I was very pleased with the approach they laid out for marketing CCI and the MusicCard: "guerrilla marketing" based on a grassroots approach, as opposed to extremely expensive retail marketing. This makes great sense for a company with limited marketing dollars -- basically, get others (dealers, fund raisers) to serve as the retail front, with TSIG/CCI supplying the logistical support to link those retailers and their customers with the fulfillment agency. Very well conceived and economical.
I continue to be a bit more worried about the cash/capital situation than Mr. Gordon suggests we should be, although I'm more at ease about it now than I was before the CC . . . and, even before the CC, I was on board as a long. The thing is, any acquired company is going to need some time to be integrated into TSIG and ramp up to full steam. Look at CCI, which turned a profit last year, but has basically been sidelined for some months while becoming, operationally, a part of TSIG. They'll still need resources to carry these new acquisitions through the ramp-up stage. Also, the latest 10-K and 10-Q show that the operating expenses (especially "salaries and contract services") have been quite high relative to revenues, and I'd figure TSIG will remain in the red operationally for at least a while longer.
Let me emphasize, as I said above, that I've been long on TSIG and am even longer after the CC. I just want to inject some caution into our thinking on the finances; we've got to give TSIG some time to get that balance sheet cleaned up. It sounds like Mr. Gordon has a plan for keeping TSIG on target financially, including the private placement that'll be announced shortly. I'm looking forward to watching this story unfold. |
