To: FloridaGatorMike who wrote (4806 ) 3/26/1998 12:01:00 AM From: PartyTime Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 18444
On a more serious note, the array of ad media, coupled with Stock Detetective's piece, provided some great answers to one of the questions of the day, regarding Hayton. No doubt about this. Fisher is a whole 'nother ball of wax. Ninety-seven percent ownership of ESVS shares? Who knows what about him? I don't. Another key area from which to seek answers. How would or could Hayton, personally, defend himself in this situation? I've never met the man and I don't know anyone who knows him directly. The best thought I've managed to keep tucked in my mind throughout all of this, is that maybe he's an eccentric whose had good visions but poor business sense and difficulty carrying tough concepts. Maybe this is the case. Maybe it isn't. Is Hayton a bad man? I don't know. Some who've dealt with him seem to think so. But on the other hand, some who've dealt with him happen not to think so. Otherwise Zulu/ESVS would not have a leadership team consisting of Lair, Rogers, Burgess and the others. Japan's Softbank Holding still owns 35% of SIM and Ozemail owns another 7%, or so. I mean Hayton's not all alone in this. Is he? Why did Meatchem leave? Well, he came in on the auto side. Everyone knows this. Zulu, at the time, was pursuing an auto strategy. But apparently there was a great simultaneous push into the advertising field. We see this with the EchoMedia, SIM and NB Digital elements, and the strategic alliance with Universal Commerce. This doesn't bother me. As for the technology? I still believe that cable-modem speed, or perhaps the new ASDL technology I've been hearing noise about, will suffice to get the online movie advertising industry off the ground. No one can expect it to be perfect in the early going. But then again, we already know this. In fact, the attention of the wide array of advertising trade journals is an indication of the weight of clientele within the NETZ alignment. That Netscape is expressing concern is a barometer of things to come. How customer relations are tendered in The New Zulu will be of the essence. As for now, they're still on board. There's something to work with here. Are we finished, as Other Chap suggests (what remarkable timing for his reappearance)? Not by any means. You have to consider that most of what we heard today, we've known about in one form or another. We did learn an additional facts today: A bit more on Hayton; and also that a former SIM employee now works for Wired, the source from which all of this began. Even the other ad journals hinted at employee dissatisfaction. So massive employee disgruntlement has been a contributing factor. But in the face of a complete corporate structural overhaul this is not unusual. The fact that these employees used high-tech connections to counteract a smear isn't surprising either. It just makes the potholes bigger. What is good is that there's a new kind of pressure at hand. It's no longer just Wired against NETZ. The whole advertising media is now watching NETZ like a hawk, to see what it will do. I would presume also that this attention has captured the good eye of the SEC. So on the surface, under these conditions, I think it'll be hard for anybody to get away with impropriety. Zulu must act steadfast in its goals and objectives. It has to meet this challenge by: a) clearly defining its corporate structure and anticipated changes; b) establishing its public/investor relations; and c) continue its completion of the auditing process to the date certain. I'm still willing to give The New Zulu time to get its act together, but only if Steve Lair is at the top every bit of the way. If he is the leader going forward, I will continue to be supportive of this company and its direction. There's still wind for the sails of the good ship NETZ. The ship just needs to be pointed in the right direction, away from the rocks. And that's why I'm banking on the good Captain Lair, his experience and his connections to see this through. If he can't do it, I'm calling the psychic for an appointment. Good luck to all of us. My very best wishes, Michael AKA/PartyTime