From: Adam Rifkin -4K (adam@XeNT.ics.uci.edu)
Date: Thu Mar 09 2000 - 15:19:27 PST
Rohit wrote:
> Why waste ink announcing yourself if you have
> nothing exciting to actually reveal about what you're investing in?
> You're left without a hint, any hint, as to what the wireless era
> might mean to readers. And the web site ---
> http://www.ignitioncorp.com/ to the cognoscenti -- says even less.
Here's what The Industry Standard had to say about Ignition today.
"The joy of the business [rather] than the art of the deal," indeed. :)
Wow, they hit The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The
Washington Post, and The Seattle Times, all on the same day...
> From MediaGrok@bdcimail.com Thu Mar 9 11:46:17 2000
> From: "TheStandard.com" <MediaGrok@bdcimail.com>
> Subject: Media Grok: Microsoft Refugees Turn the Ignition
>
> =====================================================================
> THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
> M E D I A G R O K
> A Review of Press Coverage of the Internet Economy
> =====================================================================
> | http://www.thestandard.com |
>
> TOP GROKS
> ~~~~~~~~~
> Is There Life After Microsoft?
>
> To scope out the prospects for the newest entrant in the wireless
> market, call Herschel Shosteck Associates analyst Jane Zweig. That's
> what reporters did.
>
> The press jumped on the news that a gaggle of ex-Microsoft execs plan
> to set up shop as backers of wireless startups. According to media
> reports, former Redmond star Brad Silverberg will be CEO of the new
> company, which will be called Ignition. For spending money, Ignition
> got $140 million in working capital from sugar daddies Qualcomm,
> Softbank Venture Capital, and Madrona Venture Group.
>
> Most reporters sleepwalked through the story, giving more play to the
> business team's pedigree than to Ignition's prospects for success.
> "These guys are the Chicago Bulls - the old Chicago Bulls," Softbank
> partner Gary Reischel chirped to the Wall Street Journal. The Seattle
> Times lobbed a softball at the area's newest hometown business.
> Ignition is more interested in "the joy of the business than the art
> of the deal," the Times let company cofounder Jon Roberts gush.
> Roberts, it should be noted, is the former general manager of Windows
> CE development for Microsoft, where, lately, there has been less joy
> in business.
>
> For critical thought on Ignition's chances, reporters handed the mike
> to analyst Zweig. "The wireless Internet is clearly going to be big,
> but there's so much vaporware out there. I'm not sure that anyone
> knows what they're doing," she told the Washington Post. The New York
> Times quoted her pointing out that the team's lack of global
> experience could be a drawback, because much of the cutting-edge work
> in wireless is being done in Western Europe. Zweig told the Journal
> that it's still too soon to handicap winners in the race for mobile
> supremacy. And remember that a unified wireless standard isn't even
> expected to be in place before 2006, she cautioned the Seattle Times.
>
> Meanwhile, the Journal reported that another Seattle-based exec is
> ditching the mainstream wireless world - just as his ship of options
> was about to come in. The Journal had the early word that Daniel
> Hesse, the president of AT&T's wireless unit, is bailing one month
> before Ma Cable sells off 20 percent of the unit in an IPO. According
> to the Journal, Hesse is swapping an estimated $50 million in options
> for an ownership stake and the top spot at TeraBeam Networks, a
> startup that beams data by air, not fiber. Now there's a move for the
> analysts. - Deborah Asbrand
>
> Microsoft and McCaw Veterans Team Up on Wireless-Net Firm
> http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB952555164725660551.htm
> (Paid subscription required.)
>
> Tech Executives Launch Firm to Invest in Wireless Internet
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a39989-2000mar9.htm
>
> New Venture Looks Beyond the PC Era
> http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/biztech/articles/09venture.html
> (Registration required.)
>
> Tech Heavyweights Will Invest Expertise
> http://www.seattletimes.com/news/business/html98/wire_20000309.html
>
> On Eve of IPO, Hesse to Leave AT&T Wireless
> http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB952569617297361507.htm
> (Paid subscription required.)
>
> Report: AT&T Wireless President Heads for Start-up (Reuters)
> http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-1567956.html?tag=st.ne.1002.thed.1004-200-1567956
---- Adam@4K-Associates.comSimplicity is difficult because it requires nothing less than absolutely everything. -- T.S. Eliot
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