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A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

thehustle.co

271–280 of 499 posts

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lululemon is genius, their quality is great, but the branding is even better! They revolutionized the exercise wear industry, were single-handedly responsible for "athleisure" and killing denim sales!

and maybe it's true that some styles of clothing are "not for everyone"

I mean when I read the comments I rolled my eyes because clearly not all clothes are made and designed for every single human configuration out there.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lululemon is genius, their quality is great, but the branding is even better! They revolutionized the exercise wear industry, were single-handedly responsible for "athleisure" and killing denim sales!

and maybe it's true that some styles of clothing are "not for everyone"

Yes, especially for those who can't spend $100+ on yoga pants.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#273

The modern examples cited weren't nearly as bad: - Lulumon didn't seem to be hurt by Chip Wilson. In fact, the "notoriety" made me aware they they sold men's clothes, too, and I went there and bought some great athletic wear. - Many customers appreciated Barclays' warning not to "pile up debts." That would give me a favorable opinion of a company that offers lines of credit, not a bad one.

> The modern examples cited weren't nearly as bad

True.

Nowadays, it only takes one tweet to absolutely tank someone's reputation, let alone lose his or her job.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#274
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He carefully cultivates the image of a man who utterly despises his own customers, but is far too miserly to allow an aircraft to crash. That image will keep them going right up until they have a fatal crash, at which point the press, the government, and victims’ attorneys will use every word he has ever said about being cheap to crucify him and the company. Given their volume of flights, a fatal crash is statistical…

Why would Ryanair ever have a crash? Their airplanes are usually quite new. The EU hasn’t had an accidental plane crash in ages. Have you ever flown Ryanair?

Hang on, the EU has had heaps from small (the Piper that went down over the Alps yesterday and the plane carrying Emiliano Sala come to mind) to large (Air France 447).

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#275

Kudos to the guy for bouncing back though !! “After losing everything, he toiled in misery for years — but he eventually made an improbable comeback. In 1997, he took out a £155k (US$203k) loan on his house, built up a health club business, and sold it for £3.9m (US$5.1m). He then used the profits to start an online jewelry company. (The Ratners Group rebranded as Signet in 1993; today, it is the largest diamond reta…

While he made a successful comeback (however far from his first success), saying he toiled in misery for years is a little bit exagerated. Indeed, he was still the owner of a house (and probably of other goods). And this house was big enough to have a value probably equal to a today million dollars. That's not what I call to be toiled in misery.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and maybe it's true that some styles of clothing are "not for everyone"

I mean when I read the comments I rolled my eyes because clearly not all clothes are made and designed for every single human configuration out there.

> Human configuration

Your engineer is showing

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#277

> so why did he do it? This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer.

> This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer.

He called his company's product "crap" at a 6,000-person event. That seemed pretty straight forward to me.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#278
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No eventually it would flip - it happens all the time. It's just this time the boss of the company laid down the final piece so it sticks in the mind

The re-branded company he was forced out of is now the largest diamond retailer in the world- so I'd say that the problem was him and his mouth, not an inevitable flip in fortune.

It's also possible he wasn't a real problem, but when his remarks caused a temporary (big) problem for the company, other stakeholders saw the opportunity to take control.

There's probably a counterfactual universe where he remained in his position, he learned a valuable lesson on keeping his mouth shut in public, and the company re-branded and recovered on a similar trajectory.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#279
post #230
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the issues I'm aware of: Ryanair pay their staff poorly. And that is not cheap enough, so they also employ them under employment law from "cheap countries", to try and circumvent income taxes and other charges of the local countries they service. Ryanair demand subsidies from local governments to fly to far-flung airports. They can hold these governments hostage, as often the airports fail if they stop their se…

Can you explain more about how Ryanair refusing to fly to far-flung airports without a subsidy is an externality?

Someone else is paying for something they are using. Better still:they're getting paid to use it.

Of course, nobody is twisting the arm of these politicians. But the fact remains that Ryanair is exploiting this weakness to avoid paying themselves.

Type "Ryanair airport subsidies" in google and have a look at the first couple of titles. It's a mess that has been going on for 10 years now and is only now slowly being called a halt to.

https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/24-ryanair-airpor...

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#280
post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other budget airlines with few customer perks like southwest have survived crashes with a less stellar safety record. True, but Southwest does not have a CEO that openly flaunts their being cheap either. They've never had a major crash in almost 35 years. I once won 15 hands of blackjack in a row, but then I lost a hand. Even the most expensive airlines eventually have fatal incidents, and it would be statistically i…

You’re making no sense. You’re saying Ryanair has an impeccable safety record, but so does every other airline, but when Ryanair gets a crash, people will assume it’s because it’s cheap? So your entire argument is people are dumb and they will make unwarranted associations. Brilliant

I didn’t say they have an impeccable safety record. I said that even if they did have one at the time of whatever fatal incident they have in the future, they are engaged in a business where they are statistically likely to eventually have a crash.

My argument is that it is idiotic for a CEO in such an industry to make comments about being cheap. It leaves the door open for people to place blame when an accident occurs. It’s like talking to the police if they want to interrogate you. It can’t help, but it can hurt. Why would you risk it?

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