>>The one suggestion I would make is that the type of classification be added -- enabling hardware, enabling software, or applications software. The inherent ramifications are critically important.<<
I actually had that in my first draft, but then took it out in an attempt to trim back. Here's a revision (with changes highlighted):
"PROJECT LEADER" Suggestion
I Company Overview: who they are & what they do, how long they have been in business, # of employees, product offerings
II. Their makret: who are their competitors, who are their customers. (source: Edgar 10K filing)
III. Financial Information: last 4 quarters - Sales, gross profit %, net profit %, eps, q over q sales and earnings growth rates
IV. Stock Information: shares outstanding, float, % owned by insiders, % owned by institutions, 52 week hi/lo,
V. G/K Characteristics: (note some of these question are not easily answered, but all are worth thinking about)
1. where does the technology fit in - the technology layers we are most often concerned with are (from bottom to top): semiconductors, hardware, systems software and applications software. The first 3 are enabling technologies. (note: since it is more important for standards to be established in enabling technologies, gorilla power is much more potent there, and chimps have a lesser chance of survival. In applications software many vendors can prosper besides the gorilla.)
a. is there a discontinuous innovation? proprietary open architecture?
b. does it have the potential to grow into a mass market phenomenon, become a standard
c. are there high barriers to entry and high switching costs?
d. have value chains developed?
e. have they crossed the chasm (the chasm is the point where the visionaries (early adopters) begin to lose interest but the pragmatists (the herd) have not yet adopted the product. no gorilla game begins until the market has crossed the chasm. just on the other side of the chasm is the bowling alley - the beginning of the mainstream market. In the bowling alley market niches begin to adopt the new technology.)
f. existence of hypergrowth (the Tornado is a period of hypergrowth that coincides with the first surge of mass market adoption of a new technology, the tornado occurs when the pragmatists stop hesitating and rush to adopt the new technology en masse. This hypergrowth is often in excess of 300% per year)
Note: their can never be a gorilla without a tornado. some tornados do not sporn gorillas - these are markets without proprietary standards (such as fax machines). These become royalty games. In such a market if one vendor has more than twice the market share of its nearest competitor it becomes the king.
Sources of Information:
Wall St. Research Net wsrn.com
Market guide marketguide.com
SEC Filings freeedgar.com
Co. profiles, analysts recs justquotes.com |
