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MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

money.cnn.com

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Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#241

Post by ec109685 »

jonknee wrote: post #37
gambiting wrote: post #33

They still keep thinking that people will eventually treat it like they do gym memberships - buy them, but ultimately not use them. But there is a certain social expectation to have a gym membership and at least pretend you are doing something about your physical fitness. I have one through work and the last time I've been to that gym was over a year ago. But I can't be bothered to go to HR and actually cancel my acc…

And a critical difference, your gym doesn't lose actual money any time you visit. They may not want everyone to visit all the time, but it doesn't drain their bank account anytime you enter the door.

If the rate of patrons went up sinficantly, it would become too crowded and folks would cancel their membership. The

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#242

Post by scarface74 »

dayofthedaleks wrote: post #239
scarface74 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t say they only have 5 or 6 movies showings at once. By turnover, I meant after you catch up on all of the movies they have now, you won’t find 20 new movies next month. Over the course of the year, they won’t have 156 movies in the theatre (52 x 3)

191 films were released by the top 10 US studios in 2015. I bet most 24-plexes screened them all, plus more.

https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-films-are-released-each-...

The best I could come up with - 93 wide release movies in 2016.

AMC does restrict the subscription service so it doesn’t cover the Fathom Events movies.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#243

Post by Reedx »

fotbr wrote: post #213
Reedx wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The data they are gathering cannot be more valuable than the cost of a movie ticket. Yeah, but they think they can get the loss low enough that it becomes feasible to overcome that with data. And it goes beyond just knowing what movies someone is watching. For example, they know the exact location and time of where people are going to be (the app requires location to work). So MoviePass can use that info to upsell…

If I run a restaurant near a theater, why would I want their data? I already know the clientele that visits the area, whether that's relatively high-end, working folks on their one-movie-night-escape a week, high school kids on date night, etc. I can already trivially find show (and run-) times from the theater and plan to stay open later or otherwise staff accordingly. I can advertise, in the theater even, for not a…

Oh, I didn't mean that they'd sell the data. But that MoviePass would use it themselves to generate more revenue from their users.

Instead of just movie tickets, they'll combine it with other things. Dinner and a movie. Movie then a ride home. Stuff like that. I think their plan is to take commissions.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#244

Post by scarface74 »

balls187 wrote: post #165
ironjunkie wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This unfortunately is probably the untold goal of 80% of startups around the Bay area that have unsustainable business models. What I find ethically borderline is that no founders will admit this, they will all pretend their goal is to make it a super successful sustainable company. As you said, the issue is that founders will usually get a moderate payout (a couple Million$), while even early employees will get almo…

The problem isn't necessarily one of ethics, it's that employees aren't able to appropriately assess a companies business strategy. 1. What is your monetization strategy? 2. What is your plan for profitability?

Honestly, as an employee, I don’t care. I won’t be persuaded to take a lower than market salary for the promise of equity. If the company does well and I make some money off of my equity, it’s s bonus. If not, I call my list of recruiters and have another job in 2 weeks to a month. I’m no special snowflake, good developers who keep their skill set current can easily get a job. I’m nowhere near the west coast but it’s been the case for me for 20 years.

My criteria for a job is the technology stack, the environment, and the money.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#245

Post by [deleted] »

ameliaquining wrote: post #240
sf_rob wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You can't charge less than the marginal cost, it doesn't make sense! The old joke is "Sure we have marginal losses, but we'll make up for it with volume!"

I assumed their plan was to have such great volume that they'd eventually be able to negotiate (larger?) bulk discounts with theater chains and thereby get their marginal profit back above zero.

[deleted]

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#246

Post by scarface74 »

LargeWu wrote: post #229
balls187 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're statement has an underlying assumption that founders are hiding things from employees. As stated above, I think its that employees aren't asking the right questions. It's like when purchasing a vehicle; it's up to the buyer to educate themselves. Savvy buyers get better deals. We'd like to think of our industry as a meritocracy; but it's still largely based on humans with monkey brains,and greed is a powerful…

You'd better believe they are absolutely hiding things. Dont believe me? Go into the CEO's office and ask about the financials, and see what they do.

I actually worked for a startup and during its last days, they had weekly meetings telling us the status. We all knew the end was coming. After we all got laid off, we took our severance, and everyone had a job in two or three weeks.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#247

Post by acct1771 »

1024core wrote: post #226
reaperducer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An emergency loan with no change to the service whatsoever? They are really having a deer in the headlights moment. Reminds me of a startup I worked with once. The goal wasn't to make a viable product. It was to make a big splash and get bought. 10 Start a product/service 20 Make a big hype and get lots of publicity 30 Get bought by some larger company that sees you as a threat/opportunity 40 Founders get big cash pa…

Unfortunately, I know of a startup that did exactly this and made out like a bandit. An acquaintance of mine started some Java/Web startup when the web and Java were just taking off (1998? 1999?). He made a lot of noise. Then he hired a top B-school alumnus to specifically get his company bought out, and promised him a large chunk (30%? I don't remember) of the company if it went for more than $X million. Well, lo an…

This is likely all too common.

After all, who's in a better position to know when someone's trying to sucker an investor?

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#248

Post by dingo_bat »

acchow wrote: post #111
legitster wrote: post #20

If I am a traditional 'tech' company - I can afford to lose money when I am investing it in my platform or technology. It's like borrowing money to invest in your assets. For MoviePass, they are losing money and passing it off to theaters - it's like borrowing money to buy more ingredients for a failing restaurant. You can't charge less than the marginal cost, it doesn't make sense! I am trying to wrap my head around…

> You can't charge less than the marginal cost, it doesn't make sense! It worked for Uber tho. And now they've raised prices in markets where they are established.

Uber offers a real, irreplaceable service though. I can walk out of my apartment and be on the way to my office in an Uber pool in 5 minutes. The cost is basically 2x of the bus ticket I'd need to buy. As far as I know this service was being offered by absolutely nobody before Uber.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#249

Post by dingo_bat »

clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

> In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food.

I think this is the standard for the world. In India, we often joke about how the theaters make the real money on the popcorn.

> None of the movies is the US are subtitled.

Yeah, and they shouldn't be. It's highly annoying.

> but I suppose this isn't really a US specific problem.

None of what you said is a US specific problem.

Re: MoviePass couldn’t afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

#250

Post by dingo_bat »

lev99 wrote: post #149
clircle wrote: post #31

My wife and I are so frustrated by the movie going experience in the US. In Taiwan, everyone is permitted to bring food and drinks to the theater and that's pretty common. In the US I'm forced to pay an absurd amount of money for awful junk food. No thanks, I want to drink tea while I watch a movie. We always have to smuggle in drinks because the theater just doesn't provide any good options. None of the movies is th…

I want movie theaters to close. I think people that do not attend movie theaters also do not mind. If they liked movie theaters they would attend. I have a small apartment with a 70 inch screen in the living room. The three movies a year Hollywood produces I am interested in can be watched from the comfort of my own home in 4k surround sound for $4.99 a few months after they arrive in theaters. I can control the volu…

> I have a small apartment with a 70 inch screen in the living room.

Some of us have just a 14inch laptop screen at home. Just because you are able to fund your movie obsession doesn't mean casual viewers don't want a good experience.

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