OK, fantastic. Today was a lot of budget hacking and web posting. We hacked over 100K from the budget, which means I will not only be taking out the trash, I will be wearing the bag. And, if you've never done it, you really must lay off your mother-in-law. She took it better than I did.
Part of our problem is the unexpected limp performance of teleconferences. Teleconferences are exactly what we thought people would want since they can't leave their seats. Now, we had some other factors that may be toying with us (more about that later in a post entitled: "How to Hose Your Lists"), but maybe the people left to do the work after all the layoffs just don't have the time for 100 minutes of thigh-slapping legal education. I've heard others are down, but talked to someone else today who's teleconference business was holding up. On the other hand, we had a great one this week with 70 attendees. What a tease! We had another one with 5 if you count the operator. My team makes fun of that fact that I like to call those "recording sessions."
We've been shooting video, which helps our SEO. Our site is young, but we'll probably have 100,000 visitors this year. Not bad given we're in a narrow market. We will have easily double that when you count all the other sites that pick up our content through direct arrangements and press releases. Let's see if I am clever enough to post a video here . . .
Wow. Been here since 4:30 a.m. and still have my wits. Or at least one wit. This is shot with two cameras in high quality, which gets lost when uploaded to YouTube. We're using it to enhance our site and sell the video package. We've already had several orders. This video was shot by GiantAntMedia.com. I highly recommend them. Visit their site not just to see what you can do with talented people and a couple cameras, but to have a little fun.
Here is one shot with less definition, and edited by yours truly, who after he takes out the trash edits video using either Windows Movie Maker or borrows one of his kids' Macs and uses iMovie. He then stops talking about himself in the third person and inserts the video.
Not great. Not bad. But the speaker was intelligent and prepared, so the content makes up for the single-shot look. We worked with a local video guy on that one. He's great to work with and is learning his craft, but the conditions for shooting weren't the best.
Below we completely failed on quality (shot by yet another company), but the content was outstanding and we're selling recordings.
I learned from this that the audio is more important than the video. Fortunately the video is so bad you can't tell the audio was synced up later, but missed by a fraction of a second. It's a bit like watching the English language version of a movie with English dubbed in. It was on this one that I learned the magic of converting PowerPoint slides into Move Maker slides. I have to say that during this process I decided to love Microsoft since stuff works so well together, and it's already on my PC. I love the Mac too, and anyone I come into contact with in the video world insists on it. I've found free programs to convert Mac files into Windows files, but if anyone has one they love, please tell me. My kids never have problems with their Macs and quickly learned movie editing, much to the disappointment of our family chinchilla, Gizmo (below), who's now on YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, I use that for all our promotional clips. It's super easy to use and gives you the flexibility to insert clips like I did in this post.
My daughter, 17, shot that using the camera on her laptop, inserted photos, slides and music, converted it and posted on YouTube between the time I showed her iMovie was on her Mac and sat down at my desk at the office just 5.5 miles away. Next I am going to show her my budget.
OK, enough for today. I need to sweep our PayPal account and go home. PayPal, by the way, was a godsend. Their rates are higher than you'd pay with other merchant account services (anyone may feel free to suggest them), but since we were considered a startup banks would not let us take credit cards. PayPal approved us in 24 hours and not only were we taking credit cards, but creating and customizing buttons for our site. And for a hoot, whenever someone purchases something from us, I get an email notice which I've set to trigger the sound of a cash register, which I downloaded from SoundSnap.com. It's a great site to get any noise you like. Anything from "glass breaking" to "woman vomiting." Hours of fun for the entire family.
Thanks to a truly spirited and willing staff, the lights remain on at HB Litigation Conferences LLC.
Future Posts (this is really here for me more than you): Fun with WordPress, Lexis Web 2.0, Podcasting, Blogging, Creative Madness, and why I hate Comcast, NAPA Auto Parts and Salmon, reprising "Schmoozing With The Masters," and why I drive a car that looks like a wet cough drop.
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2009
Friday, February 1, 2008
And In this Corner: Microsoft Bid for Yahoo! Sets Stage for Heavyweight Bout
I know you don't come to me for the latest business news, which is why I am posting this so late. I hate to disappoint. Now I am waiting for someone to write, "Well actually, Tom, we don't come to you at all." If so, that means you will have fallen into my trap.
Like in boxing, it's fun to watch the big boys fight. I am more a fan of the welterweights and middleweights, and sometimes the light heavyweights (are you asleep yet?), but on those rare occasions you get to see the big fellas who can actually move, duck, punch and speak. We have all the possibilities of such a bout as Microsoft looks to add some pack to its wallop with its Yahoo! bid, setting up a battle of the colossals. I urge people at ringside to wear splatter guards. OK, enough tortured boxing metaphors. Someone who tracks this stuff more closely than I do cautioned that this is "far from a done deal," noting that Yahoo! has turned down bids like this before. Is it time for Yahoo! to make the big move?
Here is the letter Microsoft's Steve Ballmer sent to the Yahoo! board of directors:
I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.
Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.
We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.
Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.
In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.
While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:
Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.
We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.
We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.
Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.
In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.
Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.
We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
Like in boxing, it's fun to watch the big boys fight. I am more a fan of the welterweights and middleweights, and sometimes the light heavyweights (are you asleep yet?), but on those rare occasions you get to see the big fellas who can actually move, duck, punch and speak. We have all the possibilities of such a bout as Microsoft looks to add some pack to its wallop with its Yahoo! bid, setting up a battle of the colossals. I urge people at ringside to wear splatter guards. OK, enough tortured boxing metaphors. Someone who tracks this stuff more closely than I do cautioned that this is "far from a done deal," noting that Yahoo! has turned down bids like this before. Is it time for Yahoo! to make the big move?
Here is the letter Microsoft's Steve Ballmer sent to the Yahoo! board of directors:
I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.
Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.
We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.
Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.
In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.
While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:
Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.
We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.
We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.
Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.
In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.
Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.
We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
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