TTommy, let me share a bit of my experience with big companies, because like you I have had this same thought--'why the heck don't they just buy us'--about many small companies I have invested in previously. If it seems so obvious to me, why isn't it to them?
The fact is, big companies aren't stupid, they're cautious. They would rather spend $5B for a company they could buy now for $500M once the revenue stream has been validated. Many large purchases, most in fact, are made by calculating the ability of the revenue stream and revenue growth to pay off the purchase. The bean counters in big corps have a lot of influence in this regard.
It's a conservative approach, and it works. Now we can argue all day long about the merits of early vs late purchases but this is overwhelmingly my experience, and I've been investing in small companies for well over thirty years. So when you think about MSFT, think of a large rhino charging through the forest and we are a ti ti bird sitting on it's back. When we grow into the size of a jaguar, the rhino starts paying attention.
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