Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Short term CEOs

One of the things I have noticed about IPOed companies (companies with stock options) are that they all become short term driven within 3 years. Strong companies that stand the test of time don't think short term, they think things over for the long haul. Unfortunately I have also seen these large companies succum to the short term stratagy when things look bleek or the excutives become either greedy or afraid of their stock holders.


I first noticed this years ago when there was a commercial for a finance company that was investing into a pickle company and they thought it was a good reason to invest because the VP of the pickle company had the great idea of putting in one less pickle per jar which saved the company millions over all. "It is that forward thinking we look for in companies to invest in!" My god, I am no stock trader millionare but come on! You are literally screwing all your customer to save a buck. Sure on paper, it sounds good, make less, sell more but you are pissing off your customers! Who would want to buy from a company that is knowingly screwing you over to make more money. The problem is, everyone is doing it now.

Granola bars used to come in a package of 6, not they mostly have 5. The box is still the same size however. fruits and vegiatbles are larger but they have less nutrients. (studies show that brocolli from 30 years ago had 10x more nutrients than today's brands, even the organic ones!) Even potato chips and icecream bars have more air in the container than actual food! This needs to stop, now.

Sure you will sell more products because people will have to buy more to get the same amount but down the line, but you are sacrificing brand loyalty and they will just by less from you and more from someone else, or just less overall.

The stock holders want more money, but they are also the consumers, if you tell them you are giving less pickles, sure they would buy more stock but they would also buy less pickles...

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