Now I completely agree with that. It is bizarre. Quite honestly, Surwin, it's frustrating for long investors like myself.
With Gorgal being so insistent that the product does what he says it does, it makes me wonder why Bruce hasn't signed a few smaller deals. Deals with some smaller firms should be less time consuming to finalize.
What would happen if Bruce decided to sign a few smaller contracts? I think that he would receive buyout offers that aren't quite what he had in mind. They would be much smaller than what he is willing to accept.
However, if Bruce decided to chase larger targets, the buyout offers would be exponentially higher. I think that's what he has in mind. I think that's why he hasn't attended the RSA conferences. I also think it's a very risky strategy. In the end, it could be a complete flop or an absolute Blockbuster.
Perhaps Bruce's largest long-term investors have an acquisition number in mind that Bruce absolutely must accept. It could be as little as 1 billion or less. Signing smaller contracts might induce such an offer. I think Bruce's goal is much greater than that. I think he wants a buyout offer in double digit billions. In order to induce that kind of offer without inducing the smaller offer, he would have to chase the big fish.
Call me crazy, but if that particular theory is true, it's a stroke of absolute genius or a strategy ensuring absolute failure.
Keep in mind that I can offer no proof whatsoever that this is the case. I'm just thinking that if I were him and my goal was to develop a company worthy of a massive buyout, my main investors could hamper those efforts by insisting on accepting a buyout that was less than what I had in mind. Just a theory.
AI
