Stupid Corporate Decisions

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, the Pony Express went backrupt because it was an extremely inefficient system that was losing money like crazy. They were only around for something like two or three years anyway. Though I'm sure the telegraph wires did not help.

[Dinner]

In the 1950s British Aerospace introduced the world's first jet powered passenger plane, the BA Comet. BA only got one air line to pre-order the plane and the Board of Directors were worried that there wouldn't be a mass market for such a fast but expensive airplane. Once the press heard about a few high profile (but very fixable) problems BA was having with the plane's engines the CEO of BA decided not to invest the money to mass produce the Comet. Instead they just filled the existing orders and then let the plane die.

The following year Boeing introduced the very similiar 707 Jet liner which quickly became the world's best selling passenger plane surpasing all sales of tradition prop powered aircraft.

[Kontiki]

Bill Gates helped write the code for Apple's OS, and then told Steve Jobs that he should patent protect it. Jobs declined, Gates turned around, tweaked it for IBMs, and Windows was born.

[Dinner]

Apple took it from Xerox who invented the GUI.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Turning down Madonna for a record contract.

Well if you are going to bring in music companies that turned down future stars, this thread will hit 500 in no time . EMI was like the 20th record company the Beatles went to (and if they didn't get it, they probably would have broken up).

[dudemanjack]

Re: Stupid Corporate Decisions

Originally posted by JohnT
(Note, this isn't an anger thread nor a political one. I just want us to laugh at other peoples expense.)

Have you been to McDonalds lately? They actually lost money for the first time in over 30 years last quarter... do you know why? Here's a hint:

Hamburger - 89 cents
Cheeseburger - 95 cents
Big 'n Tasty - $1 (now supplanted by the Double Cheeseburger)

So, for a mere .11 cents over their basic burger you got twice as much meat, plus lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and a sesame seed bun.

I bet they lost $.50 for every one they sold - and they sold a LOT.

Idiots. Ray Croc must be rolling in his grave. I think they should start teaching finance at Hamburger U.

What other stupid decision have you seen corporations make?

I've been at a McDonalds where a cheeseburger cost more than a double cheeseburger.

[Kontiki]

Nortel's entire business plan for the late '90s/2000 ranks right up there. "Hey, we can keep buying every nothing telco parts manufacturers for massive premiums because there's never going to be a slowdown in the demand for our products and services. Hell, our stock is probably going to hit $200 soon..."

You especially have to like their $8 billion acquisition of Alteon Websystems in 2000, which was written down to ZERO by the second quarter of 2001.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kirnwaffen
Sale of QDOS to Microsoft for approximately $25,000.

This is the one that tops them all, IMO.

Gates built his company on the stupidity of others. That's such an incredible foundation that it made the company virtually unstoppable.

[Dom Pedro II]

I find most success is built on the stupidity of others.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Kirnwaffen
Sale of QDOS to Microsoft for approximately $25,000.

Actually, it was $50k, plus a position in the company, plus tons of stock in the 1984 IPO (or was it 86?). The idea that Tim Paterson got screwed by Microsoft is not held by the man himself:

"Seattle Computer licensed MS as a sales agent fo QDOS, which we had then renamed SC 86-DOS. Meanwhile, SCP decided to quit trying to sell through retail stores and focus on mail order instead. I didn't agree with the strategy, so I called Paul Allen at MS and asked for a job. He said 'sure.' "

also, from the same source:

"In 1991 the Seattle Times ran a book review... of things invented locally (the Pacific NW) and it includes MS DOS. The book review attributed the invention to me and then added: "One imagines [Tim Paterson] in Pioneer Square with a tin cup, his rights long sold, being trampled by MS employees on their way to the annual meeting in the Kingdome.

I wrote a letter to the editor but got no response. Adam Woog (the author of the book) turned out to be a friend of a friend, and the piece in his book is actually quite accurate. But the book reviewer didn't seem to understand that the company gets the rights in exchange for paying its employees for their work. If that work is outstanding, the company comes up with incentives for people to stay and keep it up. Fortunately for me, my tin cup had a few stock options in it - enough for me to retire in 1998."

Source: Microsoft: Inside/Out, page 20.

[Tolls]

"Once the press heard about a few high profile (but very fixable) problems BA was having with the plane's engines the CEO of BA decided not to invest the money to mass produce the Comet. "

Not quite. They were right to ditch the Comet as it stood, since more than a simple change to the engine was required. The whole skin and skeleton needed reworking, since it was the thiness of the skin and the structure of the skeleton that caused all the fatigue problems that led to the crashes. BOAC (precursor to BA) did buy a large number of the later Comet 4s.

The Comet debacle was pure and simple de Havilland's problem, and not BOACs (who had nothing to do with selling the aircraft)...

[TheStinger]

Of course the comet still flies in the form of the nimrod maritime and reccon aircraft.

the whow comet debacle was symptomatic of the problem affecting britsh industry in the 50's 60's 70's and 80's.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Kirnwaffen
Sale of QDOS to Microsoft for approximately $25,000.

50K.

But it was just a copy of DR's CP/M...

[gunkulator]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger

But it was just a copy of DR's CP/M...

It wasn't even as good as CP/M. Speaking of which, how about Digital Research's Gary Kildall's decision to play tennis instead of meeting with IBM about putting his OS on the PC.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
This is the one that tops them all, IMO.

No, the bigger one was IBM decided to use the 8088 instead of the 8086 to cut like 50 bucks from the cost.

Originally posted by Asher
Gates built his company on the stupidity of others. That's such an incredible foundation that it made the company virtually unstoppable.

The problem is not MS didn't make mistakes, in fact, they made loads of them - Bob, Multiplan come to mind. But after they got MS-DOS as a cash cow, they could afford to make mistakes and mediocre products.