Well, I suppose the devil's advocate argument is once you get to this stage (publicly traded company), the company's priority is no longer just "do things to get traction", but also "do things to support share price". You could argue the ex consultant MBA type product manager is better suited to solve a problem that institutional investors run by ex finance MBA types have.
Specifically, I think that in the past people who were so MBA-influenced were mostly in finance, and not in charge of designing every minor product feature.
Now that they often are, you get the sense of being nickel-and-dimed every time you use the product. Maybe that's temporarily spiking the share price, but it's a really bad long-term strategy. You really don't want every product to descend into RyanAir pay-toilets-aboard-the-plane territory.
RyanAir (and other similar budget airlines) fill a niche.
People use it. Wouldn't almost anyone love to fly in a private jet? Sure, but it has a cost.
The problem is that this fucking cross-financing infested hellscape of consumer web built on the abyss of advertisement sucks in almost everything , because "it's free" even though of course there's a hedonic quality adjustment to using a site crafted for a purpose that you pay for versus the same with endless dark pattens, freemium upsell hooks and ads ads ads. banners. modals (remember the fucking popups?) cookie consent "you are the product" dialogs.
but at the same time it's true that dismissing those modals and scrolling through ads takes a few seconds while paying for content takes more time and some actual money too.
can the original root inspiration be sustained ? or will big pocketed capitalism will always swallow anything either through buys or through heavy competition forcing people to distort everything until there's nothing left of the original idea ?
And don’t forget getting traction in a new market is one thing. Defending market share in a more mature market with competitors who will eat your lunch is another.
