AI .. and Peppe,
"You obviously don't know TM and have never seen him in action.
TM and the word "bail" do not go well together in the same
sentence."
And you're obviously too young to remember TM bailing Mitel
Corp. (the other company he "built from scratch") straight
into the arms of BT in the early eighties... Your idol has
been there before, he knows the terrain.
In any case, Peppe's right, the name of the game is size now
as a result of the competitive mergers (i.e. lead, follow,
of get out of the way) being done/contemplated in the industry.
Although valiant and innovative in its attempt, TM's strategy
of tech-company empire-building is just not enabling the
needed size/muscle fast enough to enable him to compete. He
who acquires and assimilates technology, people, market share,
and installed customer base successfully will always win over
he who is building it from scratch .. it's just the most
expedient form of building market power. Sorry to say this to
all the NN-aholics on this thread but Cisco has acquired
something like 150 companies in its history (big, small,
perfect fits, tight fits, in core market, in related markets)
and has made all of them work. UB has shown that this ability
does not exist at Newbridge.
Anyway, what he is doing with those affiliates, is creating a
lot of jobs and a lot of opportunity for those 16-hour-a-day
high-tech workaholic types .. and that may be his most lasting
legacy .. a ton of newly-minted engineers, MBAs, and skilled
immigrants will be able to say they cut their teeth and learned
the business at Newbridge et al. in the 90s... much like a lot
of folks in their late 40s and early 50s are able to say that
today about Mitel.
J.
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