Ann Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 I do not want the Athletic to go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Ann said: I do not want the Athletic to go away. Watching The Athletic go broke is disappointing, but when it's dead and buried I suspect we'll look back to see a handful of people who make a shitload of money off the venture without keeping their own cash flowing back into the venture. You don't just blow through $25M with 600 employees, most of whom are earning peanuts, without a handful of people cruising around in their new yachts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 9 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said: Watching The Athletic go broke is disappointing, but when it's dead and buried I suspect we'll look back to see a handful of people who make a shitload of money off the venture without keeping their own cash flowing back into the venture. You don't just blow through $25M with 600 employees, most of whom are earning peanuts, without a handful of people cruising around in their new yachts. I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years. That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years). New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1. In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc). Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers. My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people. Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm. They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend. That's pretty much what I do every day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG1 Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, KD in CA said: I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years. That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years). New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1. In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc). Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers. My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people. Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm. They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend. That's pretty much what I do every day. The other question, and it looks like they've answered it already, is do you need 3 people covering the Bills? This is a brutal sector, and it's hard to be profitable when you're fielding 3 reporters in the smallest NFL market. What's their coverage in the other sports/markets. In the end, you can't outrun the industry dynamics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, GG1 said: The other question, and it looks like they've answered it already, is do you need 3 people covering the Bills? This is a brutal sector, and it's hard to be profitable when you're fielding 3 reporters in the smallest NFL market. What's their coverage in the other sports/markets. In the end, you can't outrun the industry dynamics. Yup. I think long term success here is still unlikely, but agree that 600 seems like a very big staff unless you're paying them by the word instead of a salary (I know nothing about this industry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 (edited) 41 minutes ago, KD in CA said: I'm finding the shitty reporting which prioritizes sensationalism over facts to be difficult to follow, but I think what it says is they lost $22mm over two years. That's actually not that much for a start up with such a quick ramp (600 people is a huge team in just two years). New ventures of this size are rarely profitable from day 1. In terms of total expenses, $95MM / 2 years / 600 people = $79k per head per year (total cost, including benefits, taxes, travel, etc). Need to make some adjustment for the ramp up of people, offset by the non-people costs, but overall I don't see a huge disconnect (or yachts) in those numbers. My company spends more than that every year, with only 400 people. Unless their investors are completely asleep at the wheel (or have other, unrelated issues), I don't see this as cause for immediate alarm. They need to (and presumably are) analyze the trajectory of the subscriber growth/retention metrics, decide if it's worth continuing to keep the peddle down on growth spending, and if not, will figure out the when/where on reducing headcount/spend. That's pretty much what I do every day. Thanks. I guess I just don't understand how they lose money like that, but I suspect that is mostly because I sweat every nickel my company makes or loses just to keep alive and keep people on payroll, and loss that like hurts my head. Edited October 5, 2021 by IDBillzFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 3 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said: Thanks. I guess I just don't understand how they lose money like that, but I suspect that is mostly because I sweat every nickel my company makes or loses just to keep alive and keep people on payroll, and loss that like hurts my head. What, you can't just burn through the cash and go raise a Series B? To grossly oversimplify it, this is basically how large scale private investment works in the US (or at least until Biden and Liz destroy the system). Rich people put money into private equity funds. PE funds invest in companies that spend a ton of money to stimulate growth. Most of the time it doesn't take off, the investors eventually stop throwing good money after bad, and they take the loss when the company folds or gets sold off for pennies on the dollar. But, if it takes off and becomes Facebook, everyone gets rich. And of course there are a range of outcomes between zero and a zillion. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Posted November 24, 2021 Author Share Posted November 24, 2021 h/t @Foxx in the Black Friday Deals thread: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Nooooooooo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxx Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 17 minutes ago, Ann said: Nooooooooo There goes the neighborhood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Guess I'll be canceling my subscription. It was fun while it lasted. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Core Four Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 It will become another woke media with a little bit of sports mixed in. Expect subscribers to exit in droves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 47 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said: Guess I'll be canceling my subscription. It was fun while it lasted. Seriously. You can clock how fast the NYT will eff up this publication on an egg timer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 10 minutes ago, Core Four said: It will become another woke media with a little bit of sports mixed in. Expect subscribers to exit in droves. You underestimate how many woke Bills fans there are. Spend some time ATOP, if you haven't. It's loaded with Bills fans so far left they will tell you that last 1/6 is just as bad as 9/11. They won't be happy until NFL player jerseys replace player names with player preferred pronouns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterRob Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Got to admit that IF I wanted a fairly covert propaganda OP buying the Athletic would be a good investment in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Clavin Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Was in Poughkeepsie for college, and the options for sports coverage were the NY Post and Times. The NYT's coverage was simply awful, even back then (Gulf War era) when their reporting and editorial standards was relatively level-headed. But now? I have full confidence, given their innate inability to report on sports, in their need to bring in an external sports reporting source like the Athletic. And, given their innate inability to report on sports combined with their current near-total woke reporting incompetence, in their ultimately &#%$ing things up with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Oh boy....can't wait for all those new articles telling me why I'm a terrible person if I'm not watching the WNBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Clavin Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, KD in CA said: Oh boy....can't wait for all those new articles telling me why I'm a terrible person if I'm not watching the WNBA. I'll add that reason to the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Core Four Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 1 hour ago, IDBillzFan said: You underestimate how many woke Bills fans there are. Spend some time ATOP, if you haven't. It's loaded with Bills fans so far left they will tell you that last 1/6 is just as bad as 9/11. They won't be happy until NFL player jerseys replace player names with player preferred pronouns. I'm familiar with that site and completely agree with you. Also quite a contingent of trained, clapping seals there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 10 minutes ago, KD in CA said: Oh boy....can't wait for all those new articles telling me why I'm a terrible person if I'm not watching the WNBA. And their countless articles about how Colin Kaepernick isn't in the NFL because he refused to be a slave. 3 minutes ago, Core Four said: I'm familiar with that site and completely agree with you. Also quite a contingent of trained, clapping seals there. They're like a tiny version of Twitter or Facebook. Say something they don't like...even if it's true? You're banned. I should have seen it coming years ago when I was running this pick 'em competition of sorts, and made reference to a 'rump ranger,' and one of the dudes (I think it was Adam) shut down the thread after a bunch of people already made picks because he said I was making fun of gays. I didn't make fun of gays. I made fun of rump rangers. Totally different. But he didn't care, so that was the end. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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