Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the World

Re:Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the ... by stcredzero on Monday February 01, 2016 @06:43PM (#11016609)

    - McDonalds is a real estate company 
    - General Electric is really a bank 
    - Harvard University is really a hedge fund 
    - Lebron James is actually an advertising spokesperson 
    
    Are the twisted examples above really how we categorize companies/celebrities?

Maybe that's not so twisted. Maybe they are how we should really categorize the above, and the common perception is just marketing/how they made their mark initially.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the ... by nemothekid on Tuesday February 02, 2016 @01:01AM (#11017854)

>and the common perception is just marketing/how they made their mark initially.

It makes no sense to categorize McDonalds as a real estate company because its cost structure, hiring policies, marketing efforts, and everything else about the company in no way reflect the components of a traditional marketing company.

If "LeBron James" was a publicly traded company and you categorized him as an advertising spokesperson, would you then take him out of the gym and have him spend 4 years pursing an MBA?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the ... by stcredzero on Tuesday February 02, 2016 @12:44PM (#11020968)

would you then take him out of the gym and have him spend 4 years pursing an MBA?

No. Neither would the shareholders. Also, he's a lot more successful than a lot of MBAs. The whole point is that maybe the preconceived notions and categorizations aren't all there is to it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the ... by _nedR on Tuesday February 02, 2016 @12:15AM (#11017729)

I think both forms of categorization are useful and insightful in their own way. If we restrict ourselves to either one form, we are simply closing our minds and restricting our understanding of the matter. Why can't models be valid and valuable at the same time?

[ Parent | on HN ]