It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.
[deleted]
Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
361–370 of 1001 posts
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#362It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.
The problem is nearly all company mergers, both big and small, are detrimental to competition... Even my local corner store merging with a corner store in the next town over is bad for suppliers (combined negotiations when buying stock), and bad for consumers (prices set the same between the two towns). I wonder what a world where company mergers were banned would look like?
I wouldn't go that far.
If instead of Adobe buying Figma, it was Adobe's biggest competitor, that would probably increase competition by making that company a more viable competitor to Adobe.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recommend using virtual credit cards for subscriptions. I just cancel the card if the account cancellation process is hostile in anyway.
Being on the receiving side of that can be very frustrating. Even though users can cancel easily and without any human interaction, they cancel their credit card which then costs us multiple months of revenue in cancellation fees.
Which is why I'd not do it to a small company with a clean cancellation process and also why it is a good thing to do it to Adobe (multiple times a day ideally).
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#364Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looking at your profile, it says you work for Google, so I assume this is in the context of google? You guys probably have the internal legal resources to advice you. If it was not in that context, ChatGPT at least suggest that this is first of all a federal fucking crime (Domestic Bribery Act seems to apply here) and you can contact the Department of Justice, the FBI or report it to the SEC which offers a whistleblo…
This sounds it might be like a hallucination. I've never heard of any "Domestic Bribery Act" and I'm unable to find one in cursory online searching. (In 18 USC there are prohibitions on bribing public officials, but that doesn't seem relevant here.)
ChatGPT is not a good place to get legal advice. Regardless, there are a variety of ways that you can get boned for accepting bribes in your capacity as an employee. In the US, the "honest services" laws have been weakened by Supreme Court action, but there are other paths to criminal prosecution.
The advice of "STFU and get the comment removed" is spot on.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#365It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.
I really think we should distinguish between people providing goods to the public, for which there is an immediate need for competition, and B2B services like Figma. Monopolization of the former can cause active harm to individuals right now. Monopolization of the latter leads to... businesses having to spend more and provides incentives for other competitors. In particular, what I think a lot of people are missing i…
Any policy that disincetivizes growth by unsustainable practices is good policy IMO. We need less companies who's end goal is getting acquired, and more that are in it to build a self sustainable business. Having employee motivation hinge on a acquisition is one of the most toxic business practices.
My general rule of thumb is that unless the company is putting you in a position where you actually get to drive, stock should be treated only as icing on the cake of an already worth while salary. (Unless it's a publicly traded company where you can reasonably assert that stock price will most likely go up or stay around the same)
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#366Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fascinating, i think you are correct. This website at least suggests that there are some other laws regarding domestic bribes: https://www.globalcompliancenews.com/anti-corruption/anti-co... But "Domestic Bribery Act" seems to be a hallucination. I have so far only encountered fake sources or links that don't exist, this kind of hallucination is new and unexpected. Thanks for making me aware of this, quite scary how…
Also FWIW, I'm in the UK and was likely dealing with a UK subsidiary of Adobe, so the laws would likely be different anyway.
The UK Bribery Act is, on paper, very strong and broad in application.
Unfortunately prosecutions under it are exceptionally rare.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#367It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.
The problem is nearly all company mergers, both big and small, are detrimental to competition... Even my local corner store merging with a corner store in the next town over is bad for suppliers (combined negotiations when buying stock), and bad for consumers (prices set the same between the two towns). I wonder what a world where company mergers were banned would look like?
How about a merger tax?
Every time a company merges, say 10% of the combined value of the new company is given to the government (perhaps with a discount if one or other of the merging companies has recently paid the merger tax).
The lack of the 10% fee for a company who didn't merge is effectively compensation for the fact it has less market control than peers in the same market who did merge.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#368Earlier quoted context omitted.
When your business has to depend on subscription engineering like this, it means the underlying product is not good enough to stand on it's own feet.
That's the worst part, the products are great. $20/month is reasonable for PS/LR considering that yearly releases were retailing for $500+ in the CS6 era. Cloud storage and generative AI credits are rolled into those costs. New features are showing up again. Regarding Photoshop, there are no real alternatives. It's not that Adobe's depending on subscription engineering, it's creative pros 100% dependent on Adobe prod…
Exactly. The downside of subscription software is that companies like Adobe become life insurance companies that produce software. Their enterprise value is defined by churn rates and there's a strong incentive to lock customers down to reduce that risk.
I work for a huge org, and we tell companies like this to go fuck off with terms like this. The real scam of Adobe is that there is no way to assess engagement rates with their tools. The only way to get this data is by metering PCs or datamining your IdP.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#369completely unexpected. wonder what this means for the long-term future of Adobe. I only see Figma growing in importance from here
That's assuming the company still has motivation to continue and improve. I can only imagine there's a lingering feeling of dejection at Figma right now.
Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger
#370Excellent news. I think there should be more products, more companies, and more competition. Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers. See also, "Adobe says the FTC is looking into its subscription cancellation practices." https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003532/adobe-says-the-...
> Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers.
I can't tell if this is a general statement about monopolies or a statement about Adobe's products.