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Comment by 4er_transform | Hacker News Reader

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I'm surprised they've been able to keep the stock price and the revenue flat given they competitive environment they've been in for many years. They've been going head to head with the cloud infrastructure hyperscalers and mobile platform owners despite just being a file storage SaaS. It's weird to me that people ever expected more of Dropbox given who they were up against.

Yes, this is one of the most ineffective parts of public trading. It's impossible to say what the leadership here would have done without such _wild_ changes in the surrounding environment. While I understand the argument that in the end it doesn't matter, companies should find the way to succeed regardless, I think it causes a lot of good leadership to be lost, or a lot of bad decisions leading to local minima.

dropbox vs drive???

the knock on them is exactly that, 20 years later they're just a file storage saas. the idea was they must be able to expand the surface area over time

I've been a paying customer since their early days. Their value, at least in my view, lies precisely in that they are just a file storage SaaS. They are focused on doing one thing and doing it well. The day this will change they'll lose me as a customer.

that's fine, to me it should be fine for companies to exist like that

but it doesn't match the archetype of a "growth" company. to the commenters talking about the share price, if you want a consistently growing stock, that's not the way to do it (not saying it's right or wrong)

I thought they already kinda did. The UI has a load of features I am not interested in. I spent hours turning of the sync on opening file feature they have, can't recall the name of it now. But to turn it off was a ridiculous effort of web searches and lying documentation.

Why. This is again thinking from solely a profit perspective and revenue for shareholders. Users don’t want extra half-assed crap just because the company can scrape a little more revenue this way.

They do one thing great apparently. I know many people that cannot be convinced to switch away from Dropbox.

i agree. but the parent was talking about share price. my point is exactly that "a profit perspective and revenue for shareholders" i.e. driving the share price up. if that's not the goal great, i would love if more companies took that approach. as long as employees are happy (ie their comp doesn't assume stock growth like many do), good for them

A happy company culture sounds like an excellent result from a great leader.

If stock owners want more ROI come do the work instead of setting demands. (i know that’s unfortunately not how the world works).

What a bleak worldview. You are right from the perspective of an avaricious dragon.

As a customer of DropBox since ~2011 I would say they've been an outstanding success.

Maybe it's time we redefine what success means.

Found the shareholder.

LOL, if shareholders are so terrible why do companies go public in first place.

Many people worked for FTX, loved SBF and would have said he was a great leader too. People will love anyone who is good to them.

And for good reason. Leadership isn't measured by stock price.

I've must have missed where Dropbox's CEO committed securities fraud.

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