InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! Message Board

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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went!

INSP 59.35

-13.0%

2:31 PM EST

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To: greenspirit who wrote (17600)	3/18/2000 1:03:00 PM
From: Kevin Rogers	of 28311

My observations on yesterday's annual meeting: Russ did his usual excellent job in outlining his vision for the company and where he sees the greatest opportunities for Go2Net. Overall, it was quite inspiring and reassuring (I even bought more after the meeting). A few highlights: They seek to make all of their products and services highly scalable and leveragable so that profit margins increase with higher levels of use. They continue to see tremendous momentum in their operations. For these reasons, they expect longer-term profit margins to grow from the mid-twenties to 35-40%. They expect half of their revenue to come from non-ad sources by year end. HyperMart's end to end service is being beta tested now and will be launched at the end of this month (3/29 I believe). Russ did not directly address the issue that has been raised on this board about not meeting earlier timelines for introduction, but his remarks on credibility and integrity suggest they won't do something until they have a good product that is ready (so it has probably taken longer to get it ready than he predicted). They see huge opportunities in business services by leveraging HyperMart (over 800,000 small businesses). Russ likened this potential to where Yahoo was in 96. They are and expect to remain cash flow positive on an operating basis, and have over $373 million available in cash and investments (as of 12/31/99). Many of their investments are presently worth much more than reflected on their balance sheet. They are now properly staffed to capitalize on their opportunities (staffing appears to have just about doubled since the beginning of this year). On the question of advertising: They are presently selecting an agency, but will not go over-board in spending (will spend 2-3 times as much as this year). They prefer to grow their properties organically, and will increase spending as sales increase (i.e., keep advertising spending as a percentage of sales relatively constant). Wireless: They are now beta testing the distribution of Go2Net services on wireless platforms and expect to announce a wireless strategy shortly. Russ took a shot at other companies hyping wireless service before their time. He is very sensitive to maintaining Go2Net's credibility and integrity and won't compromise either for short-term gain. Split: They won't split the stock just to move it, but will consider a split for increasing its liquidity. Finally, Roger Sherman did a great job presenting a plaque to Russ and thanking management for their efforts. Russ and his family were clearly touched and appreciative. It was fun to meet some of the more frequent posters on this board. You probably haven't heard from them yet because they had a full day of activities planned yesterday, but I'm sure they will provide their observations soon. Kevin Rogers #37

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