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Re: tkc

By: Cactus Flower in ALEA | Recommend this post (0)
Sun, 22 Apr 12 8:08 PM | 86 view(s)
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Msg. 07415 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 07414 by DigSpace)

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Now that's a cool conversation.

The investment in mobile and sales made sense.

It is the framing of the funding around the investment which causes the difference of opinion.

Alignment of interests isn't a trivial matter. It informs the conversation. Companies tout it when they create compensation packages for executives which align their interests with those of shareholders. It is important.

But Wave just will not listen to this particular complaint. They always find excuses to avoid taking the same risks as the shareholders. And so long as they do so, they are vulnerable to the charges levelled at them: of being insensitive to dilution; of being indisciplined about costs; of preferring the Sprague family over other employees (witness the end of WXP); of being careless about the timeline; of running an unsafe harbour to mislead investors.

This is the tin ear. It seems like the insiders are reluctant to invest in their own decisions. And that choice, thus far, has generally appeared to be a good one. That is not a happy alignment.


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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: tkc
By: DigSpace
in ALEA
Sun, 22 Apr 12 7:04 PM
Msg. 07414 of 54959

Yes, in isolation the point is a good one. Total consideration requires considering all the points. If one individually considers all the points and determines that individually they were correct decisions but still considers the sum to be an error, one is being inconsistent.

I think not doing the mobile thing would have been a mistake. I feel I've been consistent on that. My argument has been it is not just a good opportunity, it is necessary to maintain not only leadership, but relevance.

I think expanding the Euro sales for was the right thing to do. It may well be that what wave discovered is that (rhetorically here) 90% of their resources were US focused and three of their four largest customers were EU. They may have found that in the end, even though still difficult, EU deals were at least doable. So, does one shift the rsources 'walk away from NA' or expand the base. I go with expand.

The migration of a number of DAR vendors into SED management was perhaps cramping Wave's DAR niche. I believe the SFND acquisition was the right choice. Adding removable media and tools for other platforms was important and sensible as these things converge.

You see what I'm doing here, if all the points look like good decisions, can I fault their sum?

For me, the problem is these decisions don't seem well integrated into reality. The rate is the reality. The doughnut hole hypothesis concluded that a PIPE of $5-10m was the inevitable solution. They went with the ATM, that appears to have been a poor decision, although I don't have 'proof' for the degree of recnt use. So, fault them severely for one mistake? Yes. Its a big mistake, and one they have done repeatedly IMO.

Hence I want to see a shake-up that inserts greater rigor to their process. Somewhere between the BoD, SKS, and Feeney, they are not being prudent. Selling shares at multi-year lows to make payroll *is* failure. No bonuses. You keep your job, perhaps some reassignment, but it is not a bonus performance.

scrambls? nuff said. I see it as a crap-shoot in a circumstance of an illiquid treasury.

nepotism? If any of that stuff SKS said actually happens, then it should be officially communicated by the Chairman. I did a silly example of such a communication somewhere in some post.

compensation? It quite simply can be structured to have less of a cash burden, more tied to long terms vested interests, and should be structured for less now, more later. i.e. pay when the ship arrives, not for planning the trip.

These are simple things and the recent Collins SKS material ignores and sidesteps these truths.

Finally, is MSprague really a software engineer? Top ten. Really? I don't know, but my instincts tell me no.


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