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1. Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:52:22 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

   I've been thinking about The Internet and The Economy over the last 50 years and I keep coming up against this idea that makes me want to scream.

   Our entire economic system is built around this idea that a small, sustainable, profitable business is worthless, and that only a MASSIVE INTERDEPENDENT BEHEMOTH that grows larger with each passing quarter is acceptable.

   Netflix can't ever lose any customers, ever, because they are operating at a scale where their debts are ridiculously high, and the only thing keeping them afloat is the fact that they show Growth quarter over quarter over quarter.

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:52:29 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     I'm watching this Silicon Valley show on HBO, and I keep getting slapped in the face by this idea that, if you're not operating at scale you might as well not bother.

     These companies aren't bootstrapping themselves, they're taking $100M checks at $5B valuations.

     No company is worth $5B unless it is inescapably large.

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:52:30 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     A small thing that exists and sustains and pays it's workers a living wage but doesn't look to expand and consume and control the world is somehow Bad.

     Fuck that.

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:54:05 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     No company should be inescapably large.

     Build a small thing that works and pays it's workers well and can survive forever.

     Scale linearly, if at all.

     Anything else is garbage.

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   • Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:56:00 UTC Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅

     in reply to

     • Digital Mark λ 📚 🕹 💾 🥃
     @mdhughes @ajroach42 oh no muh second-order derivative
     
     But the thing is, that second-order derivative is probably what determines their value to investors.
     
     Not that I'm defending that or anything.
   • Digital Mark λ 📚 🕹 💾 🥃 (mdhughes@appdot.net)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 14:56:01 UTC Digital Mark λ 📚 🕹 💾 🥃

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 The "funniest" part with the Netflix situation is, they still gained 2.5M subscribers. But that's less than last year, and they had more people switching it off than usual. OH NO. END OF THE WORLD.

   • Xenofact :jrbd: (revxenofact@dobbs.town)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 17:24:02 UTC Xenofact :jrbd:

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 I work in management and can agree.

     Large orgs that do survive with happy people? I find they're really a collection of small orgs bolted together. They're also rare.

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   • Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 17:27:03 UTC Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅

     in reply to

     • Xenofact :jrbd:
     @RevXenoFact @ajroach42 I like how Mårten Mikkos and Richard Branson both figure that when a company reaches a certain size, and what that size is depends on what business the company is in, the company shouldn't be allowed to grow any further as a company, but should instead have something spun off.
   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Apr-2022 17:27:37 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     The reason for this, of course, is as Pickety says "R>G"

     Returns on Capital are greater than Economic Growth. Having money makes money faster than making money.

     Marx looked at the same trends and called it the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to fall.

     We're about to find out what happens when that inverts. Returns on Capital are slowing, and either economic activity will stop as a result, and people will starve, or people will fight.

     It's going to be an interesting few years.

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   • Chrisshy Keygen (rgegriff@hackers.town)'s status on Friday, 22-Apr-2022 00:57:10 UTC Chrisshy Keygen

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 My goals are that company Panic. They are a small Mac shop that make a handful of very very useful tools, and they sell them at a fair price. What improvement work they do is mostly just bug fixes and keeping up with new OS and hardware changes.

     They generate enough money from that to pay everyone; they have enough free time left over that they get to do things like design and release the Playdate, and publish games like Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game

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   • Boba (tapiocapearl@mastodon.art)'s status on Friday, 22-Apr-2022 00:57:19 UTC Boba

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 I remember reading about a small family-owned traditional snack shop in Japan that has been operating for like 1000 years and when asked how they've maintained such a long-lasting business they basically said "We make enough money for the family to live comfortably and we never tried to do more than that. People still like the snacks we make so we just keep making them."

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   • tim (tim@society.ishygddt.xyz)'s status on Saturday, 23-Apr-2022 03:31:35 UTC tim

     in reply to

     • James
     @ajroach42 @james https://longnow.org/ideas/02020/10/21/the-data-of-long-lived-institutions/
     > 90% of the companies that are over 200 years old have 300 employees or less
     
     Not every company should scale. Some should last.
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   • Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 23-Apr-2022 03:32:20 UTC Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅

     in reply to

     • tim
     > the length of [Fortune 500 companies'] lives [at this point] is shrinking at almost one year per year
     
     Woah.
     
     @tim @ajroach42