Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

thehustle.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 499 posts

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

#201

Post by celticmusic »

wgerard wrote: post #149
rumanator wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone understands that she may have been a victim in it. You believe Lewinsky was a victim of what, exactly? She might have been extensively mistreated by the press but that's it.

> You believe Lewinsky was a victim of what, exactly? Being pressured into a sexual relationship by her superior, who was by many standards the most powerful person on the planet at the time? Like, regardless of whether you believe that's true or not it's pretty obvious how people might arrive at the conclusion that she was a victim and why there's debate about it.

exactly. We know the opposite happens too, being attracted to powerful people. We'll never know the truth and claiming you do know one way or the other, or that one of those possibilities isn't possible is intellectually dishonest imo.

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

#202

Post by Angostura »

notahacker wrote: post #191
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…

More straightforwardly, the reputation for being massive cheapskates gets its target market of people who don't care about airlines at all and just want a good deal knowing who they are and going straight to Ryanair.com to buy tickets when they need to fly. Which means that (i) they'll lookup the price and be upsold a package on Ryanair.com rather than finding the price and a different hotel deal on some other price…

I used to use Ryanair... until I found out how they treated wheelchair users. I'm happy for myself to be treated like a piece of meat. Not other, more vulnerable users. Screw Ryanair.

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

#203

Post by avip »

isostatic wrote: post #200
avip wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He’s provably referring to ghg emissions, and sure no one pays that (it’s also not something we can conceivably pay for)

Quite possible for Europe to charge landing fees based on ghg emissions for all planes arriving/departing.

I’m all for charging fees (especially when the chargee is not me), but fees don’t put CO2 back in the ground.

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

#204

Post by isostatic »

andrepd wrote: post #182
crispyporkbites wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stanstead and Luton are 30-40 miles from London

They're 45m-1h by train from Central London.

Birmingham airport is 1h06 from Central London

Brussels itself is only 1h54 from central London!

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

#205

Post by tim333 »

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…

As an occasional Ryanair user they don't really treat you like cattle and he doesn't seem to despise his customers though if certain ones piss him off he won't necessarily cover that up. People are so snobby about it - I'd never fly a cheap service with cheap people - I'm better than that kind of vibe. Ryanair is run kind of like a bus service really - pay modest money and they ship you from A to B.

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

#206

Post by celticmusic »

dragontamer wrote: post #56
gdy wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is she a victim?

I think you'd have to be a 90s kid to really understand. It was the Lewinsky affair, or the Lewinsky scandal. Lewinsky's name was attached to the event more so than even Bill Clinton. As such, it was Lewinsky's name who appeared in songs, raps, TV shows, movies, etc. etc. to describe the political drama at the time. https://genius.com/Saint-jhn-monica-lewinsky-lyrics Lewinsky also had to describe her sexual acts to C…

Not to dismiss the pressure she went through, but Bill Clinton got impeached over it and basically went incognito for many years due in no small part to both the scandal and impeachment.

It's not a victim olympics, but I don't think anyone can claim the repercussions for him were small or light.

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

#207

Post by PopeDotNinja »

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 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.

If your priorities are telling time, having a smartphone, and commuting to work, I agree with you. But I think the more expensive products you mention offer things the cheaper products don't.

For example, I'd rather have a Camry if I needed a family car with a reasonable total cost of ownership. I'd want a Porsche if I wanted a fast & sporty car.

I think stronger examples would be comparing cheap & quality products that both cater to the same market segment. For example, making a cheap car that cuts corners on expensive parts like emissions controls, safety equipment, and stitching in the seats, but making it look & feel like a Camry. Eventually that a line of cheap cars will develop a reputation for being an overpriced junky deathtraps, and no amount of marketing will hide that.

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

#208

Post by TheCoelacanth »

SomeOtherThrow wrote: post #137
spzb wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's way less of an exciting headline, though. The company is the only way to realize the value of a brand, and if the company is still doing fine today, it considerably weakens the lessons here: it's apparently not even that bad in the worst case scenario.

They did manage to salvage the company, but they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. It was an absolute disaster for them.

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

#209

Post by celticmusic »

ceejayoz wrote: post #111
JackFr wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/john-olive... I loved John Oliver on the Daily Show, but I find Last Week Tonight formulaic and dull. It's the identical shtick every week with a different topic to be outraged over.

It's almost like there are multiple topics worthy of outrage in the world. It's an educational/advocacy show with a veneer of comedy.

Except I've seen him do shows on topics I'm more aware of and realized that he doesn't treat them completely fairly.

It's like Michael Moore. He's obviously too biased to have a fair view.

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

#210

Post by isostatic »

avip wrote: post #203
isostatic wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite possible for Europe to charge landing fees based on ghg emissions for all planes arriving/departing.

I’m all for charging fees (especially when the chargee is not me), but fees don’t put CO2 back in the ground.

The point is they act as a deterrent. The money raised can be used to mitigate the effects of the emissions.
Post reply on HN