Replies to post #108962 on Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[castine]

Very interesting post. Thanks for the overview and perspective.

Ron

[rachelelise]

going fishin

There are several areas where criticism could be justified.

First is the degree to which people have been mislead in 1999 to 2003 Certainly Wave did little to curtail excitment when it was misplaced and in fact they helped fuel the flames. I have done the same thing to some degree in sales situations but that doesn't make it right and there are thresholds that shouldn't be crossed. There is clearly some differences of opinion here.

Second is the way the funds from the 120 million financing were spent. Clearly there was exuberance throughout the marketplace but Wave clearly misjudged the market and revenue expectations a lot. It's not any one deal that I would criticize since that is a retrospective jab but in the aggregate they were not good stewards of the money. And their business strategy did not align well with the realiities of the market.

Third in more recent times, the misjudgements of revenue incidence and their financing strategy causing serial dilution at decreasing prices.


I think most IHubers understand now the difficulties that have been encountered and just what a tough job it really has been to accomplish Wave's goals. And it is hard to argue with their successes and positioning over the past several years. I think your post refers a lot to Wave's modern history and a lot of the criticism is based on periods before then.

[Weby]

Goin A truly excellent synopsis eom

[orda]

How do you know this?


During this time period, SS was seen with a very high powered military lobbyist/advisor.

[wavxmaster]

goin fishin

Nice catch, thanks for sharing it with us. Until the Gov't, MSFT, Intel, AMD and a few others were ready, Wave was throwing --it against the wall hoping to have some stick.
Since then progress has been steady starting with the TCPA changing its charter(veto power) and morphing into the TCG.
I guess if being optimistic was a crime, then SS may have commited a couple misdemeaners, but besides the loans to dad and others, he has done a great job positioning Wave right in the middle of TC. Great post.

Wavxmaster

[theguvna88]

Nope. Ain't going there this time. Just walking away.......

[oknpv]

goin fishn....I like "praise" for management. Some posters , even longs, find fault with management on just about everything they do & even post these feelings as fact. Thats fine with me as its a free country. I happen to disagree and believe that our management team is unusually accessible to the investors, has done a splendid job, has had to adjust to many changes in the plans of the gorilla companies, is loaded with prestige personnel, & has done a perfect job in every step of our development. Who really knows what they have had to contend with? Just IMO. Not one basher has ever been in any business meeting with the global companies and Wave nor have I. Have they ever made mistakes? Who knows? Maybe not. We have the best talent in the world at Wave, thats my read.

[cpa]

They should be critizied for statements like "we'll be break even sometime in 2004" (or something close to that). They knew then that that was not going to happen. The statement was made in 2003. By your own account, the market wasn't even close to being devoloped.

Either they lied, or made a HUGE mistake. Take that with all the other business models they rolled out, goals thay said they would obtain and missed, and you at least have a management team that can't see the marketplace.

So, why sould you believe them now? You believed them then and they were wrong. Why can't they be wrong now? And please, don't tell me about gorillas. EDS was a gorilla, Compaq was a gorilla, etc....

For all we know, by the time the market REALLY develops, one of the gorillas will roll out a far superior product. You DON'T know that Wave is light years ahead. Maybe a gorilla is purposly holding out on a roll out until the market is ready because they don't want a company like Wave that could adjust to be able to adjust quick enough.

None of us know and that is a fact!!! To proclaim otherwise is ignorance, end of story.

CPA

[RootOfTrust]

goin fishn, great post/summary! e/