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

thehustle.co

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

#241

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

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…

TIL. I remember seeing incredibly rudely worded Ryanair signs at an airport. That was the final straw to make me not consider the airline for future flights. I am fine with cost-cutting, but rudeness does not save money.

Ironically, I was extremely happy with everything after baggage drop-off. The flight itself was no worse than any other airline, in my eyes (I don't consider ads to meaningfully worsen a flight). The airport (Hahn, serving almost only Ryanair back then) was amazing, with super-friendly airport (not airline!) staff and short walking distances.

But their atrocious web site (AFAIK checking in required you to concatenate two random values and enter them in one form field, in the one working flow out of the 3-4 that were offered) and their outright, aggressive rudeness left a much stronger permanent impression than the (probably low) price, the two-hour bus ride to the middle-of-nowhere airport, or the flight itself.

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

#242

Post by AmericanChopper »

komali2 wrote: post #164
seem_2211 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I feel the argument but I think I would need different examples to better understand. There are reasons for owning a watch other than "tell the time," which could include "tell the time accurately without ever needing to change batteries," or "tell the time and date," or "tell the time while scuba diving." Rolex may be overkill but different watches serve different roles, and it's not just brand name alone that makes…

> Rolex may be overkill but different watches serve different roles

A Casio is going to tell the time better than a Rolex. Quartz watches are much more precise, and they’re powered by batteries, so last much longer without any maintenance. Rolex is simply in the segment of high quality, hand made mechanical watches. A segment people like for reasons other than its precision in keeping time.

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

#243

Post by sprafa »

isostatic wrote: post #154
fortran77 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They don’t fly to london? I live in London and I fly Ryanair from london Stansted all the time

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

#244

Post by sprafa »

7952 wrote: post #180
jdietrich wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't serve that route, but they do fly from three airports in London (Gatwick, Stansted and Luton) and from Brussels. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/cheap-flight-destinations

None of those airports are actually in London.

Lol wtf? Only one airport is “in” london and that’s London City. Which is an expensive thing mostly made for bankers to go to Frankfurt etc. I assure you all those airports serve London. I live here

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

#245

Post by Gibbon1 »

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…

> Costume jewellery, designer clothes, some kinds of art, all derive their value from the story the creators tell.

As a young lady my GF used to sell her handmade costume Jewelry on the street in New York. She said the key to selling was a card with a story. That was the difference between selling a brooch made of glass, brass and random bits held together with glue for $10-20 and not selling at all.

Things are different with utility items. I remember a retailer (my brain won't cough up the name, but every man over 40 would recognize them). He said his brand was, well made spiffy but not too spiffy men's clothes. His profit margin depended an a working age man being able to go in, buy a couple of shirts, pants, and a coat knowing he wouldn't look like a dork when he wore them to work.

I feel like that's Apple products too.

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

#247

Post by sprafa »

crispyporkbites wrote: post #179
andrepd wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do, to Stanstead and Luton.

Stanstead and Luton are 30-40 miles from London

You have no idea what you’re talking about and you’re embarrassing yourself. Going to those airports is piss easy and they are 2 of the 4 airports that serve this city.

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

#248

Post by cryptozeus »

Kudos to the guy for bouncing back though !!

“After losing everything, he toiled in misery for years — but he eventually made an improbable comeback. In 1997, he took out a £155k (US$203k) loan on his house, built up a health club business, and sold it for £3.9m (US$5.1m). He then used the profits to start an online jewelry company. (The Ratners Group rebranded as Signet in 1993; today, it is the largest diamond retailer in the world.)”

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

#249

Post by dhyft »

Angostura wrote: post #202
notahacker wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They already know the deal when they buy.

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

#250

Post by sprafa »

isostatic wrote: post #195
georgiecasey wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you're saying stansted and gatwick aren't really in london, then neither is heathrow. it's a small list of airlines that fly to/from london city airport

Heathrow is in the London borough of Hillingdon, in TFL zone 6 on the underground, and served by London buses 24/7

You’re having a laugh. Living in east london I can get to Stansted far faster than Heathrow or Gatwick.
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