SM is riding a classy old horse.
Thought I would repeat my last Raging Bull post, done for the folks down on the rail, for you folks up here in the clubhouse.
And They're Off - GMGC Takes Early Lead In Stakes at DRC
(DRC is explained at the end of the post.)
There is an ocean of red ink, approaching $300 million. There has got to be some value retained from all of that because this has always been a company of engineers. General Magic, spun out of Apple and funded by Apple, Motorola, Sony, NTT, and others was one of the best financed startups ever (somewhere back about 1991).
They were saved by the GM deal, and the timing now seems right. Of concern is how they will finance the second and third quarters of 2000 when they will still have a large burn rate.
Here we are with this eight year-old horse, off again in another race and perhaps in the lead. To handicap this race (predict the finish), consider his 62 past performances (posted below) over the past two years. (The "performances" are all of the "Recent Press Releases" as posted on the General Magic site.)
Note that results for hiring top management were very poor. Five new VPS and one director were announced in this two-year period. Of these, one VP and the director remain.
1 Feb 03, 1998General Magic's Serengeti Wins "People's Choice Award" At Internet Showcase '98
2 Feb 18, 1998General Magic Ships DataRover 840 and Unveils DataRover Remote Access Kit at Mobile & PDA Expo
3 Mar 04, 1998Microsoft Invests in General Magic
4 Mar 05, 1998General Magic Secures $5 Million In Financing Transaction
5 Mar 10, 1998General Magic Acquires NetPhonic Communications, Makers of Web-On-Call Voice Browser
6 Mar 11, 1998General Magic Reports 1997 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
7 Apr 09, 1998General Magic Announces MagicTalk, The First Intelligent Voice User Interface Platform
8 Apr 09, 1998General Magic Announces MagicTalk, The First Intelligent Voice User Interface Platform
9 Apr 15, 1998General Magic Unveils New Corporate Identity To Match Company Direction
10 Apr 22, 1998General Magic Reports 1998 First Quarter Results
11 May 05, 1998Top Telecommunications Companies to Trial PorticoTM Service for General Magic
12 May 05, 1998General Magic Announces Reseller Channel Strategy for New PorticoTM
13 May 05, 1998General Magic Announces Commercial Name and Availability Of Its Upcoming Network Service
14 Jun 02, 1998General Magic Signs Three Leading Wire Services As Content Providers for Forthcoming Portico Service
15 Jun 15, 1998General Magic Chooses Qwest as Backbone Provider for Portico Virtual Assistant
16 Jun 19, 1998General Magic to Show "Magic Phone" Prototype at Upside/David Coursey?s Digital Living Room Conference
17 Jun 25, 1998General Magic Secures $35 Million In Added Financing
18 Jul 02, 1998General Magic Signs PC Quote To Deliver Stock Market Data Through Portico
19 Jul 13, 1998Philip D. Knell Joins General Magic Board of Directors
20 Jul 15, 1998General Magic Partners With Leading Authorities To Instill magicTalk With Human-like Personality
21 Jul 21, 1998New Generation of Wireless Devices Will Increase Choices for General Magic's Portico Service
22 Jul 28, 1998General Magic Announces Reseller Network and Pricing for Portico Virtual Assistant Service
23 Jul 29, 1998General Magic Reports 1998 Second Quarter Results
24 Jul 30, 1998General Magic Announces Commercial Release of the Portico Virtual Assistant Service
25 Aug 25, 1998General Magic Appoints Robert J. Sandor To The Position of Vice President
26 Aug 28, 1998General Magic Completes Successful First Month of Portico Service Rollout
27 Sep 21, 1998General Magic Launches Major Marketing Campaign For National Debut of Portico Service
28 Oct 28, 1998General Magic's DataRover Division To Become Independent EnterpriseNov 09, 1998General Magic Announces Exclusive Agreement With Intuit
29 Nov 25, 1998General Magic Announces NeTalk Acquisition
30 Dec 01, 1998Genereal Magic Enters into Market Trial with Qwest
31 Dec 21, 1998General Magic Awarded New Innovator Award
32 Dec 28, 1998General Magic Announces Web Sign-up for the Portico Virtual Assistant Service
33 Jan 07, 1999General Magic to Demonstrate Portico-enabled Auto PC at CES
34 Jan 25, 1999General Magic Appoints Richard Ghiossi To Position of Vice President of Product Marketing
35 Feb 08, 1999Wireless Knowledge and General Magic Plan to Add Voice-Enabling Capabilities to Revolv
36 Mar 10, 1999General Magic Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End 1998 Results
37 Mar 17, 1999General Magic Begins Web Banner Advertising For Portico Virtual Assistant Service
38 Mar 23, 1999General Magic Names James McCormick Chief Operating Officer
39 Mar 31, 1999General Magic Secures Additional Financing
40 Apr 12, 1999General Magic Debuts New Technology To Help Busy People Stay in Touch with the Web
41 Apr 21, 1999General Magic Announces New Marketing Programs For Portico Resellers and Customers
42 May 04, 1999Bellsouth Mobility Offers Voice-Activated Personal Assistant Service in Atlanta
43 May 12, 1999General Magic Announces First Quarter 1999 Results
44 May 17, 1999General Magic Appoints Roy D. Albert To Position of Vice President of Engineering
45 Jun 08, 1999General Magic to Add New Capabilities to Portico Service
46 Jun 15, 1999Get Your E-Mail Over the Phone With Free myTalk Service from General Magic
47 Jun 21, 1999Excite@Home Makes Investment in General Magic
48 Jun 21, 1999General Magic Selected By Excite@Home For New Excite Voicemail Service
49 Jul 06, 1999General Magic Selects LinkShare As Web Affiliate Partner to Promote Voice-Enabled Services Online
50 Jul 06, 1999myTalk Free E-mail Service Draws 30,000 Users, New Features Announced for Members, Sponsors
51 July 28, 1999General Magic Announces Second Quarter 1999 Results
52 Aug 5, 1999General Magic Completes Common Stock Investment Agreement
53 Aug 30, 1999myTalk Web Service Gives You Free Quick Phone Calls, Free Voice Access to e-mail
54 Sep 8, 1999General Magic Announces New Structure to Enhance Its Internet and Custom Solutions Businesses
55 Oct 6 , 1999Free myTalk Web Service Draws 100,000 Members
56 Oct 6 , 1999General Magic Expands Free myTalk Web Service With New Voicemail Feature
57 Oct 21 , 1999General Magic Names Rose Marcario as New CFO
58 November 1 , 1999General Magic Unveils Services for Advertisers To Drive E-commerce Through myTalk Voice Ads
59 November 10, 1999OnStar to Invest $15 Million in General Magic
60 November 10, 1999OnStar and General Magic Sign Agreement
61 November 10, 1999General Magic Announces Third Quarter 1999 Results
62 December 14, 1999General Magic Moves Ahead With OnStar Strategic Agreement
DRC is Detroit Race Course. This was the best of the Detroit thoroughbred tracks. Racing ended at DRC in 1998, and it was demolished in 1999. I enjoyed a few Saturdays there as a graduate student at Univ. of Michigan in nearby Ann Arbor. EdVirtual, known to me only from his postings on RB, is across the Detroit River in Detroit's Canadian sister city of Windsor, Ontario.
OK, so back to placing a bet - Classy horse with good breeding. Never won anything, but looks well placed in this one with nothing but green, younger horses. He's thrown a few riders, but this jock Markman looks tough enough to hang on. Let's see, bought this tout ticket from Ed on the way in...and he's got him to win big. Think I will just bet him to show.
I think the owners ought to run him as a claimer and let someone take him off their hands. He goes through a lot of feed.
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