I like Yubico but to me going public via a SPAC is a huge red flag.
Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
181–190 of 222 posts
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
The keys in our phone and our computers are going to handle a majority of the use cases that currently rely on yubico. We use them at work, but they aren't fundamentally more secure than the what's built into the computer.
Right, but you still “need” a pair of Yubikeys to secure the iCloud account that holds your Passkey credentials. So you’d use the Yubikeys less in day-to-day auth situations, but you still need to buy them.
That or another iCloud device. If you have a couple, that can be your security backup (afaik).
I do think the calculus changes for yubikey. Without built in security keys, every knowledge worker on earth should have a yubikey like thing, so their market is huge. With built in device security, then the keys might not be deployed at the same rate.
It's a good point though. I also think companies (at least mine) like having full control over the yubikey experience whereas the way apple manages the secure enclave is more obtuse.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Index ETFs have been around for 15+ years now, and the advice is widely known that if you are an uneducated investor without inside information or some type of edge, you should stick to sub 0.15% expense ratio index funds. It is so easy nowadays that all you have to do is figure out the year you want to retire and buy that year’s target date fund and forget about it. If people want to gamble, then that is their probl…
I'm not sure what your argument is. Sophisticated investors don't invest in obvious scams. That's tautologically true. Does that mean we should just watch and do nothing while people get scammed? The thing is, nobody is born sophisticated and there are many ways to get hurt in financial markets in the absence of scams even if you're intelligent and do your homework. You mention index trackers, but they are no silver…
Does it help if we re-frame SPACs as a mechanism for transferring wealth from rich idiots to startup founders?
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#184I have an irrational concern about using security products from a company post-merger or acquisition. It has never ended well for me as an anecdotal user. Going public is taking that worry even further. Make keys, sell keys. The end. What's there to raise funding for? Build yet another password vault?
> I have an irrational concern about using security products from a company post-merger or acquisition. It has never ended well for me as an anecdotal user. Going public is taking that worry even further. I wouldn't call that an irrational concern, since it's in fact pretty rational. Stock market investors demonstrability do not value computer security over financial performance, and once they control a company, its…
I mostly agree with your point but I would say the exception is when the success of the company is closely tied to their security practices or their security features are their business. Okta being a good example, when it took a 10% drop after the breach last year.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#185The problem with going public is that performance is now measured quarterly. This incentivizes mortgaging the long-term health of the company for short-term gains. Brand loyalty and trust become assets that can be profitably liquidated by diluting the quality of products and services. By the time customers catch on and the company falters, the investors/owners that profited financially, and managers that profited on…
This is the zeitgeist, i get it- corpos bad. But it is such a simplified cliché to buy into so wholly. Public companies are capable of long term planning. Quarterly reviews do enforce efficiency. What you've seen play out again and again is good corporate governance from public companies, you just don't notice it and more's the pity.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact this is not only legal, but common practice baffles me ...
I mean a few years back I was told by my accountant that I made too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA, but it was 100% kosher to open a traditional IRA and immediately convert it to a Roth IRA. The fact that this was legal also baffles me.
When you convert your traditional IRA to a Roth you immediately owe taxes on the amount. Then, presumably, due to your income, you can no longer contribute to it. Makes sense to me.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#187The problem with going public is that performance is now measured quarterly. This incentivizes mortgaging the long-term health of the company for short-term gains. Brand loyalty and trust become assets that can be profitably liquidated by diluting the quality of products and services. By the time customers catch on and the company falters, the investors/owners that profited financially, and managers that profited on…
> incentivizes mortgaging the long-term health of the company for short-term gains
Private company Boards can be more ruthless than public companies’. (Historically, this was the norm.) Much of tech’s myth of quarterly metrics and short-term planning in public companies comes from unfamiliarity, not fact.
The last years of public tech companies had zero discipline. Everything was long term. Right now, Apple’s investors are fine with decades-long secret plays while oil and gas companies have short-term investors. Managing your shareholder base is part of managing a large company, public or private, and as with so many thing comes down to the people involved more than any heuristic.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lots of companies found greater success post-IPO. Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft (especially recently), Nintendo, Tesla, etc. The IPO is a statement to investors that the company believes it will grow bigger and seeks public market funds to accelerate growth. That doesn't always happen. Some companies and investors see the IPO as merely a liquidity event, which is the wrong perspective to take. SPACs were clearly…
As the other commenter noted, I’m talking about value to the customer rather than value to the company. WRT your list, I would only claim Apple as a clear success in this regard. (I don’t particularly like Apple myself, but Apple does seem to be giving customers more of what they actually want.) Microsoft - Ruining Windows to extract more value from customers. Facebook - hardly anything even needs to be said here. Go…
You give Apple too much credit. The original Apple I and Apple II were a hacker's delight. They went public in 1980 and the Apple /// was a failure. Then came the closed architecture of the Macintosh. Ever since Apple has been known as the company least friendly to hackers.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#189The problem with going public is that performance is now measured quarterly. This incentivizes mortgaging the long-term health of the company for short-term gains. Brand loyalty and trust become assets that can be profitably liquidated by diluting the quality of products and services. By the time customers catch on and the company falters, the investors/owners that profited financially, and managers that profited on…
This is the zeitgeist, i get it- corpos bad. But it is such a simplified cliché to buy into so wholly. Public companies are capable of long term planning. Quarterly reviews do enforce efficiency. What you've seen play out again and again is good corporate governance from public companies, you just don't notice it and more's the pity.
You put words in my mouth (corpos bad) and then said it’s oversimplified. It is over simplified, but you over simplified it, not me.
Re: Yubico is merging with ACQ Bure and intends to go public
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean a few years back I was told by my accountant that I made too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA, but it was 100% kosher to open a traditional IRA and immediately convert it to a Roth IRA. The fact that this was legal also baffles me.
When you convert your traditional IRA to a Roth you immediately owe taxes on the amount. Then, presumably, due to your income, you can no longer contribute to it. Makes sense to me.
It was a while ago, but IIRC you only owe taxes on the pre-tax contributions (which, in this case was $0). But I couldn't make a post-tax contribution directly to a Roth, just a post-tax contribution to a traditional, then convert...
[edit]
Some googling[1] implies my memory was mostly correct.
1: https://www.investopedia.com/roth-ira-conversion-rules-47704... See particularly the part about "backdoor