I was out all afternoon today and when I got back in, I had a pleasant surprise when I turned the computer back on. Boy if this happens every time I leave the computer, I can't wait to see what happens when I go away for two weeks. I will be leaving on Saturday so I guess the fun can start on Monday. <VBG>
Any time I see an interesting Press Release on a company I like, I find that to better understand what is being said, I will often break the release down into what I feel is its most important points. This trick helps me to put the information into a format that makes it easy for me to see how it impacts my understanding of the fundamentals of the company. As it is too long to add to this one, my next post will be the re-worked bullet point summary of this press release.
This news release today was chalk full of good information!
It tells us that Answers.com now is ready to really go to town and focus on the Business to Business market. This company will offer a value added service that is more inexpensive and more responsive than their competitors.
What is most striking about this announcement is that Answers.com has also just told us that they have been in talks with the industry leader in this area - Ask Jeeves. Not only have they been in talks, but that they are continuing their discussions.
As the industry leader, Ask Jeeves is not perceived as a competitor to Answers.com. This is because they both focus on different segments of a huge, huge market. Ask Jeeves is targeting the large corporations in the world and they have some huge corporate clients such as MSFT and Home Depot for example. Answers.com is basically doing the same thing that Ask Jeeves is - only they are targeting the smaller to mid sized clients. Answers.com's market focus is on a basically untapped and eager market of the thousands of companies who are not in the Fortune 500 level.
Answers.com also has the benefit of being able to access NSI's distributed Taskforce and they have the ability to draw upon NSI's patent pending ICMS. Ask Jeeves does not have the benefit of using this technology, and their infrastructure is based on a more traditional model. With NSI's support Answers.com will be more nimble and with a lower cost base than Ask Jeeves.
That said, Ask Jeeves is obviously doing something right because they are continuing to sign on many new and strong clients. Based on the strengths and the target markets of both companies, I can easily understand why Ask Jeeves and Answers.com have been in contact with each other. A partnership would be nice.
By the way, I find it interesting to note that Ask Jeeves share price is currently at $125 U.S. and Answers.com is still a private company with intentions to list on NASDAQ this year. Given this standard to go on, and with all the things that Answers.com has going for it, I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what the valuations will be on Answers.com's shares when they come to market?
As mentioned, in my next post I will list the points I feel are important from the Press Release today.
Talk to you soon!
Crazy Canuk |
