zlacker

>>evolve+(OP)
Everything valve doing for linux is making such a huge impact.

The HL3 memes don't even seem fair to use anymore. I don't even want to un-seriously make joke fun of them at this point. They are just genuinely doing so much for the community.

>>adverb+H53
Valve is one of the few companies regularly seen on HN where the headline is something like "[company] is secretly doing something really great" as opposed to "[company] is secretly doing something evil"

>>levoca+Yb3
People complain about the gambling/loot box stuff, and yeah there's legit ethical concerns there.

But overall Valve just seems straightforwardly less shitty towards the consumer than other major companies in their space, by a long shot.

>>Tulliu+2d3
The major reason is they are a private company with good business. The don't have a need to keep adding to shareholder value ie stock price instead just need to generate a yearly income. We have reached a point where the shareholders are a companies real customers and that is who they all try to attract.Everytthing else a company does is just to attract shareholders

>>xbmcus+EA3
It’s definitely more than just private ownership. In fact I’d say that’s the least part of it.

Look at all the horror stories about businesses that were bought by PE firms; those are all privately held too.

>>useful+oC3
If you want to be specific that general idea could be elaborated as "private ownership by people that only need the C-suite salary, instead of needing a C-suite plus a fat % RoI on the company's entire valuation because that's how much they just put down as a sunk cost."

In that regard "bought by PE firm" (or most any prospective buyer, really) is functionally equivalent to an IPO. Selling out is, in fact, selling out.

>>blarge+aK3
Furthermore, PE ownership generally means (a) achieving ROI as quickly as possible (including by dismantling the company and/or mortgaging its assets), (b) installing leadership who has no ties to the business, and (c) cutting costs to the bone.

It's not just functionally equivalent to an IPO... it's an IPO if all the buying new shareholders were sociopaths.

(Yes, there are the PE companies who run businesses better like Berkshire, but that's far from the most common type of PE)