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Technology Stocks : VNTR - Ventro Corp. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Hardison who wrote (22)	4/9/2000 1:39:00 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 33

Well Bill , here's a very up to date analyst's view posted on another thread. Think does a great job of summarizing the current situation wth the b2b issues , by MSDW, and the big players taking over: but how will it end? Message 13379257 ICGE,CMRC.......Can Net markets survive the squeeze? April 10, 2000 by Adam Feuerstein "Large and in charge." Look for this new buzz phrase to sweep through the business-to-business world in the next few weeks. Penned by Morgan Stanley in a new research report, it refers, of course, to big industry players and their increasing control over nascent online marketplaces. And if big brick-and-mortar players are running the show, that spells problems for independent Net market makers and b-to-b infrastructure companies. Big buyers and suppliers everywhere -- General Motors (GM), General Electric (GE), International Paper Co. (IP), Dupont (DD), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Chevron (CHV), Sears (S) -- are hogging all the goodies at the b-to-b feast, leaving independent market-makers to scrounge for crumbs, or so investors fear. The results: Internet Capital Group (ICGE), a proxy for pure-play Net markets, was trading at $143 per share on March 10. Friday its stock closed at $72.68. Ventro (VNTR) shares have fallen 65 percent since March 15; while VerticalNet (VERT) has dropped from $108 to $52 during the same time period, adjusted for an April 3, 2-for-1 stock split. But the opportunities for independent Net markets may not be as bleak as they seem. "Investors got a little frenzied over these b-to-b stocks, just like they did last year with consumer Internet stocks," says venture capitalist Brad Garlinghouse. "But you have to separate stock market valuations from business models," he continues, "and when you do that, you find that there are a lot of high-quality independent exchanges which are facilitating millions of dollars in transactions with large industry players." Garlinghouse is a general partner at the VC firm CMGI@Ventures, which has invested in b-to-b exchanges like Ventro, BizBuyer.com, Foodbuy.com and GoFish.com. The firm, a closely held offshoot of the Internet holding company CMGI (CMGI), controls a $1 billion b-to-b fund and expects to invest about $20 million to $30 million a month in early-stage companies -- exchanges, infrastructure companies and b-to-c companies that have a good shot at expanding into the business side. So he's not exactly an unbiased observer of the fight between industry-led exchanges and their dotcom rivals. Garlinghouse and his partner Jon Callaghan did, however, make some compelling arguments at an Internet World presentation and a separate interview on Thursday. For starters, both men believe that industry giants, for all the muscle they exert on the supply chain, still need help with the technology required to set up exchanges. Yes, Commerce One (CMRC), Ariba (ARBA) and Oracle (ORCL) have stepped up as willing partners, but there will also be companies who will choose to join existing Net marketplaces. "Speed to market is critical, so many companies are joining existing marketplaces rather than spend months, if not years, to build their own," says Callaghan, who also believes that bureaucracy and distrust from years of competition will slow the rollout of industry-led exchanges even further. Examples: Ventro has alliances with Dupont and Tenet Healthcare (THC) for separate online marketplaces; PaperExchange.com has received commitments from International Paper Co.; and e-Steel has partnered with several large steel makers. Note that many of none of these industry players are inking exclusive deals, all are hedging their bets by also forming their own b-to-b ventures, or joining others as well. 2MAR$