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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  928 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What's up with tech stocks?




kleinbl00  ·  928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It took Google three years to turn a profit. It took Facebook five. It took Amazon seven. It took Netflix nine. It took Tesla eighteen.

The idea that people would pay to have groceries delivered was pilloried in 2001. By 2017 it was a goddamn market segment. DHL exited the US market in 2009 because it could not profit and maintain the standards that have made it a global leader; Amazon took one look at that and said "what if we make our drivers piss in bottles."

The past 20 years are the logical conclusion of the previous 30: when your goal is to maximize shareholder value, rather than protect long-term profits in a stakeholder environment, you cease to optimize for functionality.

b_b  ·  928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I remember in like 1993 or whenever my cousin got Prodigy, and as a naive 11 year old I was like, "But what does it do?" "Ummm, you can talk to people around the world who also have Prodigy, and one day you'll be able to order groceries through it!" "That sounds dumb." I think I was right.

kleinbl00  ·  928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Alls ya gotta do is drive down the expected price for driving for a living below what the IRS will reimburse you for mileage and everything works out.