Hacker News Reader

Comment by tomalaci | Hacker News Reader

I think big reason Valve is so good is because they are a private company and that allows non-traditional management style.

Unlike certain public companies that bring in executives that perform spectacularly bad decisions (cough, cough, Unity).

View on HN

I think this is part of the equation, no investors means enshittification hasn't come knocking.

But there also seems to be an element of vision at Valve that's been allowed to flourish. Where other companies would produce an MVP and walk away if there's not enough money being made, Valve seems to have consistent enough resources and vision to dedicate itself to long term research, development, and planning. In a sea of public companies that are always getting greedier, Valve appears to have made the open source world and maybe the world at large a better place.

Having the leeway to dedicate itself to long term R&D&P, regardless of vision and resources, is also an effect of no investors demanding quarterly profits.

Long term thinking is basically impossible for publicly-funded companies.

Absolutely. But, just because it's impossible for publicly traded companies doesn't mean a private company can't chase the short term. Private companies don't necessarily behave like Valve is by default. So, I'm also praising them for choosing to take the risk on and invest in the long term.

I'm incredibly fearful of the day Valve's leadership changes at some point. They really are one of the few bigger players (heh) in the gaming industry that's not driven by corporate greed.

There have been a couple of interviews with Gabe and the company, and the guy that's "next in line" really seems just as fit and right as Gabe. No worries.

Who? Do you have any links?

Private and they didn’t just grow for the sake of market cap or “because they can” until it’s a unwieldy behemoth

Parallels to Craigslist. Lots of value, profitable, not beholden to the ghouls who would squeeze everything good out for every last dividend or share buyback.

I completely agree. Enshitification eventually becomes mandatory IF you are a publicly traded company. Because the law forces you to try for "line goes up".

A private company though, like a 500 year old vineyard in Tuscany, can just do what it does, make profit, maybe not, and be satisfied that it makes enough money to keep the people there employed for the long term so they can maximize their craft. Great products are the natural result of that nurturing and revenue tends to follow great products.

This is my thought process too. But at the same time this doesn't answer how CD Projekt, a public company, can own and operate GOG.com, which is even more consumer friendly than Steam.

Somewhat relevant: Chet Faliszek (ex-Valve) is currently posting videos about how the flat hierarchy works:

https://www.tiktok.com/@chetfaliszek/video/72814172402960335...

https://www.tiktok.com/@chetfaliszek/video/72814409728508593...

https://www.tiktok.com/@chetfaliszek/video/72814159128240653...

The influence of Wall Street and Private Equity firms play a large role in enshittification. Private ownership might be the strongest protection against it for for-profit companies. This protection can feel temporary as human mortality will force the company to change hands. Wall Street seems content to wait for their chance to pounce.

That's no silver bullet of course, Twitter being a very visible example lately.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com