John, Here's an interesting narrative that touches on what may be some of the real story of CSHK. I think I will follow his subsequent posts. Looks like an interesting tale.
Some history, in fact, to keep my narrative organized, let's call this posting, /b
I formed Relate Technologies, Inc. in 1994 to develop and market a contact management technology known as Contact-Pro. The technology was very powerful, exceeding the power of ACT!, GoldMine and others, but the company lacked capital to drive it to its full potential. The company had major clients such as British Telecom, University of Texas Medical School, etc.
My background includes 15 years in major consumer goods companies: Ralston Purina, PepsiCo, and Campbell Soup. My last three positions were Chief Marketing Officer/Worldwide for Seven-Up, President/Pepsi-Cola France, and Chief Operating Officer/Continental Sweets Europe(a Campbell Soup Company). Having been well-paid for quite some time, and believing strongly in our technology, I invested heavily and took no salary for over four years. I'm not looking for sympathy here, in fact, many people, including my wife, believe that I am crazy... I am just trying to set the stage for discussion to follow...
One of the cofounders of Relate was Chris Ely who was employed by Relate from its inception in 1994 through March/April, 1999. Yes, that is
1999. Chris is now, apparently, employed by CSHK, although, with the apparent consolidation of the two companies, I'll leave it up to you to discover which entity Chris is currently with.
In 1997, Relate employed George Palmer as VP of Sales. Relate met all its financial obligations to George, including advancing salary payments to him, at his request, to facilitate payment of his sons' college tuition. Immediately following the salary advance, George resigned from the company, without having made any sales whatosever for Relate.
. . .
The story is long and, I believe, very instructive. Don't worry, I won't be offline long...
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