Veritone Inc (VERI)

[GBR]

I'm not convinced Veritone is a pump and dump. Like you say, they didn't dump. Definitely overhyped, but I think they really believe what they say. They may engage in a lot of wishful thinking, and are really shooting for the moon with aiWare. But unlike Tom Siebel, I think Steelbergs really have conviction and passion in what they are trying to accomplish, despite the fact that it is a long shot. Tom Siebel too set in his ways and old school, just using the same recipe he used for Siebel Systems, and now has to revamp to consumption based.

I like Veritone's prospects going forward more than C3. Another thing is that Veritone is very much involved in advertising and M&E, really working on the front lines. C3 more of an AI consultant type that I wonder if they truly understand the businesses that they are trying to sell into.

With Veritone, we see a lot of meaningless press releases, mostly on M&E and advertising. Hardly ever see press releases on aiWare, meaningless or not. So when he hypes during the earnings calls, don't understand why they don't hype in press releases. Even if they don't get any aiWare contracts, they could still be sending out press releases on aiWare, but they don't. Seem to be confident in their partnership arrangements. So basically let partners handle the other verticals, while Veritone focused directly on M&E. Might come out OK if they can control expenses and run efficiently.