Howard - Kudos for On A Roll: must-read IDTC investors pt1
by: lorina5
22740 of 22743
Because next week is extremely critical to IDTC as a company and to us investors, this weekend I read "On A
Roll" in its entirety. I needed once and for all an explanation from the CEO of why this stock, which is so
promising, has underperformed since November when I got in. What exactly is his beef with Wall Street? I
posted some extremely critical remarks against Howard and IDTC management in frustration last December. I
erroneously believed that Howard was toying with Wall Street analysts and mm's when in fact it was the other
way around. In January 1999, I was so furious with the obvious stock price manipulation [this time not
Howard's doing, but rather the mm's] that I couldn't even post. I decided to wait until I could get a handle on
what was going on.
I got the answers I needed for my due diligence from Howard's book re: the credibility of this company. Now in
particular I feel sheepish for having criticized IDTC out of ignorance. Especially since Howard expressed how
those same type of stupid criticisms affected him personally. Well, the blurted out statements were from anger
and, I guess you've probably heard much worse in the Bronx! But I am sorry for being so lippy and
sophomoric. I do apologize and feel contrition for the error! I also agree with your statement that a major
downside of the Internet is that people will spout off to somebody totally disregarding their emotions as if they
don't exist because they can hide behind the anonymity. Maybe once we get streaming video to follow these
e-mails, that will die out. (Ways to improve the 'net!)
I'm sure that many other investors would feel reassured about the company if they read the book too,
however, I am guessing that many of them will not. So to counteract my earlier dumb posts, I will summarize
some important points of the book.
This company and its stock have been hounded by AT&T, agencies within the United States Gov't. (which
required the direct intercession of the then-Vice President to rectify) and unnamed private investigators who
published false claims that the company was being investigated by the FBI. No amount of lying has been able
to torpedo the stock, however close it came and despite its enemies' best efforts, and yes Howard does have
his enemies. But he also has strong government connections within his IDTC mgmt. team who actually were
able to get a private meeting with the Vice President.
Even more importantly Howard used his own life savings from prior successful businesses when he was
blackballed by ALL of the underwriters during the bogus "FBI" smear-campaign which tanked the stock down
to 4 during 1997. Imagine how happy we'd be if we had invested then!!! Well, Howard bailed his own
company out with money that he had stached away for protecting his family in a pinch. Howard decided at
that point that he could not rely on the establishment Wall Street money which basically was asking him to go
ever deeper in debt in the name of "Growth" of the company. He concentrated on making the existing
business more profitable by trimming the payrolls and reorganizing IDTC around its core competencies, which
quickly worked by taking the company from a $200 million capitalized stock to approximately $1 billion, and he
still holds true to that concept today. "KEEP IT PROFITABLE!!" IDTC is one of the few truly profitable internet
companies.
Howard Jonas: Kudos for "On A Roll" pt 2
by: lorina5
22741 of 22743
Anyhow, if Howard was willing to put up his life's savings money to shore up this company it told me
everything I needed to know about the CEO's commitment. I have not only added positions continually in
January and February but let others know of the opportunity.
Net2Phone is an awesome technology that will bring true interactivity on the net. Currently, you can interact
with databases for information you query upon, but most normal Joes [like Howard who writes an entire book
in long-hand and not on a word processor] want to interact with tangible things like PEOPLE! When I was a
foreign exchange student, a 10 cents a minute call home to friends and family would have been a major
morale-boost at times when I needed to interact with people other than mere e-mails!! IDTC's international
calling network is so successful and efficient that even his major nemesis, AT&T, uses it. The analogy is
Michael Jordan (AT&T) taking golfing lessons from Tiger Woods (IDTC) to improve his game.
Personally, I have also been the victim of a being placed on a "blackballed list". That's when Howard's story
became very real and believable to me. It brought it all back how things happened for me in acting school,
when after commenting on the biggoted acting coaches that I had endured in San Francisco that I was
amazed and shocked it would happen there. I was basically told to shut up and not make waves. 3 years of
rejection letters followed [despite increasingly solid auditions] and by the time I was 30, I figured my school
boy days had run out. But the last time I auditioned, anticipating a cloaked "You'll never work in this town
again" rejection letter, I merely told the audition judge that if I weren't chosen this year that I had a
contingency plan and I would move to NYC to continue my career without the advanced actor training which
also included introductions to casting agents and producers in L.A. and N.Y. It's very hard to muscle your way
into the acting scene -- you need connections, just as in the business world. However, it can be done by
willpower alone, just that you'd better have a lot of it!!!
Perhaps the greatest thing about books is that they are thought provoking, and well-written books are moving
far beyond the author's original expectations in how they can reach people.
Howard Jonas: Kudos for "On A Roll" pt 2
by: lorina5
22741 of 22743
Anyhow, if Howard was willing to put up his life's savings money to shore up this company it told me
everything I needed to know about the CEO's commitment. I have not only added positions continually in
January and February but let others know of the opportunity.
Net2Phone is an awesome technology that will bring true interactivity on the net. Currently, you can interact
with databases for information you query upon, but most normal Joes [like Howard who writes an entire book
in long-hand and not on a word processor] want to interact with tangible things like PEOPLE! When I was a
foreign exchange student, a 10 cents a minute call home to friends and family would have been a major
morale-boost at times when I needed to interact with people other than mere e-mails!! IDTC's international
calling network is so successful and efficient that even his major nemesis, AT&T, uses it. The analogy is
Michael Jordan (AT&T) taking golfing lessons from Tiger Woods (IDTC) to improve his game.
Personally, I have also been the victim of a being placed on a "blackballed list". That's when Howard's story
became very real and believable to me. It brought it all back how things happened for me in acting school,
when after commenting on the biggoted acting coaches that I had endured in San Francisco that I was
amazed and shocked it would happen there. I was basically told to shut up and not make waves. 3 years of
rejection letters followed [despite increasingly solid auditions] and by the time I was 30, I figured my school
boy days had run out. But the last time I auditioned, anticipating a cloaked "You'll never work in this town
again" rejection letter, I merely told the audition judge that if I weren't chosen this year that I had a
contingency plan and I would move to NYC to continue my career without the advanced actor training which
also included introductions to casting agents and producers in L.A. and N.Y. It's very hard to muscle your way
into the acting scene -- you need connections, just as in the business world. However, it can be done by
willpower alone, just that you'd better have a lot of it!!!
Perhaps the greatest thing about books is that they are thought provoking, and well-written books are moving
far beyond the author's original expectations in how they can reach people. |
