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Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

cnbc.com

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Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#411

Post by willsmith72 »

panta wrote: post #408
willsmith72 wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the knock on them is exactly that, 20 years later they're just a file storage saas. the idea was they must be able to expand the surface area over time

I've been a paying customer since their early days. Their value, at least in my view, lies precisely in that they are just a file storage SaaS. They are focused on doing one thing and doing it well. The day this will change they'll lose me as a customer.

that's fine, to me it should be fine for companies to exist like that

but it doesn't match the archetype of a "growth" company. to the commenters talking about the share price, if you want a consistently growing stock, that's not the way to do it (not saying it's right or wrong)

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#412

Post by biinjo »

willsmith72 wrote: post #404
Sammi wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised they've been able to keep the stock price and the revenue flat given they competitive environment they've been in for many years. They've been going head to head with the cloud infrastructure hyperscalers and mobile platform owners despite just being a file storage SaaS. It's weird to me that people ever expected more of Dropbox given who they were up against.

the knock on them is exactly that, 20 years later they're just a file storage saas. the idea was they must be able to expand the surface area over time

Why. This is again thinking from solely a profit perspective and revenue for shareholders. Users don’t want extra half-assed crap just because the company can scrape a little more revenue this way.

They do one thing great apparently. I know many people that cannot be convinced to switch away from Dropbox.

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#413

Post by sandyarmstrong »

rkagerer wrote: post #366
diogenescynic wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, the product was so much better when it was minimal and focused on doing one specific thing well. I really miss what it used to be... I hate the current Dropbox and Google Drive and OneDrive are also terrible alternatives.

What you want is the simplified version of Dropbox: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/simplified-desktop-applica... Here's a screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/7g2xRJP.png It's just a non-intrusive little menu that lives on your system tray. No ads, nags, bloat or unwanted new "features" shoved onto you. It resembles their original software much more than it does the latest slop they've been pushing. The context menu sh…

Wow, the list of missing features exactly matches the list of things I don't want and often behaved like pop-up ads on my desktop. Thanks!

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#415

Post by willsmith72 »

biinjo wrote: post #412
willsmith72 wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the knock on them is exactly that, 20 years later they're just a file storage saas. the idea was they must be able to expand the surface area over time

Why. This is again thinking from solely a profit perspective and revenue for shareholders. Users don’t want extra half-assed crap just because the company can scrape a little more revenue this way. They do one thing great apparently. I know many people that cannot be convinced to switch away from Dropbox.

i agree. but the parent was talking about share price. my point is exactly that "a profit perspective and revenue for shareholders" i.e. driving the share price up. if that's not the goal great, i would love if more companies took that approach. as long as employees are happy (ie their comp doesn't assume stock growth like many do), good for them

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#416

Post by throwaway219450 »

postalcoder wrote: post #19

I think I've spent more on dropbox, lifetime, than most other subscriptions (it's also the first service i thought was worth paying a subscription for). I still pay for it. Drew built a great service. On the other hand, I can't think of a single new feature they've introduced since 2011 that matters. All I care about is packrat and good syncing. Is there anybody that loves anything they've built in the last fifteen y…

In 2016 they introduced document scanning, and I've used that a lot to digitize old papers, lecture notes, all kinds of things. It works well and has a good UI for tweaking corner locations and other things.

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#417

Post by hackyhacky »

teiferer wrote: post #369
hcurtiss wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not so sure that global population growth tells the right story vis-à-vis declining birth rates in western countries.

As long as everybody is nationalist (not to say racist) and keeps borders closed to protect the homeland, those differences matter. Realizing that one thing people get worked up about (immigration) is a solution to the other thing they get worked up about (not enough kids!!1) would be a great insight.

Yes, but no one is really complaining about "not enough kids." They are complaining about not enough kids of their preferred skin tone. So they see immigration as an exacerbation.

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#418

Post by blks »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #303
blks wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the current economic system, if capital is not growing, it’s reducing.

Can you explain this further? For example, if the market cap is $6B and has been for years, how is that reducing?

Inflation, plus if you’re not trying to grow your market share, competition will be taking it away from you.

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#419

Post by harpiaharpyja »

4er_transform wrote: post #379
jlarks32 wrote: post #279

I was lucky enough to work at Dropbox for a bit. Awesome engineering culture and such good people. Got to even grab a beer and rip karaoke with Drew. Thanks for creating such an awesome working environment Drew. I cannot say thank you enough for those memories or that experience. By far the best CEO and leader I've seen.

[flagged]

As a customer of DropBox since ~2011 I would say they've been an outstanding success.

Maybe it's time we redefine what success means.

Re: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down

#420

Post by postalcoder »

al_borland wrote: post #367
postalcoder wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a lot to be said for staying small and doing one thing really, really well. Man. 1Password is another example of this. They've chased growth and no longer seem to be able to build a browser extension that actually works. I've been seriously considering dropping 1PW because of it.

Funny you bring it up. I was a 1Password user for 18 years and just migrated off it last month when they announced the price hike. It has only been working 50% of the time, and the lack of a reliable auto-fill is a security risk… yet they are raising the price so all their Avenger backers can get a return on their investment. A bunch of movie stars investing in a password manager feels like a huge red flag to me. I e…

I've been side-eyeing a transition to Apple's password manager and it's helpful to know that you have done so with little pain. I may try it soon.
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