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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce Brown who wrote (19575)	3/9/2000 4:48:00 AM
From: garyx	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

VRTL Thoughts I was taking a bit of a virtual walk with esteemed member in absentia TinkerShaw over at TMF after my initial VRTL post today. I had posted a question, proposing that middleware for translating between different broadband formats, such as VRTL's eORB, might be a great place to build a value chain because one grows up "on both sides" ... but wondered if VRTL' s eORB software works due to interoperability, would a value chain every grow up? That is, if you dont have to change your software/hardware to make it work with VRTL, how could VRTL ever emerge in a commanding, gorilla-like position? His point: Gary, very good point and was actually pondering that a bit as I was strolling the beagle today. The GG manual states that middleware is not a good place to find Gorillas. And it seems almost definitional in that middleware is made to be invisible and work with anything. Thus one middleware is as good as another as long as it works as well. Therefore no Gorillahood. I'm not sure that middleware works that well however. I'm sure there are little tweaks that go on, and that once in the system I'm confident that customers won't want to go through the hassle of switching. First mover advantage can be big this way with software. However, should they decide to change, you are correct, by definition middleware should be practically interchangeable. I think what can be said is Vertel is first, will grab the most land, and its a large market. Possibly a very good Royalty play LT and excellent trading and speculative stock for those so inclined. But maybe not Gorillahood. --------- So that was it. My thoughts on VRTL is that so called "middleware" may be very lucrative, and that although it is meant to be as invisible as possible, it is very possible that a standard might form. I wonder if VRTL stands at the center of the about to explode optical market like BEAS is the standard middle-ware of E-Commerce, and look at BEAS' chart.... GaryX

To: Bruce Brown who wrote (19575)	3/9/2000 3:17:00 PM
From: Douglas Nordgren	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 54805

RE Brocade Hi Bruce, Yes, I was one of the early investors in Ancor and Fibre Channel, and, as you know, have followed the FC market from practically its beginnings. My question wrt brcd's possibly meriting gorilla status arises from my understanding of developments with the FC and I/O markets. All indications are that within 3 years, the InfiniBand architecture and 10GB ethernet will be presenting the market with cheaper transports than Fibre Channel. Brcd enjoys the high valuations accorded to market leaders, has excellent FC product offerings and an aggressive sales strategy to bolster investor enthusiasm. It's a good company in a hot sector (Storage Area Networks), and has rewarded its backers handsomely so far. But putting Brocade aside for a moment, what I am asking the GG'ers is this: Is there such a thing as a Gorilla pro tempore when a company's value chain is facing future obsolescence arising from the advent of a disruptive technology (InfiniBand)? Respectfully, Douglas