Why are we tanking??
I think the market starts to realize that David Whetherell is not the right person to lead CMGI to hihger level. He is a genius in spotting new internet ventures, technically astute and has vision as what type of business will work. However he is not a person who can put those pieces together to form a totally synchronized company. His type of management is autocratic. People have to get along with him and it is not a two way street. Only his way works and only his way.
DW does not get along with Robert Davis, otherwise Alta Vista would have been combined with Lycos. And now, two successful executives have left iCast, forced out by DW. Who has more experienced in that field? DW or those executives from NBC and MTV?
DW should learn from Paul Allen: he hires the best person, pays him/her good money and let the person run the organization. Look what he did to the Seahawks. So did Yahoo, Jerry Yang and David Filo are not management guys, more technical, so they got a professional to do it.
CMGI is an excellent company from the standpoint of having good babies, but if it is not managed properly, it can go south.
For the record, yesterday and today I covered my short puts on CMGI with good profit, although not at the level I expected. One thing my old man told me:
Do not decide based on what you think of the company rather than decide what the market thinks of the company Although I still have a sizable position in CMGI, I constantly follow recent developments. I am not married to this stock or any stock. Afterall I am already married to the most beautiful girl I have ever met.
In the mean time I am enjoying today's price appreciation of Dell, QCOM, KQIP and others holdings.
____________________________________________________________
by Frank Barnako CBS MarketWatch
Static at CMGI's ICast
CMGI (CMGI: news, msgs) chairman David Wetherell named a new chairman for his company's $100 million
Webcast venture, ICast. Its founder, former NBC TV executive Neil Braun, told the Wall Street Journal he was
forced out of the post by CMGI managers. Naming former ZineZone President Margaret Heffernan to the
ICast job, Wetherell said, "ICast is building a world-class entertainment site and Margaret's vision and leadership
have been key to its development." Braun was hired in February, along with former MTV executive Matt
Farber, who has also left the company. Differences about the approach of ICast stemmed from Braun's belief
the site should be focused on content like live concerts, while CMGI executives wanted it to do more with
technology to integrate CMGI sites, the Journal said. Wetherell said an ICast-related downloadable application
will be demonstrated next week at an online music industry conference.
Cheers everyone
Paul |
