

Konstantine Othmer on the Valley Advantage - rjurney
http://techdrawl.com/konstantin-othmer-on-the-valley-advantage/

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ajaimk
Absolutely love what he says about unions and how they were more focused on
their people than getting the job done. There are some times when covering
your own ass is just not the right think to do.

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paulgb
I found that bit interesting too. A lot of people bring up unions as what
killed GM, and the common rebuttal is that labor is a small part of GM's cost.
If Konstantin's anecdote is typical of GM, it seems the cost of the union is a
lot more than just labor costs.

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mnemonicsloth
My understanding is that the problem isn't the cost of labor per se. Instead,
it's rising health care costs. The medical provisions of GM's pension plan are
pretty lavish, and it's been underfunded for years.

GM isn't all that unusual here -- a lot of other firms (and a number of state
governments) have underfunded pensions.

[http://www.businessinsider.com/gm-retirees-rush-to-get-
dentu...](http://www.businessinsider.com/gm-retirees-rush-to-get-dentures-
glasses-and-viagra-2009-6)

~~~
rjurney
If you check the video, you'll find that the problem is cultural. Its a union
and management problem.

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amcrae
Good job, Russell. Konstantin hits hard with the point that corporate culture
in a start-up will reflect the attitude of the original founders - and it will
stay dynamic for only as long as the venture works hard to maintain it. I'd
venture to say that in 1908 Durant was eager to build a great product. One
should ask what changed over the years.

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rjurney
Don't let the wavy camera dissuade you from watching - the audio is the thing.
My camera-lady / wife got a bug bite right before the interview... thus the
wavy camera, as she scratched it :) The others (which are coming) were more
stable.

The part about Apple vs. GM culture is great.

