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Comment by JumpCrisscross

1 day ago

> Subscriptions are heavily subsidized

Revenue less compute & infrastructure less sales, marketing & partnerships is positive!

Approximately 80% of revenue comes from consumption-based spending, so your statement would likely be true even if subscriptions were priced below cost. Overall revenue is not especially informative on the price structure of a revenue stream that represents one-fifth of the overall enterprise.

  • > 80% of revenue comes from consumption-based spending

    Why would this be exempt from any of the above categories?

    > Overall revenue is not especially informative on the price structure of a revenue stream

    It’s pretty informative on the business model of the enterprise!

    If you’re quibbling that Anthropic has loss leaders, yes, sure. Whatever. So does Costco. Loss leaders converting into profitable sales is good business.

    • I'm quibbling that Anthropic has loss leaders and that its profit leaders are extremely unstable. Imagine if there were three Chinese club stores in the same shopping plaza as the Costco. Sure, the regular Costco has the best products, but how long are you going to be able to resist the allure of even cheaper hot dogs?

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