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A comment on The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting How to Code. Parent comment

Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by samiv on Sunday April 26, 2026 @04:38AM (#47908550)
Why would anyone have a sight longer than a quarter? I mean how does long term thinking help the execs get their compensation this quarter? Sheesh..worst case scenario is that the work done now will benefit someone else when they've already left.

Also when companies grow big enough "business" becomes the main business of the company. By that I mean everything unrelated to the actual original domain, such as playing in the financial markets, doing stock buybacks, lobbying, cheating etc. When your CEO is an MBA and your real market is Wall Street any actual product RD and support is a real annoying cost that just cuts into the profits and thus into the exec compensation.

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Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by baq on Sunday April 26, 2026 @05:01AM (#47908675)
> Why would anyone have a sight longer than a quarter? I mean how does long term thinking help the execs get their compensation this quarter?

Vesting schedules, conditional grants, contractual equity ownership requirements

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Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by cucumber3732842 on Sunday April 26, 2026 @08:27AM (#47909778)
>Vesting schedules, conditional grants, contractual equity ownership requirements

In those filthy low margin industries that HN loves to regulated across the oceans out of sight out of mind capital investments have service lives measured in decades.

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Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by BoingBoomTschak on Sunday April 26, 2026 @06:47AM (#47909206)
Would be interesting to get a law that says that all positions supposed to take long-term decision should be paid with X% of their salary in (non-redeemable until Y years?) stocks.
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Re:The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting H... by derf_ on Sunday April 26, 2026 @05:09AM (#47908723)
> ...any actual product RD and support is a real annoying cost that just cuts into the profits...

Worse, it might not generate a return. If you have enough profits, you just buy anyone who successfully produced something innovative. Let them take the risks. As Cisco used to say, "Silicon Valley is our R&D lab."

It is a very difficult mindset to argue against.

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