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Blue,
I think that is a fair response. As you have noted, Bill has gone to great lengths to distant himself from the prior regime. I think it goes as undisputed that missed deadlines and ghost pipelines were among the sorest spots for investors. Obviously Bill will not have too many fans if he does not deliver in this area. I will again state, Bill just reiterated previous timelines.
It should be also noted that they may have closed some small deals but did not announce them for obvious reasons. As I have also noted, Bill's timeline still fits the narrative based on what has occurred to date.
My early Wave days were spent in the midst of a career and following insights of people who were much closer to the investment than I. As I have stated, when trust is missing from a relationship, it is tough for it to flourish. I suspended a personal principle for some time and not surprisingly I was bitten. Life has a way of giving constant little reminders on what you should be doing.
That said, Bill has not given me any indication that he cannot be trusted. I remain hopeful that he can deliver on his vision of how Wave fits into trusted computing. Wave and trust cannot be an oxymoron if Wave is to succeed. I hope for Wave's success for all the wonderful investors it has as much as I do for myself. There were also some Wave investors lost along the way that everyone should keep in their hearts.
Blue,
the two companies jointly used the word anticipate. I would not go as far as to call this a deadline. Please see my prior post.
You are definitely the town naysayer. :) I think if your cup was filled with water, you may question the authenticity of the water. I truly do not mean this negatively and I will note that I have credited you with being right on the prior regime.
I think it is fair to hold Bill accountable to his words. At present, he is still on his previously quoted timeline per his own words. If he does not deliver within his own window, I think the below post is fair game.
Until then it seems you are jumping the gun. You may turn out to be right, but your conclusion is premature based on the CEOs words from the recent CC where he stated things are still on track. Unless you know something the rest of us do not specifically know. In which case, I politely ask you to please share with us.
Player, I think we can assume it didn't happen.
Wave followers are very tuned into any quoted timelines regardless of the certainty used to describe them. This is reality based on many missed dates from the prior regime. Unfortunately, until the company starts delivering something, no breaks will be given to the new regime. Wave investors have been stuck in the Atacama Desert for some time now. Any sign of potential moisture is very significant and dissected from every angle.
Bill had a chance to run, walk or sprint from previously quoted timelines on the last call. Instead he reiterated what was previously quoted. That puts us in the midst of potential rain producing clouds. He has delivered on all structural related to dos. Will he deliver on the most coveted to do, ie sales? Let's hope so especially considering that the specific skill set we are all aware he brought to the role was sales related.
At some point, Bill's words will be easier to parse through. Right now, no one knows how to interpret what he says because of a short public track record. While he has essentially said the rain is coming, the audience receiving that message has heard it before and is not ready to accept any signs of hope until its thirst is quenched. Until then, any sign of moisture will be explored, analyzed and dissected.
Dig,
good call. That is probably pretty close to reality.
Mymoney,
the fact is Wave and Dell collectively did very little business together. Dell paid Wave handsomely and unfortunately, Wave did not help Dell sell. Good call on Credant.
Mymoney,
I get the sense wave took a break once they licensed to Dell. Instead of the finish line, this should have marked the start of real work.
On the acquisition front, a ton of different variables go into M&A activity. Trying to guess motivations on Dell's thinking is a crapshoot.
To Intel man's credit,
I think Wave's products did need tweaking from an ease of use perspective. I do not think there were fatal flaws as confirmed by the CEO.
Dreamer, but what about Intel man? :)
To Blue's credit, until money flows, nothing really matters and baseless speculation and reasonable speculation will rule the day.
Blue,
please do not associate me with the Walmart post. I have clearly stated I do not see anything there based on what was posted to date. You are associating me with something I have taken a contrary position on.
I do not wait for a future, so speak for yourself on that one.
Considering Wave's lack of revenue, investors are forced to contend with possibilities that have yet to occur. The CEO said things are on track, you can believe him or not. It may be, it may be not. All things considered, present products in hand, he said things are on track.
I personally no longer care about the legacy of past failures. Obviously much was done wrong. You are free to focus there all you like. It's great to learn from past failures, but wallowing in it is plain depressing...time to move on.
I would have more to say, but I am down a few fingers. I jammed my fingers playing family hoops and typing is oh so slow.
Brant,
I am not trying to discount what you say, but the narrative furnished by Bill is reasonable. He also reiterated his position. Which means he encountered no surprises that derailed his plan.
brant,
if you are in the space, you realize what there is an appetite for pretty quickly. On track was just reiterated. Many changes were needed. They changed sales staff and switched sales strategy to large enterprise.
I had a top 10 bank that my company sold into that took us over a year to close. The vendor requirements for most large enterprises are much more stringent than 10 years ago. This all requires time.
Blue,
if you believe the new CEO, who so far has been truthful as you noted, the future is not quite as dire as you cast it.
Taking another step back,
the person being referred to has one connection on LinkedIn. Beyond points made earlier, this is not even a confirmed employee.
theroc66,
I was honestly not making fun of your post...truly. I was just running with dig's joking around.
All opinions, thoughts and ideas are welcome. From my personal experience, I have worked with and employed people in many locations remote form central offices. Many times it was the result of the right skill set and a willingness to make an exception. In some cases it was the result of a job that could be done remotely. In other cases it was the result of lingering personnel from M&A activity. There were other situations as well.
The point being, for me personally, it means absolutely nothing unless there is something concrete that signifies greater meaning. I am just speaking from personal experience. You have different experiences and knowledge and perhaps you can share why you believe it to be significant. Then everyone can make their own conclusions.
The other thing to note is that Bill has been intent on distancing himself from the ways of the prior regime. Lack of credibility and non-existent pipelines were qualities from the prior regime that really upset shareholders. Bill's statement about still being on track -- implying Q3 and Q4 sales of significance are very interesting statements to follow.
So far, Bill has gained credibility from shareholders. However, the most sensitive shareholder issues has been around being able to meet internally derived sales estimates. Has Bill chosen his words carefully enough in this very sensitive realm or will this be his first and a very significant gaffe?
Words get watered down when they are presumed to mean very little. When outcomes match words, future words are accepted with a high probability of coming to fruition.
Dig, now you may be on to something. How legible was ERAS? Triangulating, your ERAS coffee may match up with the Wave I saw out my windows (wave and windows?)...hmmm! Putting it all together, a guy by the name of Sam had sung near the wave out my windows earlier in the day. From my understanding, Sam sung quite a few tunes out my window near the sea gate by the waves which I heard was Typical Protocol for the Man (TPM?). It should also be noted that HP (Huey Packardski) always watched as Sam sung. It's all pretty confusing hopefully someone can parse through it all.
I trust everyone understand I am only joking around and the above should be taken as a joke.
I would not read too much into a remote job without some very specific evidence. There are many, many reasons to have remote employees and almost all of them mean nothing of significance from an investor's perspective.
Do you guys need more evidence than Microsoft requiring a TPM for windows? No security is fool-proof and no one will invent fool-proof security. It's all about increasing the cost and level of sophistication necessary to breach the perimeter. A locked door is better than an open one. A locked door with a deadbolt is better yet. Add a security system and you have more protection. And so on.
TPMs add a second layer of protection with the convenience of not having to carry a token. The cost of getting a second layer of protection is also reduced. It will be a game changer if/when it get's adopted by industry. Until then it is just a great idea.
Well said dig.
If your read the Wavx Q2 transcripts, Bill references two times that Wave is still on track and that he has not modified plans. This translates to a strong turnaround relative to the current position. As Dig has noted, Dell revenues have continued to decline and implies a growing gap.
In order to post a positive result, Wave will have to increase revenues relatively significantly from the Q2 numbers. As I have stated, this is where credibility is lost or gained. Bill has a limited track record as CEO so his pronouncements are tough to judge considering his limited time as a leader of a public company.
With any normal person, you sort of expect their words to carry meaning. Really credible people are always trustworthy and believable. We will know a lot more in the not too distant future about Bill's credibility in speaking to Wave shareholders. If he delivers as pronounced, his future words will likely be stock moving. If he doesn't, the hill is long and steep.
New Wave,
agreed. When the question comes up, "What do you have for phones?" I presume Wave is left talking in the future tense. Obviously this is less than ideal and requires Wave to speak about a combination solution at present. That stated, there are a lot of combination security solutions.
Dig,
I think it all comes down to raising the level of sophistication and cost to breach the perimeter. As we all know,security will never be perfect. It comes down to levels of imperfection. I presume, you presume, and it sounds like Wave knows a mixed environment with various levels of access decreases the level of imperfection. A mobile solution will be incredibly important to broaden their capability and thankfully it sounds like Bill understands this from the call.
Everything is an assumption and presumption until they start selling something. Bill reiterated timing from the last call, so no one has started selling slippage at this point. That means they expect a lot to happen between now and then. This is how credibility is either lost or gained.
Dig, I don't know that Bill's comment was intended to imply mobile as in phones. I think he meant a phased approach to traditional endpoints (laptops and pcs). Obviously the back door is still open if any device can log into the network with full access. However, levels of access can be granted depending upon credentials.
This is all in my opinion. The context of the conversation seemed to imply sales around Wave's current capabilities, but I could be wrong.
Dig,
agreed. Any near term revenue of significance is coming from VSC and SEDs.
Player, since Bill said they have switched their focus to large enterprise and gov, that does not line up with their target customer. They are specifically targeting customers of significance.
"So if these companies really want to protect their environments, they need a broad deployment and through our sales force we are pushing for them to do broader deployments and not do a one little piece at that time."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2407065-wave-systems-wavx-ceo-bill-solms-on-q2-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript
Checkinin, we are officially in Bill's window of delivery. The second of half of '14 has been cited on several occasions. The clock is running.
1260,
it's all been said for now! Bill needs to generate something to talk about! Sales and sales momentum will generate some real excitement. Either he is FOS or his plan is on target as stated during the call. I take him as a guy whose words means something...time will tell!
On the last point, you disagree that the CEO stated on the CC that Wave was previously focused on small customers? Listen to the CC. It sounds like you either know more than the CEO or you did not listen to the CC.
A personal pet peeve, you labeled opinions as facts.
1.) Opinion...Solms was not factually hired to instantly close DOD sales
2.) Based on what metric and a completely pointless statement. I have an orange, let's compare it to an apple...tough to hold all things equal.
3.) Opinion
Solms has not made a significant financially meaningful sale. Meaningful sales take time. This is not where the company was previously focused. Will the new strategy pay off? Who knows, but lets not get silly.
Player,
absolutely. At the same time, one deal of significance will carry meaning. Unlike the prior regime, I believe if traction is gained momentum will be sustained.
Mymoney,
accurate messaging was needed, but an approach that was going to sell product was also needed. Selling is hard. People love status quo...it's simple.
I have been on both ends of the equation both as a buyer and seller for banking solutions. Messaging, approach, and product utility all matter.
The share price tells me people liked the dream better than reality. If Solm's can deliver, perhaps the two can coexist. Until then, despite what is said, wavoids appear to prefer fictitious pipelines over reality.
Mymoney,
this is frustrated Wavoids selling. Impatient wavoids who have been asked to wait, have been asked to wait longer. The explanation given by Solms is perfectly reasonable. The sales strategy has changed. The personnel has changed. He believes he is on the right path. You either believe him or you don't. Most wavoids are not in a believing mood.
Having sold into large institutions, I know it can take some time. Considering they had no pipeline of large enterprise customers, the transition to this strategy was going to require some waiting. Obviously people were hoping he could pull a rabbit out of the hat, but reality is dictating the schedule. BS would really need to be full of bs to project profitability within the timeframe stated. I suppose anything is possible, but I don't think BS is a bs kind of guy.
I presume dig is trying to understand the motivation for reaching out to the shareholder base. Good luck trying to interpret IR's motivation.
Clearly the size of the mess that was inherited was substantial. The old mysterious pipeline did not exist except in the imaginations of those perpetuating the notion of its existence. There should be zero confusion, a change was needed. Time will tell if Bill delivers. So far, I like the initial steps he has taken. Approach does matter.
Thanks ronle, I did not previously see your message.
Alea, thirsty people like water...Wave investors have encountered many, many mirages along the journey in the quest for water. Solms believes he is building a well to tap an artesian aquifer right below, but...
***Wave investors are so thirsty, they are licking the pump before it has been completed.
***Wave investors herd to any sign of moisture.
***Wave investors are licking their own perspiration for moisture. Other than immediate satisfaction, the salty brine does more harm than good.
Is there drinkable water below or is it a well to nowhere? Time will tell! I see promise, but until my thirst has been quenched, I too remain thirsty.
We have a specific timeline to measure performance. I presume the current CEO realizes Wave investors are probably not going to be as forgiving the second time around. That said, I think enough work has been done to give him a great amount of certainty that the company has picked the right location to get things flowing.
Root, also important is sales follow through and continuity. At least from what I can see, Wave is working hard to sell an already developed product.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7140838000146152962?cm_medium=test
Wave VSC 2.0 Product release:
I was happy with what I saw from Wave. Everything was done professionally right down to thanking those involved in product development (Wave engineers). The product is highly differentiated and they should be able to sell it. The 2.0 product release was designed to address Bill and his team's view of the prior version shortcomings.
Sales people like to sell differentiated products. Cheaper, easier, more secure is very sellable. Of course it would have been nice to see a launch customer, but I think Wave will end up with many customers interested in deploying cheaper, easier and more secure especially considering the current cyber security environment.
Barge,
one more thing. Have you looked in a mirror lately? There is something protruding from your back. It may explain that lower back pain. :)
I believe it was last June that there was talk about a $50+ pipeline. I have a $50 mm yacht that goes by the same name as that pipeline. It is called BS (not Bill Solms).
Perhaps the following will seem in bitter contrast with my posts lately, but I truly wish Steven and his family nothing but the best. I am sure they did their best from their perspective. From what I could see, Steven did a good job promoting trusted computing.
Related to Wave, Steven's best was not enough. Change was needed.
That sounds fair to me Barge. If you are not moving the company forward through sales growth, what direction is it going? You know the answer! :)
I will support the individual who is focused on delivering results today without compromising tomorrow...call it what you will: cautious, fair weather, cold hearted, calculating, measured, you name it, etc...
Cartoon,
I like the thought of management pushing hard to sell what has already been developed. They understand that they are not selling to the end user consumer and are focusing the message on what resonates with the purchasers, cost, ease, and standards based security.
This is a message that should resonate and now it is up to Wave to sell product to enterprise and government. Prior to this regime, Wave's single greatest selling product was purchased by shareholders.