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Steve Ballmer was an underrated CEO

(danluu.com)
371 points greggyb | 18 comments | 28 Oct 24 21:48 UTC | HN request time: 0.004s | source | bottom
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not_a_bot_4sho ◴[29 Oct 24 01:19 UTC] No.41978402[source]▶
Funny story. I used to see Steve almost every weekday for a couple of years.

I can't speak to his business skills, but I can attest that he never once offered a tip for his daily black iced tea. We'd even have it ready for him before he showed up so he never had to wait! He would pay with cash, and I'd hand him his change and drink, and that was that.

It's funny to me now: one of the richest men in the world and he never once offered a tip.

Frugality aside, he was always very polite and warm so I can't be mad. Makes for a good ice breaker story.

Edit: holy moly, this is a sensitive subject. Please remember this was from a time before tipflation. Tipping meant you left your change behind once in a while only if you felt the desire to show appreciation. It wasn't an obligation. Yes, I still do think it's a funny story. Roast me for being entitled lol

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arandomusername ◴[29 Oct 24 01:28 UTC] No.41978457[source]▶
What frugality? He was paying the full price that it was being sold at.
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1. AdieuToLogic ◴[29 Oct 24 02:21 UTC] No.41978734[source]▶
> What frugality? He was paying the full price that it was being sold at.

By that logic, most reading these comments should expect to hear from their employer:

  What annual bonus?
  What stock options?
  The company is paying full price that your time was being sold at.
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2. l33t7332273 ◴[29 Oct 24 02:46 UTC] No.41978860[source]▶
The “full price” often includes a bonus and stock options.
3. xandrius ◴[29 Oct 24 02:49 UTC] No.41978879[source]▶
Annual bonus is either performance based or as a retainer to make up for differences in the wages since the person was hired.

Stock options are because you could be paid more or you are taking risks for future rewards.

A mandatory tip is because your employer doesn't want to pay you full wage and instead of increasing the price and pay you more, they pass it over to the customers. So they get the same profits without having to bother.

Quite different reasons.

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4. godelski ◴[29 Oct 24 02:59 UTC] No.41978931[source]▶

  > Annual bonus is either performance based

  >>>> We'd even have it ready for him before he showed up so he never had to wait! 

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5. devsda ◴[29 Oct 24 03:03 UTC] No.41978957[source]▶
Yeah no. Your annual bonus and stock options is between you and your employer. Your end customers don't pay for it directly, they are paid for within the cost of whatever product your employer is selling.

When tipping is no longer customary to receive good service and seeps into other aspects of lives it leads to all sorts of problems and situations.

This[1] is an extreme example of that situation in a different country but are we really ready to accept similar consequences and say they should've just paid the poor nurse ?

1. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/up-mainpuri-infant-die...

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6. AdieuToLogic ◴[29 Oct 24 03:15 UTC] No.41979023[source]▶
> Annual bonus is either performance based or as a retainer to make up for differences in the wages since the person was hired.

Sounds like a tip to me.

> Stock options are because you could be paid more or you are taking risks for future rewards.

Sounds to me like the allure of a job in which tipping is expected.

> A mandatory tip is because your employer doesn't want to pay you full wage ...

Tips are not mandatory by definition.

7. ◴[29 Oct 24 03:40 UTC] No.41979156[source]▶
8. ◴[29 Oct 24 03:55 UTC] No.41979224[source]▶
9. csomar ◴[29 Oct 24 04:55 UTC] No.41979504[source]▶
Bonus/Options are to be paid by the employer. Essentially, what you are asking for is that you go to Netflix subscription page and there is a dropdown saying "how much bonus to pay our employees this year?"
10. bryanrasmussen ◴[29 Oct 24 05:19 UTC] No.41979615[source]▶
>A mandatory tip

evidently the tips under discussion were not mandatory.

11. maronato ◴[29 Oct 24 05:49 UTC] No.41979754[source]▶
Employees are paid for the work they are expected to perform during the hours they are at the office. The company doesn’t expect them to do more than that, however if they do, they get a nice bonus for it.

Baristas are paid to make iced tea. The customer doesn’t expect them to do more than that, but they can be nice, learn your name, prepare your tea ahead of time, change the tea recipe to something you enjoy more. Don’t you think they should get a nice bonus too?

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12. Talanes ◴[29 Oct 24 05:59 UTC] No.41979862[source]▶
>Your annual bonus and stock options is between you and your employer. Your end customers don't pay for it directly

In the service industry, you wouldn't need to say end customer, because the person you're delivering to is already the end customer. Either way is still a results based cash reward paid by the entity receiving the direct output of your work.

13. yxhuvud ◴[29 Oct 24 06:28 UTC] No.41980001{3}[source]▶
Sure. From their employer, not from their customer.
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14. ywvcbk ◴[29 Oct 24 09:01 UTC] No.41981081[source]▶
A mandatory fixed/clearly defined tip is effectively a service tax. Nothing wrong about that if it’s clearly advertised (e.g. you don’t have to pay it if you take out). Quite a few countries in Europe have stuff like that.

Variable, pseudo-optional tips seem like a much bigger problem.

15. arandomusername ◴[29 Oct 24 11:53 UTC] No.41982930[source]▶
A lot of the times your contract will actually include bonus and stock options, so those are part of the price. And if not, then the employer absolutely does not have to pay bonus or offer stock options. The employee, ofcourse, has the right to move jobs if they desire.
16. geodel ◴[29 Oct 24 13:51 UTC] No.41983827[source]▶
Employer or customer?

Since tipping is done by customers. It is like employers tell employees you can let customers know good service is for good tippers. Maybe car repair mechanic can pour sweet tea in instead of engine oil since customer is known to be bad tipper.

I am sure that will go very well with that business.

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17. AdieuToLogic ◴[30 Oct 24 02:05 UTC] No.41991267[source]▶
> Employer or customer?

In the scenario I set forth, an employer assumes the role of customer during annual reviews of their employees.

> It is like employers tell employees you can let customers know good service is for good tippers.

This is non sequitur as clarified above.

18. AdieuToLogic ◴[30 Oct 24 02:08 UTC] No.41991287{4}[source]▶
> Sure. From their employer, not from their customer.

In the scenario I set forth, an employer assumes the role of customer during annual reviews of their employees.