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

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

#151

Post by blackflame7000 »

sudhirj wrote: post #8

This is really applicable to any products that are valued based on their marketing efforts instead of intrinsic value or utility. Costume jewellery, designer clothes, some kinds of art, all derive their value from the story the creators tell. The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story. I like to think I’d prefer Apple products over the competi…

"The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story."

What story does one of the most expensive paintings of all time, Jackson Pollock #5, tell?

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

#152

Post by roland35 »

reroute1 wrote: post #104
Ididntdothis wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why in most companies it’s absolutely verboten for a manager to have any kind of romantic/sexual relationship with subordinates. This should apply to the president too. Having sex with an intern is just shameful and shows serious character issues.

Still not necessarily victimizing anyone though

Easy enough to say if your boss is not hitting on you! If you turn him down it could hurt your career...

These are the types of things most men don't have to worry about.

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

#153

Post by coldtea »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #83
vinceguidry wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That board didn't have to flip. Ratner could have just kept selling the brand instead of stating his true opinions to a media circus. And the brand would have retained its value, perhaps all the way to today if he could have kept the unit economics alive. What made the brand successful wasn't what Ratner thought it was. The word at hand here is 'hubris'. Successful people slowly lose touch with the rest of the world…

No eventually it would flip - it happens all the time. It's just this time the boss of the company laid down the final piece so it sticks in the mind

The tired analogy is premised of that this was some "final piece".

It wasn't, the company was going from strength to strength.

And whether "eventually it would flip" is another thing, and is irrelevant to this argument. Sure, every company will go down at some point.

That doesn't validate the idea put forward that this was some kind of "final piece" and the company was ready to flip anyway. There's absolutely no evidence for that. Your argument presupposes what it should prove.

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

#154

Post by isostatic »

fortran77 wrote: post #142
jdietrich wrote: post #125

Michael O'Leary being incredibly rude is a key part of Ryanair's branding. If you're paying £19 for a two hour flight, you'll always have the sneaking suspicion that the airline is skimping on maintenance. O'Leary makes it absolutely clear that they save money by treating their passengers like cattle. He carefully cultivates the image of a man who utterly despises his own customers, but is far too miserly to allow an…

I agree. Fellow "cheapskates" who just want to get from Dublin to Edinburgh on a cheap flight probably admire his thrift.

Such cheap flights are possible because the airlines aren’t paying the externalities they cause.

Ryanair don’t fly to London btw. Or Brussels.

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

#155

Post by tempguy9999 »

ve7cxz wrote: post #147
fortran77 wrote: post #114

The modern examples cited weren't nearly as bad: - Lulumon didn't seem to be hurt by Chip Wilson. In fact, the "notoriety" made me aware they they sold men's clothes, too, and I went there and bought some great athletic wear. - Many customers appreciated Barclays' warning not to "pile up debts." That would give me a favorable opinion of a company that offers lines of credit, not a bad one.

Same with John Pluthero at C&W. I was working there at the time and John was well-known for being brutally honest (his management style was one of the reasons he took over when C&W bought Energis, despite him running the much smaller Energis). It's a while ago now, but he was right at the time and I don't remember anyone disagreeing.

I prefer straight honesty in social dealings, but it is vital in business, even when that is my bossing telling me I did crap, or me telling the boss I think he's wrong. Arsing around gently in business contexts, not giving info that would help even if unwelcome, is plain damaging.

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

#156

Post by coldtea »

seem_2211 wrote: post #139
sudhirj wrote: post #8

This is really applicable to any products that are valued based on their marketing efforts instead of intrinsic value or utility. Costume jewellery, designer clothes, some kinds of art, all derive their value from the story the creators tell. The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story. I like to think I’d prefer Apple products over the competi…

Price, value and practical utility are not really correlated. A Rolex and a Timex will both tell you the time. An iPhone and a $129 Android will do mostly similar things. A Toyota Camry and a Porsche will both get you to work. But practical utility and value aren't necessarily the most important thing. Apple intuitively understood this, at a time when other computer companies didn't. Lots of people look at a Macbook…

>A Toyota Camry and a Porsche will both get you to work.

That's not the practical utility people want out of a Porsche. They want the practical utility of impressing people (including the other sex), appearing well off and sporty, etc.

Those are also practical considerations - just not the first that come to mind when one thinks of cars (although not very far).

(Practical as in: not aesthetic but with real life impact on real life goals).

>Apple products are relatively cheap to produce

So they say, but e.g. other manufacturers tried for the first 2-3 years years to get a tablet with the specs of the iPad, and still couldn't get theirs at a lower price...

Or how if you add the same SSD/video/memory/CPU/etc options to a PC laptop, you get close to the same prices. I know cause I've tried to build an equivalent Lenovo (and a few other brands) and it gets so close I might as well just get the MBP.

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

#157

Post by WilliamEdward »

bgibbons wrote: post #134

Wow...insert foot in mouth. It is pretty unbelievable that today leaders of immense influence i.e. Elon Musk, others referenced in the article aren't more careful with what they might put out in a Tweet. Truly amazing.

Musk will say some stupid garbage, but he'd never call his own products crap. He really believes in them.

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

#158

Post by isostatic »

downandout wrote: post #143
jdietrich wrote: post #125

Michael O'Leary being incredibly rude is a key part of Ryanair's branding. If you're paying £19 for a two hour flight, you'll always have the sneaking suspicion that the airline is skimping on maintenance. O'Leary makes it absolutely clear that they save money by treating their passengers like cattle. He carefully cultivates the image of a man who utterly despises his own customers, but is far too miserly to allow an…

He carefully cultivates the image of a man who utterly despises his own customers, but is far too miserly to allow an aircraft to crash. That image will keep them going right up until they have a fatal crash, at which point the press, the government, and victims’ attorneys will use every word he has ever said about being cheap to crucify him and the company. Given their volume of flights, a fatal crash is statistical…

I would never dream of thinking Ryanair skimps one aircraft maintenance. I’d be concerned by their cabin crew performance given the conditions they work in though.

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

#159

Post by abruzzi »

blackflame7000 wrote: post #151
sudhirj wrote: post #8

This is really applicable to any products that are valued based on their marketing efforts instead of intrinsic value or utility. Costume jewellery, designer clothes, some kinds of art, all derive their value from the story the creators tell. The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story. I like to think I’d prefer Apple products over the competi…

"The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story." What story does one of the most expensive paintings of all time, Jackson Pollock #5, tell?

The story that the OP is referring to is not the story (if any) portrayed by the art, but the story of the work itself. So it is bound up in the story of the artist, the history of a particular work, and the path from the artist's conception to the the most current owner. You might call that provenance, but it's a wider net than just that.

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

#160

Post by privateprofile »

blackflame7000 wrote: post #151
sudhirj wrote: post #8

This is really applicable to any products that are valued based on their marketing efforts instead of intrinsic value or utility. Costume jewellery, designer clothes, some kinds of art, all derive their value from the story the creators tell. The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story. I like to think I’d prefer Apple products over the competi…

"The most expensive art seems to be that which has the most thoroughly verified, or at least the most believable story." What story does one of the most expensive paintings of all time, Jackson Pollock #5, tell?

A story of people who view art as a trophy, or as an ultimate symbol of wealth?
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