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Technology Stocks : Paul Allen's Wired World -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carolyn who wrote (2)	7/2/1999 9:03:00 PM
From: StockMiser	Respond to of 361

Well, he co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, so I'd call him a focused businessman. He was the technological side of the business - the side that actually had to deal with the details of making everything actually work. Without Allen, Bill Gates would of been nothing more than another small time hustler, commonly found during the earliest years of the PC. I'd call Mr. Allen a visionary who is several years ahead of the mainstream business community, and has therefore decided to spend billions of his own money to shape the future of the information age. He is a leader, and not a follower, with a keen sense of technology and it's future direction. He was both a founding father and promising child of this new age. He understands it as only an insider could, and he appreciates the profound impact that technology, and the internet in particular, will have on all aspects of our lives. I personally think his vision offers extraordinary insights, and extremely lucrative business potential :-) SM

To: Carolyn who wrote (2)	7/2/1999 9:07:00 PM
From: PatrickMark	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 361

Good Job, Adam - this thread will be very informative and a lot of fun. Until recently, PA's investments seemed fragmented and maybe even a little whimsical, to most, I think (or maybe it's just lack of any "vision" on my part!). But within the past six months, the convergence of investments has become very apparent, things are making more and more sense everyday and it's getting really intriguing. Carolyn, I don't know anything about Paul Allen. Is he the type to fulfill a secret fantasy, or a focused dedicated businessman with a far-reaching plan for his vision? Or both? Both, IMO. Adam's link on post (0) will get you up to speed pretty quickly on PA, or at least get your imagination revved up! The last couple of days I've been wondering what's up with Mercata - GNET and Mercata announced an alliance a while back, but I haven't heard much since. seattlep-i.com I feel like Mercata's gonna be a big deal. Also, I find myself a little unnerved about PA's (through VV's Savoy) talks with AOL of late, mostly because I see it as a threat to what I had envisioned as a pretty exclusive arrangement between GNET and Charter. RTev summed up my thoughts pretty well in a recent post - I'll try to find it. Anyways, thanks again for getting this going, Adam. PM

To: Carolyn who wrote (2)	7/2/1999 9:29:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 361

Is he the type to fulfill a secret fantasy, or a focused dedicated businessman with a far-reaching plan for his vision? Or both? First, I should point out that I only know about Paul Allen from various things I've read about him. Living in Seattle, though, I've read a lot about the guy. Which of those two alternatives best describe him? He seems to be a bit of both, but more of the first. All that I've read suggest he is the uber-nerd. Consider some of the things for which he's spent millions of dollars. There's the movie theater mentioned in the previous post. Its main reason for existence in its current refurbished state seems to be that it's the best damn place in the world to watch a Star Wars movie. A rich nerd doesn't need more reason than that to spend millions. And then there's the museum he's building at the foot of the Space Needle. It's a bizarre series of pastel bulges designed by noted architect Frank Gehry that will become a huge pop music museum and jam center when it's done. Allen is a guitarist -- not great according to those who've heard him, but not too bad either. A boyhood idol was Seattle native Jimi Hendix. Originally, the museum was to be a Hendrix tribute, but after a falling-out between Allen and the Hendrix family, its purpose was broadened. There's another nerd dream: Chuck all the coding and go off to become a rock'n'roll star. Allen has also long been a committed basketball fan. He's held season tickets to the Sonics for decades. After he had recovered from a serious illness that had prompted him to retire from Microsoft, Allen's first purchase was a pro basketball team. The Sonics weren't available, so he bought the Portland Trailblazers. Years later, he was talked into buying the Seattle Seahawks football team when its prior owner -- a California developer -- tried to move the team to LA. And around all of those things are the buildings. He seems to love edifices. Not only does he own houses and apartments around the world (with the private jets and yachts to get him there), but he also puts up often stunning buildings for his various projects. The list includes the Experience Music Museum, the Rose Garden for the Trailblazers in Portland, a new stadium for the Seahawks, an office complex across the street from the stadium for Vulcan's offices, along with several public buildings built with his donations. Those include a superb addition to the University of Washington library named after his father who was once a librarian there. Above all, Allen seems to be almost playful in his use of his billions. For awhile (as in his unsuccessful attempts to gain control of AOL and TicketMaster), it looked like he was wasting his money when he made business investments. That has now changed. He seems to have learned from his Trailblazers experience that it's best to have people he knows and trusts making decisions on which he doesn't have the skill to make good decisions. So... not much about the wired world, but that vision seems to be what ties almost everything together. Even the sports teams boast state-of-the-art technology in their venues and on their web sites.