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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: matt dillabough who wrote (61340)	6/24/1999 2:34:00 PM
From: Dee Jay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

the shareholders meeting was chaired by Michael Ashby and Bob Mackin, VP of Marketing. Aside from me the only other recognizable SI participant was Hitesh Puri, not merely because of his (self-described) brown skin but the intelligence of his questions, both in the meeting and with individuals afterwards; of course we have come to expect that. I'll leave it to Hitesh to discuss the technical matters he raised (esp. as regards to Cisco); he's on his way back to Silicon Valley now. A burning question we all have: will Lucent be so hidebound that the Ascend culture will be submerged rather than merged? Bob Mackin's answer is that McGinn (sp?) is so dynamic an individual and so entrepreneurial that this new Internetworking Division will in fact retain the Ascend culture and dynamism. Bob pointed out that the area Lucent is weakest in is the area where the most growth is expected - data communications. That's why the Internetworking Div. is headed by an Ascend top level executive (6 of the top are retained, 6 are leaving, including Ashby and Mackin). These top execs are being given NEW Lucent options, as well as conversion of their existing Ascend options; Lucent recognizes the competitive marketplace for high quality employees for what it is and is taking the right steps to retain the best of the best. McGinn's own dynamism will probably be described by Hitesh who has met and talked with him. Will the tail wag the dog in this case? Perhaps in terms of explosive revenue growth. The new division will have enough independence that it can operate as it needs to under the Lucent umbrella, he feels. Will Chambers be right as to bi-coastal mergers not workable? Bob Mackin, ex of Cascade, said they did have a few problems initially but they were straightened out quickly enough. He counterpointed Chambers' assertion by mentioning how badly the CSCO-Stratacom merger went and the 2 companies were practically neighbors in Silicon Valley! Then too, actions speak louder than words - isn't CSCO spending billions to buy an E. Coast company right now? I had the opportunity to thank Michael Ashby (for all of us) for his incredibly important contributions, coming to ASND at precisely the right moment when credibility had to be restored. He pulled that off magnificently, as we all will agree. His feat is one major reason why that meeting was held today, IMO. Mory, BTW, was not there - he was in LA as his daughter is graduating from high school this week, but he will be back on the job (temporarily) Monday to work with the transition team. More impressions as they are recalled... Dee Jay