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Technology Stocks : Vantive Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Konehead who wrote (1558)	2/24/1998 5:20:00 PM
From: Trader Dave	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3033

Don't forget the oatmeal in haggis is good for the heart. Tom needs a shave. But I didn't see the breakout. If you want to find out how much MSFt makes vendors bend over ask Onyx -- they're all ex softies and didn't want to compete for msft's business because according to them it requires the free building of a custom product to win the business. Where has Steve farber been? Lot's of interesting interchange without his commentary. Melissa, thanks for your industry perspective posts in contrast to Shege's comments, the dialog was interesting. Looking forward to the company's presentation tomorrow -- Now's the time for them to start showing some enthusiasm and start counterbalancing Siebels claims. Hearing a rumor that CLFY is in the hunt for a new CEO. TD

To: Konehead who wrote (1558)	2/24/1998 7:41:00 PM
From: Melissa McAuliffe	Respond to of 3033

Konehead, How much more responsive can you want a stock (sebl) to be. It was at 41 on 1/1/98 and is now at 55. If my calculator is working that's a 34% increase in less than two months. How much higher do you want it to go anyway? I vote for 100 which may not be off base though there would be a split long before that, I think. With respect to some of the comments that imply the msft deal wasn't worth getting, I would just like to say that if vntv had gotten this deal everyone on this thread would have been jumping up and down for joy and saying things like, "Hold on for the ride" even if vntv had given the software away. There are just some times where it's worth doing whatever it takes to get a company like MSFT added to your customer list. And I don't believe that vntv or anyone else would not have done what it took. So, if they got it, who cares! The point is that it was sebl. It's that old expression penny wise and pound foolish. There is a great deal of mileage to be gotten if, in fact, that deal is done. Next thing we'll be seeing are sebl commercials featuring MSFT. And no mention will be made of what they paid. That's got to be worth some higher margin business to make up for all the" lost margin" in this deal. I can only say I am glad I bought the sebl stock last week as you probably are too. Melissa

To: Konehead who wrote (1558)	2/24/1998 7:50:00 PM
From: Kevin Rose	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3033

Hi Konehead: Far be it for me to discount the value of Microsoft as a customer. They ARE the premier customer for anyone. They provide vivid feedback and high visibility. The point is that if you look at a deal with MS strictly as a money maker, you will be disappointed. The value of having MS as a customer is having them as a partner and showcase. Making them "happy" is a gauntlet that few companies survive (ask Scopus). But if you do make them successful, it can be a HUGE feather in your cap. The downside is, of course, the huge amount of work needed to achieve that success. It can be distracting, especially to a company that is rapidly expanding. We were fortunate enough to have it happen at a relatively early stage in the company, so we could focus the necessary resources (there just wasn"t the sheer number of customers and issues at the time). I wonder if SEBL could handle the extra work at a time when they NEED to grow rapidly. Paraphrasing Geoff Moore, when you are in the tornado you need to ignore the customer (well, maybe an oversimplification here, but you get the point). If you ignore MS, you set yourself up for a disaster. Remember, visibility reveals both the good and the bad. For example, let"s assume that SEBL has enterprise scalability problems. You can bet that MS would want action FAST. Then, ole Tom is faced with two choices: mobilize and lose focus, or ignore MS and pray. Either option increases risk substantially. Seems to me that SEBL doesn"t need any more risk at this time (did someone say 17X sales?) Good luck.