So if the amount of cash equals the price of the shares outstanding how are you getting the company for free if they continue to burn and loss money? TSCM closed at $3 today so I guess if they run out of money in the future you can get TheStreet.com for $0. Quote of the day->"actually beating the expectations we had back then"
and now sell for less than 3.50, ``which is equal to the cash they have on the balance sheet. If you bought the company, you'd be getting the company for free because of that cash.<B/>
Flatiron Partners' Wilson on Internet Stock Prices: Comment
New York, Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Fred Wilson, general partner at venture capital firm Flatiron Partners, which has invested more than $400 million in technology companies since 1996, comments on Internet stock prices at yesterday's Silicon Alley Venture Capital Conference in New York. The Bloomberg U.S. Internet Index is down almost 50 percent since late March.
``We all deserve some blame for being in this spot. We failed to live up to some expectations that were set. We all participated in the feeding frenzy.''
Wilson is chairman of TheStreet.com Inc., a financial news Web site that first sold shares to the public in May 1999 at 19, saw those shares surge to 70 the first day, and now sell for less than 3.50, ``which is equal to the cash they have on the balance sheet. If you bought the company, you'd be getting the company for free because of that cash.<B/> It's been a disaster, but since we made our initial investment in the spring of '98 the company's actually beating the expectations we had back then.''
Yahoo! Inc. shares fell 21 percent after the biggest Internet search service said third-quarter sales rose at a slower pace than previous quarters. ``People don't believe in the Internet and Yahoo relies on the Internet for success. If I had a choice between Yahoo or Viacom it would be an easy choice. People 18 to 40, we use the Net more than TV, radio or malls. My kids use the Internet more than Nickelodeon and Yahoo is the front door to the Internet.
``People say `the Fortune 500 will buy these Web servers.' That's dead wrong. A lot of these CEOs wish the Net had never happened and they are cutting back on their Internet initiatives faster than you can believe. They should believe. They should buy TheStreet.com, DrKoop, Amazon.com.
``The last laugh is going to be had by the people who actually do understand the future of the Internet. This Christmas, online retailing will be bigger than last year by at least a factor of two or three.''
``There will (still) be a lot of consolidation and a lot of pain. Happily, we'll never get back to the inflated expectations we had. I think we're pretty close to the bottom of public market valuations.''
``If you're not prepared to lose money you're never going to have anything, you'll never innovate. Losses with moderation and purpose are good. That's what got lost. If you bought something at 100 and have seen it go to 10 it's really hard to get excited about a business like that, and a lot of people don't get past that simple dynamic.''
Oct/12/2000 10:41 ET
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