Yeah, well, somebody is going to inherit his share of ownership, and even if he goes out of his way and sets up a Foundation for the purpose of preserving the founder’s strategical vision for the company that will inherit his share, such Foundations tend to over time end up subverted and doing the very opposite of what the founder would’ve wanted.
Great customer friendly companies turning to shit when the founder dies is the kind of thing that happens all the time.
Best avoid situations were your shit is hostage to the whims of a big company for whom you as an individual customer are irrelevant.
Valve is set up as a horizontal organization. I expect that to continue after Gaben’s death. He doesn’t really do much at valve these days anyway.
Yeah, well, somebody is going to inherit his share of ownership, and even if he goes out of his way and sets up a Foundation for the purpose of preserving the founder’s strategical vision for the company that will inherit his share, such Foundations tend to over time end up subverted and doing the very opposite of what the founder would’ve wanted.
Great customer friendly companies turning to shit when the founder dies is the kind of thing that happens all the time.
Best avoid situations were your shit is hostage to the whims of a big company for whom you as an individual customer are irrelevant.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it became employee owned.