Live data from Hacker News

FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

rubenugarte.com

61–70 of 90 posts

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#61
I think FOMO is a great strategy instead.

The point is FOMO-ing first, that is not in envy or in fear of missing out what other people are doing, but FOMO-ing because you see something in Nature or the structure of the marketplace (or both) which is an untapped opportunity.

Big tech is not FOMO-ing enough against Nature nor the Market. Each of the big tech companies have lost the willingness to put distance between themsevles and other big tech companies, maybe they are afraid of D.C. the DOJ and the whole Sherman Anti trust but at some point you have to be willing to go Super Nova just to experience what it feels like.

Google and Meta could be the ones to actually go and decide to go Super Nova, that's because of the double class shares which enables Page , Brin and Zuckerberg to call the shots without having to answer to investors who are clearly opposed to the concept of going Super Nova because it throws instability in their portfolios.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.

The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

Except much of it is in places that are relatively hard to access, have no amenities, have exceptionally harsh weather, and may not have sufficient water to sustain a population. It's also stuck in the catch-22 of no jobs, no houses.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.

The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

> The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

The vast majority of that land is not where people want to live. Building houses there won't change that.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#64
post #49
post #45

The other side of FOMO is appearing as the US transitions to a shortage economy, like the former Soviet Union. It used to be that if something was popular, more of it would be made, and then the price would go down. Now, if something is popular, the seller is likely to restrict the supply to push the price and margins up. Buy now, while you still can. Cars. Houses. AWS S3 space. Meta's VR headgear. Meat. Most of the…

I can just go buy a meta headset on their store, it's been that way a while I dunno if I would say there's a shortage there lol Other headsets are more difficult to buy yea but the meta one is very much available

Meta recently announced a $100 price increase. So they are able to increase prices without lowered supply. It's not entirely clear why but fits the pattern of popular -> price goes up.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like cars -- and especially houses -- are in a different category than some random piece of hardware or a bit of server space, though. With limited exceptions, no one is making more land. So there's a hard limit on the supply of cars and houses, at least until we manage to cover Mars in shopping malls and billboards.

The United States has a nearly infinite amount of unoccupied land. What's required is the political and social will to incentivize people to build.

And when the typical voter who owns their own home votes in their best interest, they vote NIMBY. If you incentivize scarcity, scarcity is what you will get.

Change needs to come from above the system, not within.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#66
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can just go buy a meta headset on their store, it's been that way a while I dunno if I would say there's a shortage there lol Other headsets are more difficult to buy yea but the meta one is very much available

Meta recently announced a $100 price increase. So they are able to increase prices without lowered supply. It's not entirely clear why but fits the pattern of popular -> price goes up.

that is not the part of the parent comment I’m taking issue with though!

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#67
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You also don’t bother explaining what canary releases are. Which is weird. Who is your intended audience with that example? Is this some imaginary audience who knows and cares about canary releases and blue-green deployment but somehow missed out on PRs and CI?

You can at least easily Google "canary release" I suppose, in a way that's going to give a clear answer vs googling "PR" or "CI" (which will likely tell you PR means public relations and CI is the symbol for a "curie"/unit of radiation).

but it would be impossible to google FOMO...

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#68
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can at least easily Google "canary release" I suppose, in a way that's going to give a clear answer vs googling "PR" or "CI" (which will likely tell you PR means public relations and CI is the symbol for a "curie"/unit of radiation).

but it would be impossible to google FOMO...

Not sure what your point is, I'm defending not spelling out things that are easy to google. FOMO and "canary release" both are, while CI/PR, not so much. In principle if you were writing something for an audience that may or may not have heard of continuous integration or pull requests, at least spelling them out makes it easier for them to look up their meanings. I don't actually think it's a big deal either way, though it's surprising how often people use abbreviations and just (incorrectly) assume others know what they mean. If you're writing on any sort of interactive platform, being around to explain them if asked is probably sufficient though.

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#69
post #45

The other side of FOMO is appearing as the US transitions to a shortage economy, like the former Soviet Union. It used to be that if something was popular, more of it would be made, and then the price would go down. Now, if something is popular, the seller is likely to restrict the supply to push the price and margins up. Buy now, while you still can. Cars. Houses. AWS S3 space. Meta's VR headgear. Meat. Most of the…

Your examples do not match what you said. The sellers aren’t restricting the supply of several of these items. Externalities are

Re: FOMO is disastrous for company strategies

#70
post #3

cough Meta cough

Definitely a good example, although you can extend it to so many. In the US if you say "tech" people suddenly scramble to you because everyone is afraid of betting against you and becoming blockbuster.

Ex: Wework is another one. Many of the big rich real estate families in NYC all were heavily invested in it. None of them wanted to be the dinosaur left behind even with a company that was claiming to be "tech" without really being tech.

Post reply on HN