You cant get that kind of money without being piece of shit humanbeing. You need to constantly look out for opportunities to exploit others and how could you even do that if you have any shred of empathy or decency. Not sure if they were like this from the beginning or if they became like this when they got enough money or if its influence from their family, but we will all suffer under their rule.
Honestly, Google back in the day was a great company. They were focused on putting the best product for consumer, supported open standards, kept ads at a minimum… A bit like Valve today. They really were “good guys”.
Then I’m not sure what happened, they stopped caring and left the MBAs in charge maybe.
Power corrupts people. On top of that, the capitalist machine isn’t satisfied with “just okay” performance. It’s infinite growth, or nothing. Once you hit the upper limit of what you can deliver, you start delivering the same, but with a lot of cut corners
A CEO can be good. But a CEO with public shareholders has no choice.
I’m not saying that most CEOs aren’t bastards but it’s not necessary to be in the position or compete. But when you have public shareholders they are going to demand that you take every dollar through whatever means possible.
It was a lot easier to pretend to be a good person when every moral failure you make wasn’t broadcast around the world the moment it was discovered. Case and point, look into Bill Gates more. He wasn’t always a respectful guy, got caught up in the whole “filthy communists” schtick when the government was investigating his company, advocates for more restrictive control of aid distribution favoring manufacturers more than those he’s trying to help, conflicts of interest in his charity, opposing twitters ban of Trump after the insurrection, etc.
In my opinion :
The money is MUCH more lucrative now because of data mining. That’s it. That’s the real product being sold and because it isn’t encouraging innovation for innovation’s sake, but for a bottom line or goal that almost certainly depends on features that gather ad much data as possible to sell… etc etc
Shareholders want the CEO that gets them more money. If that person doesn’t deliver, they don’t ask why, they ask when. If they don’t like the answer, they get a new CEO. Rinse repeat, here we are.
Their job is to maximize shareholder profit. That is their only and one true job as CEOs. If you want a CEO that is not evil, look for companies that are not public even though they could be.
Years ago, I was hanging out with a manager of finance and asking a few basic questions about finance. After a little while, i guess she got tired of the conversation because she handed me her old finance textbook.
Anyway, I was mostly interested in the foundational ideas of finance, not the details, so I went away and started reading the introduction. It turns out that the introduction was very short, no more than two pages. It was extremely well-written, simple, and to the point.
The foundational idea of modern finance, according to this standard textbook, is very simple and highly reductionist: the one and only goal of finance is to maximize shareholder value, and share prices are the ultimate way that goal is measured. I’ve never seen a whole discipline reduced to such stark and prosaic terms with absolutely no attempt to articulate ethics or justify it in relation to some wider public good.
Leaders in tech have to be good at raising money from rich investors, lenders, etc… Most of these people aren’t tech people. They’re hedge fund managers, bankers, or just people with lots of money. So consider the following 2 strategies:
Strategy A: Be realistic. Explain the positives and the negatives. The tech looks promising, but the future is uncertain. It’s a risky investment that could pay off massively, but it probably won’t. You the CEO know a lot about the topic, but you’re still just a guy, not a miracle worker.
Strategy B: Just focus on the plus side. It will succeed, and it’ll succeed way more than anyone expects. Not only that, you the CEO are an unstoppable hardworking galaxy brain genius who sleeps on the factory floor. They should be so lucky to get to invest in your company.
Which of these is more likely to work with investors who don’t know tech? And which is most likely to be the strategy chosen by leaders who are narcissistic and deceitful? The answer is the same.
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You cant get that kind of money without being piece of shit humanbeing. You need to constantly look out for opportunities to exploit others and how could you even do that if you have any shred of empathy or decency. Not sure if they were like this from the beginning or if they became like this when they got enough money or if its influence from their family, but we will all suffer under their rule.
You haven’t named a decent person in your post.
The Google founders are simply more secretive in their lifestyles compared to Musk. They dropped the “Don’t Be Evil” motto a long time ago.
Honestly, Google back in the day was a great company. They were focused on putting the best product for consumer, supported open standards, kept ads at a minimum… A bit like Valve today. They really were “good guys”.
Then I’m not sure what happened, they stopped caring and left the MBAs in charge maybe.
They went public, simple as that.
Bill Gates, a decent person? LMAO is OP literally a kid or something.
Americans are the most propagandized people in the world and simultaneously genuinely believe they are not propagandized, it’s incredible.
I agree. Someone already put links showing how bad Jobs and Gates were earlier in this thread.
But you see he invest 0.1% of their money to save some people in the world, sometimes. He is so generous.
Very very incorrect. He was a complete garbage pail of a human being from the very beginning.
Behind the Bastards: Part One: The Terrible Secret of Steve Jobs https://omny.fm/shows/behind-the-bastards/part-one-the-terrible-secret-of-steve-jobs
Power corrupts people. On top of that, the capitalist machine isn’t satisfied with “just okay” performance. It’s infinite growth, or nothing. Once you hit the upper limit of what you can deliver, you start delivering the same, but with a lot of cut corners
Late stage capitalism.
A CEO can be good. But a CEO with public shareholders has no choice.
I’m not saying that most CEOs aren’t bastards but it’s not necessary to be in the position or compete. But when you have public shareholders they are going to demand that you take every dollar through whatever means possible.
Tom from MySpace really is the nicest guy on this list…he was my first friend on there! 😎
It was a lot easier to pretend to be a good person when every moral failure you make wasn’t broadcast around the world the moment it was discovered. Case and point, look into Bill Gates more. He wasn’t always a respectful guy, got caught up in the whole “filthy communists” schtick when the government was investigating his company, advocates for more restrictive control of aid distribution favoring manufacturers more than those he’s trying to help, conflicts of interest in his charity, opposing twitters ban of Trump after the insurrection, etc.
In my opinion it’s pretty simple… greed
When tech isn’t controlled by the user: then the user is controlled by the dev, and power corrupts.
Some are born selfish and others are molded by our insistence you strive for money to survive.
In my opinion : The money is MUCH more lucrative now because of data mining. That’s it. That’s the real product being sold and because it isn’t encouraging innovation for innovation’s sake, but for a bottom line or goal that almost certainly depends on features that gather ad much data as possible to sell… etc etc
Shareholders want the CEO that gets them more money. If that person doesn’t deliver, they don’t ask why, they ask when. If they don’t like the answer, they get a new CEO. Rinse repeat, here we are.
Except Zuckerberg, of course. He’s just evil.
Their job is to maximize shareholder profit. That is their only and one true job as CEOs. If you want a CEO that is not evil, look for companies that are not public even though they could be.
Years ago, I was hanging out with a manager of finance and asking a few basic questions about finance. After a little while, i guess she got tired of the conversation because she handed me her old finance textbook.
Anyway, I was mostly interested in the foundational ideas of finance, not the details, so I went away and started reading the introduction. It turns out that the introduction was very short, no more than two pages. It was extremely well-written, simple, and to the point.
The foundational idea of modern finance, according to this standard textbook, is very simple and highly reductionist: the one and only goal of finance is to maximize shareholder value, and share prices are the ultimate way that goal is measured. I’ve never seen a whole discipline reduced to such stark and prosaic terms with absolutely no attempt to articulate ethics or justify it in relation to some wider public good.
Leaders in tech have to be good at raising money from rich investors, lenders, etc… Most of these people aren’t tech people. They’re hedge fund managers, bankers, or just people with lots of money. So consider the following 2 strategies:
Strategy A: Be realistic. Explain the positives and the negatives. The tech looks promising, but the future is uncertain. It’s a risky investment that could pay off massively, but it probably won’t. You the CEO know a lot about the topic, but you’re still just a guy, not a miracle worker.
Strategy B: Just focus on the plus side. It will succeed, and it’ll succeed way more than anyone expects. Not only that, you the CEO are an unstoppable hardworking galaxy brain genius who sleeps on the factory floor. They should be so lucky to get to invest in your company.
Which of these is more likely to work with investors who don’t know tech? And which is most likely to be the strategy chosen by leaders who are narcissistic and deceitful? The answer is the same.
This is okay but my post about AI is not? Same as reddit 😔.