Rocketman, my concern is the ability of AOL to hold on to the NSCP people after they have exercised their stock options.
Chinmoy, that is an excellent question, and what I assume is a key part of the transition strategy. The fact that Andresson stayed on and is chief technical officer is a big plus for keeping the technical people. But I think a bigger factor is whether they can remain challenged. I suspect that with the Sun partnership, and the AOL-anywhere paradigm, which I suspect might lead to a pico-Java-based client implementation, the technical challenges will remain.
As far as employee retention and stock options, and this is not to disparage anyone with such options, I am not sure who would be more productive: an engineer who has been with the company a long time and is vested, or a new hire eager to see his options appreciate. Assuming their native talent is similar, the former has the advantage of knowing the company and the history of what has and has not worked, but may not be as motivated to the company's future growth. The latter may have the relearn a few things, but would be more motivated. So I don't know, it might be a wash. |
