2023 has really been the year of established companies self-immolating in the name of more money. Is this the result of some new business strategy being pushed to high level execs? Or has the idiocracy produced by failing upwards finally come home to roost?
End of ZIRP is making them all suddenly have to actually make money instead of relying on loans and investments. Unfortunately two decades of ZIRP means that none of the current leadership knows how to make money.
Companies have been self-immolating for short term gains since basically forever, so that is nothing new. Raising interest rates have definitely pushed some long-term money losers over the edge though. Rather than subsisting on ever more funding rounds they now need to figure out how to make money out of their huge "free tier" subscriber base and the quickest way is to start charging them money. Predictably, the people who formerly got valuable stuff for free are not fans of this idea.
