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

To: silversoldier a/k/a SI Sy who wrote (25961)	5/23/2001 1:56:42 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

Hi Sy....here's another post from Fool that seemed pretty concise too.... and OT....that very RARE memento is still here too....and wish I was lol'ing at the neutral rating...Wonder how much they got paid for doing the deal in the first place....end of OT for now This was from "hans"..... I also attended the meeting yesterday and did take notes. I must say that Tom did an excellent job summarizing. Here's my additions: Many of us wonder how good INSP's technology really is. For example, I tried Active Shopper a few times and it did not give any helpful results. Jain said "The proof of our technology is in our partnerships" and also that INSP had recently received some kind of best technology award from Forrester. Anyone know about that? Jain gave an example of mobile payment processing of the pizza delivery person scanning your credit card to make and validate the transaction at your door instead of writing the credit card number on a piece of paper and hoping the card is good. Tammy Halstead CFO gave guidance for 2001 5 mil wireless subs at end of year Wireless rev up 25% (was this really what she showed? It seems really low since subscribers will increase ~5x. Later Jain mentioned Wireless rev will more than double. Is this difference potential revenue upside?) Merchant rev up 20-25% >50% of merchant rev from transactions Jain said the 1st Q rev drop was due to decreased sales by GNET consumer properties. I had been confused when Jain had said in January that they were deemphasing the consumer aspect of their business since many aspects of INSP like email, calender, messaging, etc. seemed "consumer". But he means deemphasizing direct to consumer aspects like Playsite and search engines. Instead they are converting these items to infrastructure that they can market to games makers and resellers. The Vulcan Ventures rep was William Savoy who is on the INSP BOD. He was pretty upbeat about INSP, but did say that it is a long play, longer than 12 or 18 months, with lots of unknowns. He said Vulcan likes the opportunities in Broadband, Merchant, and Wireless. They see big future growth in Wireless, but less than had been previously anticipated. When asked about Digeo, he said that the nature of interactive TV has changed in the last year and that HTML may not be a big part. Misc impressions. I was struck by the amount of security. There were two uniformed Bellevue policemen and maybe 8 prominently positioned men with really big arms wearing InfoSpace shirts. None of that was around last year, but as we all know, times have changed at INSP! At a demo outside, an INSP employee was showing a customization portal where you can setup alerts and preferences for your wireless internet. He said that they have trouble getting the people who sell cell phone service to articulate and demonstrate the wireless internet features. NJ mentioned that INSP is working closely with partners such as Verizon to figure out ways to increase customer usage of INSP services. Overall, I came out feeling more positive than I went in. Jain was somewhat impatient with questioners, but he was worse last year. I was impressed to hear him say that the GNET deal had humbled him. I didn't know that was possible. Jain does still seem to really believe in INSP, but he is a master salesman. Thanks to all who post here. I barely have time to read em all, and no time to respond. Disclosure: Long INSP since 5/99 with many buys on the way up and down, none near the peak. Average price ~$30, Was way up at one time, now way down. Lost some nerve and haven't bought since the management blow up. Hans<i/>