InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[blueskywaves]

Whoaaa, slow down. You're not thinking straight.

First, the options vest over a period of time up to 10 years. You make it sound like it's a one-shot deal.

Second, the new hire only makes money if the stock appreciates over and above the exercise price which is generally equal to the market price at the time of the grant so calm down and do the math. Nobody is giving $1M right away to a new hire. A top notch engineer with an average compensation of $150k to $300K per year can make $1.5M to $3.0M over a decade so structuring part of that compensation in the form of equity is not out of line.

Lastly, with the 2G litigation mostly behind it, we're talking strictly about top 5% managerial and technical talent now. Forget about your average manager or engineer off the street who needs years to become productive. See WiDax example below. As you know, WiDax is the newest Schilling company.

IDCC currently has 216 R&D personnel. The accelerating patent production suggests strongly that IDCC has strenghtened its basic/applied science capabilities since the 1995 Motorola loss. That's fine. What is unproven is IDCC's ability to successfully bring a product to market. The people I want them to get are the people who know how to make the pragmatic trade-offs between engineering perfection and time to market.

As it stands now, the US wireless data market is developing very differently from the European market or the Japanese market. The kind of organization that IDCC has now is optimized for de jure standards-based carrier economics. The rapid growth of WiFi suggests that IDCC needs to get more people who are used to de facto standards-based non-carrier competition so they can take full advantage of a global wireless installed base that is going from 1.1B subscribers in 2002 to north of 1.5B subscribers in 2004.

So after all that, you still haven't answered the simple question: greedy compared to what?



Gary P. Jackson
Vice President - Sales and Marketing

Gary P. Jackson has over 20 years’ experience in enterprise class systems and applications software, focused on building and growing sales and customer satisfaction. Most recently, Mr. Jackson was President and COO of Ozro, a leading developer of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) software. In addition to driving all customer interface operations, he formulated the strategy that drove rapid recognition by industry analysts of Ozro, as a top provider. Jackson also secured funding and landed key development partner agreements.

Previously, Mr. Jackson served as VP Sales and VP International Operations for Vantive, a market leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. During his tenure, Vantive grew from a start-up to a company with $160 Million in revenue.

Among the accomplishments: Mr. Jackson created the international strategy of Vantive’s business, created and managed 5 wholly owned subsidiaries, established distribution in 17 countries, developed consulting partner relationships, and shaped Vantive’s formal sales process and post-sales support process. Mr. Jackson drove a strategic task force that resulted in a successful merger with Peoplesoft, a $500 Million transaction.

Mr. Jackson received his BA in Business Administration from Boston College.

http://www.widax-corp.com/company-e2.htm