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

Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

joanwestenberg.medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 313 posts

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#21

Post by pegasus »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #13

But the universe is growing. OMG THE UNIVERSE IS A CANCER!

Could you say that the only purpose of the universe is to grow? Not at all - so the analogy wouldn't apply. As someone else said above, this actually is more relevant to publicly traded companies, which by law have an obligation to maximize shareholder value - or even more precisely, to the ethos that greed should be welcomed because it will lead to wealth and well-being for all. Sure, there's more nuance to it, so it's not a perfect analogy (no analogy is) but there's definitely some relevance to the comparison.

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#23

Post by phkahler »

simon_000666 wrote: post #7

I'm not the biggest fan of this analogy. I find it reductionist to the point it loses it's meaning. Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones. The problem with cancerous cells is that the body stops recycling them and so then they grow unchecked. Modern companies are more like sk…

>> Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones.

That's growth at a replacement rate. Cancer grows at the expense of, and with no regard for the cells around it.

Any investor with an "exit strategy" is similarly looking to exploit, not sustain.

That's not to say all growth is bad. People grow to adulthood. Similarly there is a natural size for a company. Beyond that growth is harmful.

Edit: replacement to avoid obsolescence is what engineering or product development does. Growth at companies is monitored by finance. Skin cells... Cancer.

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#25

Post by the_cramer »

HenryKissinger wrote: post #8
sunstone wrote: post #3

To push the metaphor a bit further isn't humanity itself a kind of cancer of the earth?

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive…

To this day I don't see how this "revelation" had an impact on anything. It's certainly interesting and I think it's inherently true (we're based of the same biology) but it doesn't change anything. Agent Smith certainly was the most high-tech philosoph...

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#26

Post by mfer »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #11
simon_000666 wrote: post #7

I'm not the biggest fan of this analogy. I find it reductionist to the point it loses it's meaning. Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones. The problem with cancerous cells is that the body stops recycling them and so then they grow unchecked. Modern companies are more like sk…

Yes – until you bring the stock market and investors into the picture. Oftentimes, companies will have a legal obligation to their stockholders to (attempt to) maximise profit…

Are you suggesting that the stock market and investors are carcinogens?

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#27

Post by RivieraKid »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #11
simon_000666 wrote: post #7

I'm not the biggest fan of this analogy. I find it reductionist to the point it loses it's meaning. Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones. The problem with cancerous cells is that the body stops recycling them and so then they grow unchecked. Modern companies are more like sk…

Yes – until you bring the stock market and investors into the picture. Oftentimes, companies will have a legal obligation to their stockholders to (attempt to) maximise profit…

Maximizing profit is a good thing.

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#28

Post by the-dude »

coldtea wrote: post #15
simon_000666 wrote: post #7

I'm not the biggest fan of this analogy. I find it reductionist to the point it loses it's meaning. Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones. The problem with cancerous cells is that the body stops recycling them and so then they grow unchecked. Modern companies are more like sk…

> I find it reductionist to the point it loses it's meaning. Actually the whole human body is constantly growing, not just cancers. I'm am growing new skin cells as we speak, approximately every x3 weeks I shed old skin cells so need new ones. That objection is already covered in the very title used by HN (" If the purpose of a company is merely growth"). It's also covered extensively in the article. And your counter…

I can assure you there are plenty of people growing well beyond their first 2 decades.

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#29

Post by valvar »

odopodo wrote: post #22
sunstone wrote: post #3

To push the metaphor a bit further isn't humanity itself a kind of cancer of the earth?

Not humanity, but capitalism. This need of constant growth is a phenomenon most other economic systems don't have.

How do these other economic systems you speak of ensure that reproduction remains below replacement levels?

Re: Businesses should try to be the best, not the biggest

#30

Post by pulse7 »

lnsru wrote: post #16

There are 2 states in the forest: growing trees and rotting trees. Nothing in between. So this cancer analogy is a bit absurd. The same with business: business is growing or dying, I am not buying “we don’t want grow” argument.

Please look at this list of the oldest companies in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies

They are still operating, but they didn't grow. Even trees in the forest don't grow indefinitely...

Post reply on HN