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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gpowell who wrote (21255)	4/21/2000 4:46:00 PM
From: Mooster	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

What are you talking about I'm not sure either one of us is following the other. I'll provide more detail - please do the same. Biz 101: First you need a product, then you need to market it. You can have a great product, but if you can't market it, you will fail. This is basic stuff. I think ATHM needs to market a brand and continually search for channels of distributing it. An example of this is NTOP. NTOP's product is not the silly s/w you download. In fact, they are selling long distance minutes... at least today they are. They have struck deal after deal with other companies in order to distribute their brand: AOL+Netscape, MSFT, YHOO, T, etc. Their goal is no doubt to make "Net2Phone" analogous to VoIP. They are the computer phone company. AOL and YHOO are analogous to web content. When I said distribution is key, I meant this distribution of the brand. I believe ATHM has been deficient in marketing and distributing its brand. More importantly, it is the wrong brand. When I think of AOL, I think of the whole new world they can provide. When I consider ATHM, I think of a connection. When I think of YHOO, I see a tool that helps me find what I'm looking for. Content is what supports both AOL and YHOO's image. ATHM's image is supported by a cable modem. In my opinion, Excite may be the first part of the name, but it has not transformed the message from connection to content. In many ways, ATHM grew up too quickly. Had they grown more slowly, possibly Excite or YHOO could have bought them reversing the image for the better. Water under the bridge, but I'd be more interested if they transformed the image from speed to content. Change the name to Excite, change the ticker and get me more excited about the world they open up rather than harp about speed. Finally, I'd like to let you know I am long ATHM. I was actually a very early investor and purchased a truck-load at $15 post-split. I rode it up to $100 and back down to $40 at which point I sold. I eventually sold all my leaps as well. I recently went long again with leaps. After the report, I started asking myself why and decided to open the question to the board. Maybe today's upgrade is a short term reason to hold - I do hope it speaks for the future. ATHM is a good biz. Lots of cash, revenue, and a great product. Now let's build a brand and distribute it.