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Comment by 5350-uiop-1130 | Hacker News Reader

"..Spotify had taken advantage of cheap borrowing during 2020 and 2021, when central bankers cut interest rates sharply in response to coronavirus pandemic lockdowns"

> “Embracing this leaner structure will also allow us to invest our profits more strategically back into the business,”

> invest our profits more strategically back into the business

why didn't they do this in 2020 when they got zero interest loans and free money from the government?

profits are for "strategic" investment but loans are for un-strategic and unsustainable hiring? got it.

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I don't understand the question? They were able to use money more freely as it was more abundant, so they were able to take more risks. Now that money is more expensive, they need to be more careful about it.

I think parent might be overemphasizing strategic in that quote.

>> This is not a step back; it’s a strategic reorientation. We’re still committed to investing and making bold bets, but now, with a more focused approach, ensuring Spotify’s continued profitability and ability to innovate.

"Strategic" could be replaced with "efficient". They were previously optimized for growth -- now, they're optimizing for growth:krona.

Also, it is refreshing to see a head cut announcement that doesn't bury the lede: we're firing people, and this sucks.

When a company is publicly traded, mass firing announcements are no longer buried, it's red meat for shareholders.

Was lessso taking issue with burying, and moreso with the recent spate of bullshit "This is good for everyone" or "The world suddenly changed" or "This was always the plan" posturing in announcements.

"We optimized for one thing. Things changed. No we're optimizing for a different thing."

Doesn't need to be more obfuscated than that.

More so now that it’s their own money and not yours they’re being more careful with it.

> "They were able to use money more freely as it was more abundant, so they were able to take more risks. Now that money is more expensive, they need to be more careful about it."

> able to take more risks

so who pays for consequences of the "risks"?

my whole point was to illustrate the idea of privatizing profit and socializing losses.

They invested the pandemic ZIRP bonanza on the 'transformative' IP that is podcasts.

In lieu of actual profitability, they also chucked in $1bn to buy up their own stock to maximize the CEO's already enormous compensation.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/20/spotify-to-spend-1b-buying...

Wow, it's pretty wild that an unprofitable company spent a billion dollars on share buybacks.

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