Clay, I'm with you !
Ignoring all the "ratios", there would appear to be two logical reasons
to invest in CHPS (or indeed any technology company) - Management and
Intellectual Property.
A comment I once heard from a senior member of a large venture capital
organisation summarises the first of these - "We don't invest in
anything other than management groups". And if you think about this,
what else is there ? In the long run, assuming that an organisation
has a strong enough starting point, it should be capable of going
successfully in almost any direction. An organisation with good
management, should create good strategies, good employees, and should
be commercially successful. Whilst I have never met the management of
CHPS, everything I've seen of their technology strategy, their
delivery of products in support of this strategy, their employees,
and the culture of the organisation leads me to believe that they have
good management. (Another VC comment I like relates to there being
greater confidence in management groups which have experienced bad
times as well as good - another thing that CHPS have).
The second aspect is the Intellectual Property. There is every sign
that CHPS have made sustained investments in developing and buying
technology, to the extent that they have an excellent and relevant IP
portfolio. They are active in 2D, 3D, DVD, FPD/DSP, FPD connection,
decompression, etc., This is further assisted by a good technical
reputation, and the relationships by which they can further develop
and exploit IP.
Fundamentally I'm impressed by the corporate attitude of CHPS. This is
mainly a reflection of the management of the organisation. There seems
to be an extremely "can do" attitude about the company, but which
is lacking any of the (too frequent ?) technical arrogance that can
accompany successful high-techs. (Having been to hell and back is
probably a reason why this is a big part of their culture). Whatever
the cause, it's a great help in relationship building, and has allowed
the company to move quickly into new areas by building appropriate
partnerships. This is what should continue to drive the organisation
onwards and upwards.
If they can maintain this, then in the longer term they should do well.
Of course, I also like their numbers and their technology - but you
probably didn't want to know that ! :-) |
