"Remember, I don’t give a shit."
Marc Fleury
Media Shift
This morning began like most others at the house of Weatherby. Me getting up before everyone else, going through the overnight mail, reading RSS headlines, going out and getting the paper. Finding the iJustine 300 page iBill whirlwind the lead story in the business section of the AJC.
And somewhere along the line it dawned on me that I am no longer using traditional media as my primary media source and thus tweeted “lance is forming a habit of focusing on online media before traditional media first thing in the morn.”
Well I am not alone.
Hugh’s mini post “Most “big media” companies are still headquartered in New York. Most media power, however, is now headquartered in California.” got my attention after I arrived at work.
It seems that Henry Blodgett, who I subscribe to but somehow overlooked, (a broader problem that deserves attention) did a little analysis of old media vs. new media sales growth and market share. The key conclusion is online companies picked up 7 percentage points of market share in a single year. A single year. And that 7% is equal to nearly $1 billion in revenue. And a billion is big.
Henry comes to the further conclusion that the smartest companies, among other things are investing in or buying promising interactive businesses. To those watching this space closely this is not new news. For those that have not I have this conclusion. Build something a traditional media company wants to buy.
The Invirtus Story
The Angel Capital Foundation was a nice write up on the Atlanta Technology Angels investment in Invirtus and their quick and happy exit. Good reading for those that want some insight into how the group works.
PC With A Gun
From Worth1000.
Quote of the Week
“Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.”
Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron
Hammerin’ Hank is one class act. And I am with him on this one and pretty much agree with Cuban. Give Barry his due.
Quarterly Stock Update
Yesterday Knology was the last of the stocks in my play money portfolio to report earnings. Here is how I am doing.
AAPL. Bought into the stock in April at
$100. CPU traction was the reason. To paraphrase Paul Graham, everyone I know that is looking to buy a computer (and has control of the purchasing decision) is looking to buy a Mac. On top of that the iPhone is a game changer. It is a computer in your hand that you can also talk to people with. Early iPhone sales results has added some volatility to the stock. Regardless it is up 36% since purchase and driving overall recent portfolio gains. I see $160 in the near term.
ELNK. Last time I wrote about this one I said “I don’t
see a business in consumer muni Wi-Fi”. Well there is a new sheriff in town at EarthLink named Rolla Huff and neither does he. Based on what Rolla said during the earnings call (the stock is down 15% since he first publicly spoke on July 26) and my general knowledge of the ISP business here’s a scenario. EarthLink exits the Wi-Fi business. They invest no more in Helio than what they have formally committed to and only if Sky Dayton meets certain operating milestones. The business is right sized, resulting in a 40% RIF, perhaps rehiring in some slots with salaries more appropriate for a $1.2 billion company. Private equity takes it out in a deal valued at $11 per share. Wired just reported that a deal is happening a lot sooner.
JOE. Joe continues to disappoint as much as Apple pleases. Down 36% for the year. I think that something better to do with this money is Whole Foods but there are just so many questions around that company right now.
KNOL. Knology is a cable overbuilder offering triple play services. The stock has retreated from the $19 where I locked in some gains to buy Apple and is currently sitting at $14. Still a 400% return in less then 3 years. I have faith this will head north again based on revenue growth and cost control.
NFLX. Big mistake. Bought at $22 at the end of May and the stock is getting hammered based on competitive pressures. I purchased the stock because I think someone is going to take them out. Still do, but it’s painful at the moment.
SCUR. The story remains unchanged. Came into this via my time at CipherTrust. Missed out on the big sell off when restrictions were lifted. The stock is moving sideways and I would like to see a little recovery before starting a measured unwind.
Its been a rough three months but overall my 12 month return dropped only a point to 36%.
Money Mixer
The second rev of Capital Connections is gearing up for the evening of August 29. The goal of Capital Connection is simply to provide an environment where early stage entrepreneurs can make connections with other entrepreneurs and meet early-stage investors.
Put together by the friendly folks over at Startup Lounge, this mixer is expected to draw up to 350 people. You can expect a healthy ratio of three entrepreneurs for every investor. You have to apply and be accepted to attend. If you are a technology entrepreneur or accredited investor that pretty much gets you in the door for free.
To help prepare entrepreneurs on how to mingle with investors Adams Capital is hosting PitchCamp on the evening of August 15th.
Happy Birthday Kate!
Katherine Claire Weatherby turns nine today.
She plans to wake up and have Mickey Mouse chocolate chip waffles and bacon for breakfast. Most likely will read a little Harry Potter while listening to some tunes on the nano her grandmother give her for her birthday.
The thought is to get to Zoo Atlanta relatively early, before it gets too hot for child or beast, then escape to the cool confines of the High Museum of Art to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibition. It’s then home for steak dinner, lemon pound cake and chocolate ice cream. And of course open presents which are very pod related this year.
Somewhere along the way we will do measurements. Already know that she is a whopping 58 inches, or about 6 inches taller than average.
She’s growing up fast, but will always be my little girl.
BlogDay No Tag
I found out about BlogDay via a Jeff Pulver tweet.
Here are the instructions that Jeff laid out:
1. List five Blogs that you find interesting and if you can tell, include the city/country where they are from.
2. Identify five Bloggers to tag to join in this game with you. I
recommend emailing the bloggers you tag to give them a heads up of you
tagging them.
3. Use the tag: BlogDay2007 in your blog post.
4. (Optionally): Contact the owners of the blogs you shared as your “blogs to take a look at.”
So, in the spirit of this and the fact that I found out about this via Twitter, here are five interesting bloggers that I primarily follow via Twitter.
1. Andy Swain – Louisville, Kentucky (my hometown). Blogs and tweets about his stock trades.
2. Nik Cubrilovic – Sydney, Australia. Nik has an online startup company called OmniDrive. We got to know each other a few years ago. He does not post a lot but when he does it is well thought out.
3. Justine Ezarik – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bio proclaims “I am the Internet”. Lifecaster.
4. Hugh MacLeod – London, England. Claims his blog is lame until Sept 12. Tweets are good. Cartoons rock. Creator of Hughtrain. Can’t believe he actually follows me.
5. Natasha Wescoat – Saginaw, Michigan. Found this interesting artist when she started following me. Making great use of Internet tools to promote her work.
I am not tagging anyone. It seems that most folks don’t really think that is fun. What is fun is that you don’t have to wait for someone else to tag you if you want to
particiapte. Its your choice.
Quote of the Week
“The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was intended to open up communication services to broad competition on the most basic level, so of course the nation has since 1996 gone from 15 national broadband ISPs to five and a dozen big landline telephone companies to three.”
Robert X Cringely