John Oliver starts the discussion, but there is a Lewinsky…

I never understood why Lewinsky got ridiculed that much. If anything she was a victim in the whole thing. Or am I missing something?

[deleted]

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#45

Post by the-dude » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:47 PM UTC

magoon wrote: post #6

This reminds me of Adam Osborne, who tanked sales of his new Osbourne 1 by prematurely bragging about the future Osbourne 2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

Section: The Osborne myth

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#46

Post by spzb » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

Axsuul wrote: post #35

spzb wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It became a national joke in the UK. Nobody would be seen dead going into one of their stores or giving their jewellery as a gift. It basically put them out of business : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/22/gerald-ratn...

But did it really put them out of business? They did a re-org as Signet Jewelers and is now the world's largest retailer of diamonds.

As a brand it put Ratners out of business. Your average man in the street isn't aware of the corporate structures behind the high street brands.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#47

Post by whatshisface » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

cmauniada wrote: post #29

mjw1007 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He'd made the same jokes in speeches several times before, and it had gone down well with the audience. Presumably he just didn't consider the possibility that the press would think it worth making a story out of.

I don't get it. So he made these jokes infront of shareholders just for kicks? Why would someone even say this infront of anyone, I don't understand. I am starting to think he might have been under the influence.

In the distant past shareholder calls were not the synthetic fluff they are now, and I'm sure this guy's accident contributed a lot to the transition.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#48

Post by mixmastamyk » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

chucksmash wrote: post #18

Interesting anecdote, but holy minimal-effort-article-writing, Batman: > Have you ever heard of the “Ratner effect”? > Well by the end of this post you will know what it means.

While long-form writing is an enjoyable endeavor, I appreciate the direct approach most of the time.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#49

Post by gdy » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #42

dragontamer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the best "public shaming" talk I've seen are the ones given by Monica Lewinsky. When you consider that Monica Lewinsky was 22 years old during the time of the scandal, a lot of the stuff going on was simply outside of her control. Seeing things from her perspective is pretty interesting, to say the least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg John Oliver starts the discussion, but there is a Lewinsky…

I never understood why Lewinsky got ridiculed that much. If anything she was a victim in the whole thing. Or am I missing something?

How is she a victim?

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#50

Post by gunshai » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #42

dragontamer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the best "public shaming" talk I've seen are the ones given by Monica Lewinsky. When you consider that Monica Lewinsky was 22 years old during the time of the scandal, a lot of the stuff going on was simply outside of her control. Seeing things from her perspective is pretty interesting, to say the least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg John Oliver starts the discussion, but there is a Lewinsky…

I never understood why Lewinsky got ridiculed that much. If anything she was a victim in the whole thing. Or am I missing something?

If you're more curious about this story. I highly recommend slate's slow burn on the Clinton Scandal.

https://slate.com/slow-burn

Impeccable journalism and incredible interviews are given.