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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Charles W. Breaux, Jr. who wrote (25956)	5/21/2001 9:41:15 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

Hi Chuck...Have to run out for awhile, but I think Roger will in the next day or so...There certainly are some. Did you or anyone listen to the meeting on the recording...My sound isn't working....So would be good to know if anyone else heard it too. Also, would be good to look at the annual statement as far as cash on hand including investments, and then look at the 1st Q for the same things....I haven't had time as yet to do that....BUT certainly intend to do that!!! The slide shown us today talked about $400 million of cash and investments for the end of the year 2000. What is is for 1st Q? Wonder why there weren't any or certainly many employees there??? Especially ones that are stockholders??? Back later....

To: Charles W. Breaux, Jr. who wrote (25956)	5/23/2001 1:46:52 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

In the FWIW Department...my notes from yesterday.... . . The post from the Fool that levy posted earlier was quite good I felt. I took the Q&A of this poster's post, and added my notes below each one. Again, the notes are just my opinion, and needs to be seen in that context. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS I paraphrase the questions and the answers a bit because I can't write fast enough and don't always hear the whole thing. ? In response to a question about the greatest uncertainties to growth the CEO suggested the person look to the 10K. My Note: Felt this was a pretty cocky answer. After all, most of the people in that room had lost considerable amounts of money, and MUCH more sensitivity to this could have been shown, IMHO!!! Yes, he was right...the legal recitals (on all stocks) list everything that could ever happen that is negative in the entire universe, to protect themselves from, heaven forbid, lawsuits. ? The presentations were good but sounded more like sales pitches. Could they provide any information about the lawsuits and what was affecting the stock price? The CEO pointed out that the stock market is not in their control. I got the impression that if someone doesn't like the company that they should not won it. I didn't capture that one exactly but his response got a round of applause. That struck me as very odd. The CFO pointed out that they can not comment on lawsuits. My Note: The answer to this showed the caliber of the man, IMO. The stockholders' was asked with sincerity, but obviously was a difficult one. As I recall it brought both the CFO and COO to the lectern. Effectively, the message that came through loud and clear to me was if one didn't like the direction or products of the company, then maybe one shouldn't be in the stock. Perhaps this type of thing happens with ALL mergers, but honestly, I haven't seen anything like the quickness of the turnaround of this one. From July 26, 2000 through August 12, 2000, from the announcement of the merger to the completion and then for everything to unravel in four (4!!!) months defies any of the PR, and actual words of the major participants in this situation. The actual words were quoted on MANY sources and in nearly every financial publication, and therefore are on public record. I am SURE that I am NOT the only person who decided to stay with the merger, and through it, based on the words of the officials in charge of INSP. ? Valueline showed a drop in revenue from Q3 to Q4. The CEO described the Go2Net business consumer business as falling off a cliff and that it did not mix well with Infospace though Authorize.net and the search engines were useful. My Note: The CEO didn't add that the $400 million in cash from GNET was probably a help too. Also, he was speaking too fast, but they have (??) partnered Metacrawler with (_____something) -Australia, I think. Don't believe the CEO mentioned in this answer that Hypermart was probably helpful to them also....IMO, the answer was beneath him as CEO. INSP still has by their own records on the slides, from 400 employees before the merger to 1000 now....(Actually, I thought each company had about 500 employees when the merged.) How do the employees at INSP, from whatever group/company they came from, feel about this comment? How did the rest of the shareholders in the room feel about the comment? ? The departure of one of the directors (or was he an officer) who was noted for his wireless expertise was noted. He wanted to spend more time with his family. The CEO mentioned that he hopes he will return when his kids are in college. My Note: This "director" was hired to be CEO of INSP, Arun Sarin. I personally still find it odd that a man of his stature in the industry, would leave this company after just 8 months, and not taken the commute into consideration BEFORE making this commitment. I think it would be interesting to know just how many other CEO's who are hired for a billion dollar+ company, leave after less than a year, because the commute was too tough. I also thought even after he left the company, he was to remain on INSP board. Why did he not stay? ? The micropayment process was described in more detail. It is more like picking up your cell phone and calling 1-80-STARBUCKS, having the system recognize you through your phone number and asking you if you want your favorite drink at your favorite location, and then billing you and sending the order in so it is ready when you get there. My Note: The micropayment process for all the alliances for INSP seems sensible and exciting to me. However, I'm not personally sure I would want every little latte charged on my credit card. But, this technology sounds smart....if we can just figure out what we want to buy, and what kind of appliance to use it with...cell, PDA, laptop, notepad, etc etc. ? There was something about hiring a president. The CEO pointed out that if he can find someone who can take care of Infospace as well as he can he would hire him. I think he said something like my dream and my life is Infospace. My Note: The CEO commented at this part that he works 80-90/hours per week or more.....I wonder just how much Key Man Insurance costs INSP for this kind of schedule. Also wonder just who would be a replacement for this CEO should something serious happen to him. Every other company of consequence we've heard about, has a replacement already in line for just such an eventuality. Personally, I believe the BOD would be concerned about this. As shareholders, even small ones, I think we should be aware of this with any company in which we hold stock. ? Competitive advantage is best measured by the lack of real competition. The acceptance of the majority of the big wireless firms is encouraging. My Note: The CEO spoke so quickly and was difficult to hear the answer to this, but I believe there are only two of the major carriers who aren't participating as a partner with INSP. One is NEXTEL. ? The Go2Net merger/acquisition (which was it?) was humbling. The CEO pointed out that he underestimated the task of integrating consumer sites and of changing the employee's minds from working on generating traffic to working on technology. There are very few of the Go2Net senior managers left since there was duplication during the integration of the two companies. Again there was applause after this response. My Note: This is tough. The situation he described was NOT the one that was envisioned in any of the PR or other articles, if written words count. If INSP had to work on "changing employees minds from working on generation of traffic to working on technology with the comment from the CEO that GNET had about 1/2-1/2 mix of each of these business components, then the employees are NOT one bit different from any of the rest of us who are shareholders in any of the so called Tech Stocks. Most everything on Internet was checking to see how many "hits" happened per day/week/month, how long or sticky the "eyes" that were captured stayed on a site, etc. Personally, IMO, I feel there needs to be a good mix of the two. After all, we can have all the technology we want, but if there are no people who either need it, understand it, or find it is too expensive, then what???? PS: I'd like to hear the tape of the Q&A part....I didn't hear much clapping from where I was sitting, but then again, maybe I was just trying to figure out <b<why he had just said what I heard him to say. ? Vulcan Ventures now owns a substantial stake of Infospace since it owned a substantial stake in Go2Net. A member of the audience asked the representative to give his vision of Infospace's future. He got up somewhat reluctantly. I don't think he wanted to steal anyone's thunder or spotlight. It sounded like Vulcan Ventures sees a lot of growth potential in this business. None of the sectors are growing as quickly as expected and without glitches but that doesn't mean that the growth has gone away; it just might be pushed out further. The trick is to stay in the market long enough to be there when the growth kicks back in. My Note: The representative mentioned here was Bill Savoy, the representative from Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. He was clear, concise, analytical AND humble. I personally appreciated his comments VERY much! ? Since Infospace now owns a piece of an interactive TV company through Go2Net's assets, he was asked to comment on it's status. He basically deferred until their stockholder's meeting which will be in a few weeks. He pointed out that the potential usefulness is encouraging. My Note: The stockholder's meeting he mentioned was the Charter meeting, which is June 6th (I believe) in Bellevue. ? Someone said that they had heard that Paul Allen who owns most of Vulcan Ventures may have filed to sell all of his INSP shares. The Vulcan Ventures representative said that he had not sold any shares. My Note: I believe that at the end of the sentence above, the words "at this time" or "as of now" were added. Would love to hear a tape of this part of the meeting again!