Palantir Technologies, Inc. CEO Alex Karp had some sharp words for Wall Street recently:

“We told the Wall Streeters that we will focus on building the long-term health of our company, that we are going to invest in our product development and in our clients, and you just have to battle it out with them,” said Karp, also a Palantir co-founder. The developer of data analysis software went public via a direct listing in September after nearly two decades as a private company.

Not everyone on Wall Street has such a short-term focus, Karp acknowledged. Nevertheless, he said it remains “one of the most destructive, corrosive attributes of an otherwise interesting and largely functioning system.”

Is 18 years short term? That’s how long Palantir has been in business, and it’s never made a profit. Google and Amazon built businesses for the long term as well, but they reached profitability far sooner. Amazon took seven years and Google took just three.

I suggest that Karp stop wasting time criticizing Wall Street and start focusing on making his company spit out some cash for shareholders.

For more on Palantir, check out these posts:

• Palantir’s Hidden Risk: 20% of Its Commercial Business Is a Single Customer
• Palantir Is Losing $100 Million a Month With No End in Sight
• Palantir Insiders Are Dumping The Stock. What Do They Know That You Don’t?

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Photo: Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. “Peter Thiel” by jdlasica is licensed under CC BY 2.0