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Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

arstechnica.com

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Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#31

Post by api »

spamizbad wrote: post #3

> What the legion critics of Bezos and Blue Origin miss is that the company legitimately has the goal of ultimately saving planet Earth Does it? I feel like we've seen tons of companies advertise lofty humanist goals, only to back away from them and declare "Actually we're a business and we serve our customers. It's not our job to save the world."

Asking a corporation to fix social problems is like asking the DMV to operate the space program or your local school district to build roads. Corporations are simply not "for" that. They are for production and service operation. They are not the right kind of entity, don't have the right structure, and don't have the right incentives.

Luckily corporations are not the only kind of human organization. We also have governments of various kinds and scales, international coalitions, non-profits, churches, universities, etc.

There is this weird idea that corporations are the answer to everything.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#32

Post by dionysus_jon »

imglorp wrote: post #29
dionysus_jon wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He can keep spending, that by itself won't make it a successful business.

He needs to get something in orbit, anything. Once he has a single win, he can start scoring launch contracts and competing in the launch provider market. He should end up more profitable than every provider with disposable launchers. New Glenn should be that vehicle, if they ever finish it.

I really hope they do.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#33

Post by drawkbox »

WalterBright wrote: post #27

> The problem is that by beginning his company with a focus on space tourism and flying on the very first mission himself, Bezos only plays into the hands of critics. I'd frame it as Bezos demonstrated supreme confidence in the rocket by being personally on the first manned flight.

Jeff Bezos flying with his brother Mark on the first manned flight of Blue Origin is the ultimate dogfooding event. Surprised people are so against it, it is an iterative step and was massively risky but proves out the technology.

Blue Origin will be a formidable competitor and working with ULA, JPL and NASA will be great for the space industry and new perspectives on sustainability on Earth.

ULA will be launching Amazon Kuiper satellites to start but eventually it will be Blue Origin itself. I wouldn't ever bet against Bezos. The competition is just beginning. I am glad we got a space race, competition is good.

The Blue Origin flight was extremely smooth and clean, I can't wait to see more.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#34

Post by colordrops »

simplicio wrote: post #26
whiddershins wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t almost all of his wealth in Amazon stock? Regardless, no one is wealthy enough to keep a business of this scale going just as a hobby project.

He's said he plans to sell 1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund Blue Origin. That seems like enough to keep it going, and as long as Amazon continues at or above its current share price, Bezos does appear to be wealthy enough to keep this going as a hobby project for at least a few decades.

One billion is not a lot for rocket R&D.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#35

Post by s5300 »

zippergz wrote: post #12
eplanit wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're confusing Bezos with Musk. Musk is revolutionizing the adoption of solar energy and non-petroleum vehicles, and even has a goal of liberating humanity from Earth itself. Lofty, and becoming so real. Not to mention Spacex/starlink and the implications for a truly global internet, _serious_ space travel, ... Name one thing Bezos is doing that isn't about himself. I liked his "thank you" to Amazon customers (I f…

I truly don't know how anyone can believe a word Elon Musk says at this point. I'm not saying I trust Bezos either, but Elon has burned any shred of credibility he ever had.

You realize he has lead a company to produce multiple models of the outright safest street legal scalable production automobiles ever produced across the board, right?

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#36

Post by LightG »

robertlagrant wrote: post #25
laurowyn wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is he could buy a lot of time to save the business. He's not "running out of time". The entire article just feels like: woe is the billionaire's pet project failing because it's not profitable in an unreasonably short amount of time despite plenty of cash availability if said billionaire wants to continue and achieve their original goals.

Equity in Amazon is not the same as cash.

Come on, cut it out ... I've heard this time and time and again in relation to billionaires.

It might as well be.

It doesn't take a genius to leverage equity ... and Bezos will have effective financial genius working for him.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#37

Post by nradov »

robertlagrant wrote: post #25
laurowyn wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is he could buy a lot of time to save the business. He's not "running out of time". The entire article just feels like: woe is the billionaire's pet project failing because it's not profitable in an unreasonably short amount of time despite plenty of cash availability if said billionaire wants to continue and achieve their original goals.

Equity in Amazon is not the same as cash.

Several million stock investors would beg to differ.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#38

Post by PaulHoule »

laurowyn wrote: post #9

Has he some how gone bankrupt? I can't help but feel if he wants to keep Blue Origin running, he could use a handful of the cash he has laying around one of his mansions. or one of his yachts. or his Texas launch complex. Pretty sure he could bank roll Blue Origin for decades without seeing any significant hit to his personal wealth.

It's not about the money. It's about mental focus.

Elon Musk is "all in" on making mankind an interplanetary species. He is not cruising around the world on a yacht but holing up in a cheap house in Texas.

He went at an "impossible" goal by finding specific markets for launch services and satisfying them with Dragon. Starship is a bit ahead of the market, but the success with Dragon bodes well.

Looking at the big picture I wonder if Amazon succeeded (post-2005 or so) despite Jeff Bezos instead of because of him... That is, the systems he created at the beginning might have outgrown him.

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#39

Post by anotherman554 »

fallingknife wrote: post #21
zippergz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I truly don't know how anyone can believe a word Elon Musk says at this point. I'm not saying I trust Bezos either, but Elon has burned any shred of credibility he ever had.

The government and private industry find him very credible when purchasing launch services. Wall St and private investors find him very credible when raising capital. And those people are far more credible than you, an anonymous commenter on HN.

They don't necessarily find the things Musk says on Twitter credible. It's like that famous rich guy who said the media should stop taking a different famous rich guy "literally."

Re: Despite Tuesday’s flight, Jeff Bezos is running out of time to save Blue Origin

#40

Post by comprambler »

drawkbox wrote: post #33
WalterBright wrote: post #27

> The problem is that by beginning his company with a focus on space tourism and flying on the very first mission himself, Bezos only plays into the hands of critics. I'd frame it as Bezos demonstrated supreme confidence in the rocket by being personally on the first manned flight.

Jeff Bezos flying with his brother Mark on the first manned flight of Blue Origin is the ultimate dogfooding event. Surprised people are so against it, it is an iterative step and was massively risky but proves out the technology. Blue Origin will be a formidable competitor and working with ULA, JPL and NASA will be great for the space industry and new perspectives on sustainability on Earth. ULA will be launching Am…

ULA has contracted Blue Origin for their BE-4 engine to power their Vulcan. Future heavy lift launches will fund Blue Origin for a bit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BE-4

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