RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
One thing that you must understand, this is a completely different type of business model The Winstar/FiberTower/etc model is wall street play; keep in mind, while the business may fail miserably, it's worth noting that the original founders / VCs generally end up doing quite well Case in point, a buddy of mine just got funding...before, he had a nicely cash-flowing WISP (~$100k MRC) -- and he still had room to grow on his network -- however, under the realization that it wasn't of any scale to sell for big money, he has recently sold out to a VC firm for $3 million. Now that he's got the in his checking account, he has to spend it building new towers / expanding just for show -- even though he could easily triple his revenue on existing towers / infrastructure alone. However, his goal is to sell on hype to a big carrier / telco / etc in the near future -Charles --- WiNOG Wireless Roadshows Coming to a City Near You http://www.winog.com -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dustin Jurman Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 7:27 PM To: 'WISPA General List' Subject: RE: [WISPA] Industry failings Importance: High Well I guess we all learned something different from Winstar. I can think of a bunch of other things, I surely have never thought that a 10 year ROI was a valuable lesson to be learned from them when they clearly made more grave mistakes. As far as American Tower is concerned, Fantastic! To have a tower company in your back pocket, we'd all kill for that one. Funny thing is I haven't seen them on very many American sites, but I have seen them on everyone else's. Doesn't matter where I am at, I'm always looking up and counting equipment hanging in the air. I've seen a lot of good and a lot of bad. I also make it a point to speak with everyone going in and out of tower sites and the local groups that support them. Like I said, I run into these guys quite a bit at a lot of different sites. Time will tell how they monetize the network. I'm just pointing out that a lot of folks in this industry have a very different viewpoint on fibertower, and they can do a lot of good for legitimizing the industry which I believe was the original intent. Dustin -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Liotta Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 1:55 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Dustin Jurman wrote: Being an ISP you understand build out costs, some put a lot more into a site than others. We'd probably do things a little differently, maybe not. Here is what I do know. WinStar's plan assumed a 10 year ROI on a site. In hindsight that seems rather foolish now, but back then they convinced people it made sense. 2. They seem to have very good dealings with all of the tower companies which gets them bulk pricing, reduced costs, etc.. American Tower is a major shareholder, so this should be expected. 6. Look how many sites they have built in a year. It's sick... Look how few they have monetized. It's sick... 7. We all know that once you build a site it takes some time to monetize them, they seem a little behind but maybe not. Very behind! 8. Wall street will keep feeding them as long as they are executing, and they are doing a good job of that. Who says they are executing? Good installs, good equipment, lots of sites built, and happy customers are all important things, but none of them mean they are executing well. They actually need to execute against their business plan, which includes things like cash flow and profitability. Both currently stink. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Who says they are executing? Good installs, good equipment, lots of sites built, and happy customers are all important things, but none of them mean they are executing well. They actually need to execute against their business plan, which includes things like cash flow and profitability. Both currently stink. -Matt Maybe they have a typical biz plan: Build and tweak; then admire the potential; and hope someone will buy all that network- all the potential, all the lit real estate, all the roof rights. - Peter -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Whatever happened to finding the needs of customers and fulfilling them on a sustainable and sensible basis? +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 6:59 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Who says they are executing? Good installs, good equipment, lots of sites built, and happy customers are all important things, but none of them mean they are executing well. They actually need to execute against their business plan, which includes things like cash flow and profitability. Both currently stink. -Matt Maybe they have a typical biz plan: Build and tweak; then admire the potential; and hope someone will buy all that network- all the potential, all the lit real estate, all the roof rights. - Peter -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Mark Koskenmaki wrote: Whatever happened to finding the needs of customers and fulfilling them on a sustainable and sensible basis? That's sales. And that is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Why do you think there is so much MA activity? It is difficult to organically grow sales. So companies buy growth. But if you offer and deliver Value. And if you have a Sales Plan and a Marketing Plan And you Execute ta da = sales! Regards, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. (813) 963-5884 -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Peter R. wrote: Why do you think there is so much MA activity? It is difficult to organically grow sales. So companies buy growth. That is true, but there is nothing wrong with organic growth coupled with acquisition. Organic growth can get easier with size up until the law of large numbers kicks in. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
ditto, and now I've taken over 100% of the company from the one person that did help me along early on. We built a large network here in NJ - across 12 locations, and it covers 1000's of potential accounts with no access to dsl or cable. Now looking for someone to come in with some operating / capex capital and get some real growth going. Been in business plan mode for a week now. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Blair Davis Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 2:40 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Same here! Mark Koskenmaki wrote: Ok, thanks I'm 100% organic growth, here. And self-funded, too. Call it bootstrap, if you like. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:23 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Organic Growth means creating revenue through sales and marketing. *Organic growth* is the rate of business /wiki/Business expansion through increasing output and sales as opposed to mergers /wiki/Merger, acquisitions /wiki/Acquisition and take-overs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_growth Regards, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. - NSP Strategist We Help ISPs Connect Communicate 813.963.5884 http://www.marketingIDEAguy.com -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Rick Smith wrote: We built a large network here in NJ - across 12 locations, and it covers 1000's of potential accounts with no access to dsl or cable. Now looking for someone to come in with some operating / capex capital and get some real growth going. Been in business plan mode for a week now. Just make sure you don't try an sell your investment based on market opportunity alone. I have met many WISPs that talk about how much their company is worth based on their coverage area. The problem is that for many of them, they don't sell enough in their coverage area and years go by without enough penetration. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
exactly. I've had two sales guys over the years, neither one of them could understand the concept of sell it where we've got it I'm willing to bet you guys have all seen the same problem. coverage area's worth nothing unless you have the means and the people to sell customers there. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Liotta Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 9:32 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Rick Smith wrote: We built a large network here in NJ - across 12 locations, and it covers 1000's of potential accounts with no access to dsl or cable. Now looking for someone to come in with some operating / capex capital and get some real growth going. Been in business plan mode for a week now. Just make sure you don't try an sell your investment based on market opportunity alone. I have met many WISPs that talk about how much their company is worth based on their coverage area. The problem is that for many of them, they don't sell enough in their coverage area and years go by without enough penetration. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings = finance
I slapped this post up this morning about where to find capital: http://radinfo.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-raise-money-for-your-business.html BTW, Seth Godin's book, the Boot Strapper's Bible is available for no-charge download here: http://www.changethis.com/8.BootstrappersBible Regards, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. Rick Smith wrote: ditto, and now I've taken over 100% of the company from the one person that did help me along early on. We built a large network here in NJ - across 12 locations, and it covers 1000's of potential accounts with no access to dsl or cable. Now looking for someone to come in with some operating / capex capital and get some real growth going. Been in business plan mode for a week now. -Original Message- Ok, thanks I'm 100% organic growth, here. And self-funded, too. Call it bootstrap, if you like. -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings - Sales Marketing
You say that you have a huge market to tap. What are you doing to tap it? What is your sales plan? What is your marketing plan? (Both are an integral part of your business plan). Is your website up-to-date, marketing your services? Letting people know who you are and where you are available? Anyone in your company networking? Working the Chamber? Working with Community Leaders like Home Owners Associations and Condo Boards? Do you have signs up in lit areas? How about hiring kids to do door hangers? How about newspaper inserts? Valu-pak? Ads in church flyers? Regards Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. (813) 963-5884 Rick Smith wrote: ditto, and now I've taken over 100% of the company from the one person that did help me along early on. We built a large network here in NJ - across 12 locations, and it covers 1000's of potential accounts with no access to dsl or cable. Now looking for someone to come in with some operating / capex capital and get some real growth going. Been in business plan mode for a week now. -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
They absolutely will. Being an ISP you understand build out costs, some put a lot more into a site than others. We'd probably do things a little differently, maybe not. Here is what I do know. 1. They spare no expense at building sites, sites are solid. We share many sites with Fiber Tower. Very nicely done. 2. They seem to have very good dealings with all of the tower companies which gets them bulk pricing, reduced costs, etc.. 3. I think if we all haven't learned the lessons from Winstar then we would be foolish. Fiber tower does have a huge market and there is very little competition. 4. You know the LEC actually put someone beneath ISP's, the cell phone carriers so when their T1 blows out at a tower, ISP's are actually serviced before the cell carrier. 5. The architecture is very nice, very good equipment. 6. Look how many sites they have built in a year. It's sick... 7. We all know that once you build a site it takes some time to monetize them, they seem a little behind but maybe not. 8. Wall street will keep feeding them as long as they are executing, and they are doing a good job of that. Dustin Jurman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Blake Bowers Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 4:28 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Wow. Do you have any factual basis for those statements, or are you just hoping? Does customers that send lots of jobs and money translate in any way to a net loss of 14.5 million in the third quarter of 2006, as opposed to a 4.9 million dollar loss in same quarter 2005? It is kind of scary when a company in that shape sees their general and admin costs go up 354% in that period, when the actual costs of providing that service go up only around 105%. Now, with that said, it is a good concept. The only issue is whether or not Wall Street will let them hang around burning money until they start showing a profit. - Original Message - From: Dustin Jurman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'WISPA General List' wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 3:13 PM Subject: RE: [WISPA] Industry failings Fiber Tower is rocking the house. They are very focused and have a core nitch of customers that not only love their service but are willing to send lots of jobs and money to them. Oh.. And they are executing like white on rice. Dustin Jurman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Peter R. Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 1:54 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings The one thing that has been the failure of SO many companies including NextLink, Yipes, et al - NOT ENOUGH SALES. Folks in the greater ISP industry tend to focus much of their attention on the technology. Building, tinkering, tweaking. Equally, your focus has to be on sales marketing. It's the end of another year (http://radinfo.blogspot.com/2006/12/eoy-part-ii.html), take time to make goals for the new year - and to create a sales plan for your company and a marketing plan. (Even if you don't follow it, at least you have taken the time to think about it). Marketing for WISP's: http://www.isp-planet.com/marketing/2006/ispcon_wireless_marketing.html Here's a couple of things about low hanging fruit: easy to pick - by you or anyone else; and if not picked, it gets rotten and falls off the tree. To your success, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. Marketing IDEA guy.com (813) 963-5884 I take the technology and help you turn it into revenue. Matt Liotta wrote: One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. It doesn't really matter that neither FiberTower or NextLink are representative of our industry. What matters is they are both publicly traded fixed wireless companies. This means that all fixed wireless companies are viewed through the lens of these publicly traded companies since they are the only ones with enough information for people to draw conclusions on. If you look at FiberTower's and NextLink's latest numbers you should be very worried. NextLink is failing and I predict will be out of business in the not too distant future. FiberTower is much better off than NextLink, but they are burning cash at an impressive rate. One can easily predict them running out of cash sometime next year if things follow a similar trend. Some of us on this list do more revenue than NextLink, but I doubt that will matter when they go under. Our valuations will decline in lock step to any failures by these two companies. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Dustin Jurman wrote: Being an ISP you understand build out costs, some put a lot more into a site than others. We'd probably do things a little differently, maybe not. Here is what I do know. WinStar's plan assumed a 10 year ROI on a site. In hindsight that seems rather foolish now, but back then they convinced people it made sense. 2. They seem to have very good dealings with all of the tower companies which gets them bulk pricing, reduced costs, etc.. American Tower is a major shareholder, so this should be expected. 6. Look how many sites they have built in a year. It's sick... Look how few they have monetized. It's sick... 7. We all know that once you build a site it takes some time to monetize them, they seem a little behind but maybe not. Very behind! 8. Wall street will keep feeding them as long as they are executing, and they are doing a good job of that. Who says they are executing? Good installs, good equipment, lots of sites built, and happy customers are all important things, but none of them mean they are executing well. They actually need to execute against their business plan, which includes things like cash flow and profitability. Both currently stink. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
Well I guess we all learned something different from Winstar. I can think of a bunch of other things, I surely have never thought that a 10 year ROI was a valuable lesson to be learned from them when they clearly made more grave mistakes. As far as American Tower is concerned, Fantastic! To have a tower company in your back pocket, we'd all kill for that one. Funny thing is I haven't seen them on very many American sites, but I have seen them on everyone else's. Doesn't matter where I am at, I'm always looking up and counting equipment hanging in the air. I've seen a lot of good and a lot of bad. I also make it a point to speak with everyone going in and out of tower sites and the local groups that support them. Like I said, I run into these guys quite a bit at a lot of different sites. Time will tell how they monetize the network. I'm just pointing out that a lot of folks in this industry have a very different viewpoint on fibertower, and they can do a lot of good for legitimizing the industry which I believe was the original intent. Dustin -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Liotta Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 1:55 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Dustin Jurman wrote: Being an ISP you understand build out costs, some put a lot more into a site than others. We'd probably do things a little differently, maybe not. Here is what I do know. WinStar's plan assumed a 10 year ROI on a site. In hindsight that seems rather foolish now, but back then they convinced people it made sense. 2. They seem to have very good dealings with all of the tower companies which gets them bulk pricing, reduced costs, etc.. American Tower is a major shareholder, so this should be expected. 6. Look how many sites they have built in a year. It's sick... Look how few they have monetized. It's sick... 7. We all know that once you build a site it takes some time to monetize them, they seem a little behind but maybe not. Very behind! 8. Wall street will keep feeding them as long as they are executing, and they are doing a good job of that. Who says they are executing? Good installs, good equipment, lots of sites built, and happy customers are all important things, but none of them mean they are executing well. They actually need to execute against their business plan, which includes things like cash flow and profitability. Both currently stink. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
The one thing that has been the failure of SO many companies including NextLink, Yipes, et al - NOT ENOUGH SALES. Folks in the greater ISP industry tend to focus much of their attention on the technology. Building, tinkering, tweaking. Equally, your focus has to be on sales marketing. It's the end of another year (http://radinfo.blogspot.com/2006/12/eoy-part-ii.html), take time to make goals for the new year - and to create a sales plan for your company and a marketing plan. (Even if you don't follow it, at least you have taken the time to think about it). Marketing for WISP's: http://www.isp-planet.com/marketing/2006/ispcon_wireless_marketing.html Here's a couple of things about low hanging fruit: easy to pick - by you or anyone else; and if not picked, it gets rotten and falls off the tree. To your success, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. Marketing IDEA guy.com (813) 963-5884 I take the technology and help you turn it into revenue. Matt Liotta wrote: One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. It doesn't really matter that neither FiberTower or NextLink are representative of our industry. What matters is they are both publicly traded fixed wireless companies. This means that all fixed wireless companies are viewed through the lens of these publicly traded companies since they are the only ones with enough information for people to draw conclusions on. If you look at FiberTower's and NextLink's latest numbers you should be very worried. NextLink is failing and I predict will be out of business in the not too distant future. FiberTower is much better off than NextLink, but they are burning cash at an impressive rate. One can easily predict them running out of cash sometime next year if things follow a similar trend. Some of us on this list do more revenue than NextLink, but I doubt that will matter when they go under. Our valuations will decline in lock step to any failures by these two companies. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
Matt can you send some links for those sources. Dustin -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Liotta Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 12:55 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: [WISPA] Industry failings One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. It doesn't really matter that neither FiberTower or NextLink are representative of our industry. What matters is they are both publicly traded fixed wireless companies. This means that all fixed wireless companies are viewed through the lens of these publicly traded companies since they are the only ones with enough information for people to draw conclusions on. If you look at FiberTower's and NextLink's latest numbers you should be very worried. NextLink is failing and I predict will be out of business in the not too distant future. FiberTower is much better off than NextLink, but they are burning cash at an impressive rate. One can easily predict them running out of cash sometime next year if things follow a similar trend. Some of us on this list do more revenue than NextLink, but I doubt that will matter when they go under. Our valuations will decline in lock step to any failures by these two companies. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Wow. Do you have any factual basis for those statements, or are you just hoping? Does customers that send lots of jobs and money translate in any way to a net loss of 14.5 million in the third quarter of 2006, as opposed to a 4.9 million dollar loss in same quarter 2005? It is kind of scary when a company in that shape sees their general and admin costs go up 354% in that period, when the actual costs of providing that service go up only around 105%. Now, with that said, it is a good concept. The only issue is whether or not Wall Street will let them hang around burning money until they start showing a profit. - Original Message - From: Dustin Jurman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'WISPA General List' wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 3:13 PM Subject: RE: [WISPA] Industry failings Fiber Tower is rocking the house. They are very focused and have a core nitch of customers that not only love their service but are willing to send lots of jobs and money to them. Oh.. And they are executing like white on rice. Dustin Jurman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Peter R. Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 1:54 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings The one thing that has been the failure of SO many companies including NextLink, Yipes, et al - NOT ENOUGH SALES. Folks in the greater ISP industry tend to focus much of their attention on the technology. Building, tinkering, tweaking. Equally, your focus has to be on sales marketing. It's the end of another year (http://radinfo.blogspot.com/2006/12/eoy-part-ii.html), take time to make goals for the new year - and to create a sales plan for your company and a marketing plan. (Even if you don't follow it, at least you have taken the time to think about it). Marketing for WISP's: http://www.isp-planet.com/marketing/2006/ispcon_wireless_marketing.html Here's a couple of things about low hanging fruit: easy to pick - by you or anyone else; and if not picked, it gets rotten and falls off the tree. To your success, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. Marketing IDEA guy.com (813) 963-5884 I take the technology and help you turn it into revenue. Matt Liotta wrote: One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. It doesn't really matter that neither FiberTower or NextLink are representative of our industry. What matters is they are both publicly traded fixed wireless companies. This means that all fixed wireless companies are viewed through the lens of these publicly traded companies since they are the only ones with enough information for people to draw conclusions on. If you look at FiberTower's and NextLink's latest numbers you should be very worried. NextLink is failing and I predict will be out of business in the not too distant future. FiberTower is much better off than NextLink, but they are burning cash at an impressive rate. One can easily predict them running out of cash sometime next year if things follow a similar trend. Some of us on this list do more revenue than NextLink, but I doubt that will matter when they go under. Our valuations will decline in lock step to any failures by these two companies. -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Dustin Jurman wrote: Fiber Tower is rocking the house. They are very focused and have a core nitch of customers that not only love their service but are willing to send lots of jobs and money to them. Oh.. And they are executing like white on rice. Are you joking? A quick read of their financials shows they are in a bad way and getting worse. Further, more than 65% of their revenue comes from two customers, one of which is ATT Wireless (now Cingular). At least in BellSouth regions, most of the Cingular sites are being backhauled with fiber and they are getting rid of the ATT equipment. How much future revenue will they get from Cingular especially if the ATT merger goes through? -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Dustin Jurman wrote: Matt can you send some links for those sources. http://www.fibertower.com/investors-earnings-releases.shtml -Matt -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
For those of us in the Ma and Pa category, it wasn't too hard to see this coming. I've argued since the day I first dreamed of wireless broadband, that life's lessons would serve me fine... Find a way to meet the needs of your customers, in a way that benefits THEM and you. If you can't produce a better value than someone else, find a way to do so. In the end, all the arguments about building value or revenue or whatever are mostly trivial. If you don't have a reason to exist, and if you don't have a plan to make money with reasonable assumptions, and the flexibility to change with the times, you're as obsolete as the buggy whip. I seriously doubt that anything besides the aquisition of a customer base THAT WILL MAKE YOU PROFITABLE LONG TERM matters a whole lot. Of course, the implications of that are technical competence, competitive products, and pricing and cost structures that are sane and reasonable. I operate on the assumption that my customer today will be my customer in 10 years and that he expects as good of value from what I do in 10 years as what I deliver now. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Matt Liotta [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:54 AM Subject: [WISPA] Industry failings One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Hear, hear!! Mark Koskenmaki wrote: For those of us in the Ma and Pa category, it wasn't too hard to see this coming. I've argued since the day I first dreamed of wireless broadband, that life's lessons would serve me fine... Find a way to meet the needs of your customers, in a way that benefits THEM and you. If you can't produce a better value than someone else, find a way to do so. In the end, all the arguments about building value or revenue or whatever are mostly trivial. If you don't have a reason to exist, and if you don't have a plan to make money with reasonable assumptions, and the flexibility to change with the times, you're as obsolete as the buggy whip. I seriously doubt that anything besides the aquisition of a customer base THAT WILL MAKE YOU PROFITABLE LONG TERM matters a whole lot. Of course, the implications of that are technical competence, competitive products, and pricing and cost structures that are sane and reasonable. I operate on the assumption that my customer today will be my customer in 10 years and that he expects as good of value from what I do in 10 years as what I deliver now. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Matt Liotta [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:54 AM Subject: [WISPA] Industry failings One the biggest factors holding our industry back is a lack of success on the part of the big poster children. People look at the past failures of WinStar and Teligent and wonder if new entrants can succeed. Many investors are watching FiberTower and NextLink to see if these new poster children can prove the business model. -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Organic growth is difficult. Most growth is via acquisition. You have to offer Value. You have to have a Plan. You have to Execute on said plan while offering value. - Peter Blair Davis wrote: Hear, hear!! Mark Koskenmaki wrote: For those of us in the Ma and Pa category, it wasn't too hard to see this coming. I've argued since the day I first dreamed of wireless broadband, that life's lessons would serve me fine... Find a way to meet the needs of your customers, in a way that benefits THEM and you. If you can't produce a better value than someone else, find a way to do so. In the end, all the arguments about building value or revenue or whatever are mostly trivial. If you don't have a reason to exist, and if you don't have a plan to make money with reasonable assumptions, and the flexibility to change with the times, you're as obsolete as the buggy whip. I seriously doubt that anything besides the aquisition of a customer base THAT WILL MAKE YOU PROFITABLE LONG TERM matters a whole lot. Of course, the implications of that are technical competence, competitive products, and pricing and cost structures that are sane and reasonable. I operate on the assumption that my customer today will be my customer in 10 years and that he expects as good of value from what I do in 10 years as what I deliver now. -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
I have no idea what you mean by organic growth in contrast to acquisition. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:57 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Organic growth is difficult. Most growth is via acquisition. You have to offer Value. You have to have a Plan. You have to Execute on said plan while offering value. - Peter -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
Organic growth typically refers to internally funded growth without outside investment. I would imagine that vast majority of wISPs are experiencing organic growth. Best, Brad -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Koskenmaki Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 12:08 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings I have no idea what you mean by organic growth in contrast to acquisition. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:57 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Organic growth is difficult. Most growth is via acquisition. You have to offer Value. You have to have a Plan. You have to Execute on said plan while offering value. - Peter -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Organic Growth means creating revenue through sales and marketing. *Organic growth* is the rate of business /wiki/Business expansion through increasing output and sales as opposed to mergers /wiki/Merger, acquisitions /wiki/Acquisition and take-overs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_growth Regards, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. - NSP Strategist We Help ISPs Connect Communicate 813.963.5884 http://www.marketingIDEAguy.com -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
RE: [WISPA] Industry failings
Organic growth is growth that is generated by the company itself through its own efforts, as opposed to buying the growth. For example, if you are the first to offer wireless Internet service in an area that you setup using your own capital, then you have grown organically. In contrast, if you go to an area and buy an existing provider, you have grown through acquisition. In most industries organic growth is financed by cash flow or limited debt, whereas growth through acquisition requires higher debt loads or an equity offering. Ken Chipps -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Koskenmaki Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 12:08 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings I have no idea what you mean by organic growth in contrast to acquisition. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 9:57 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Organic growth is difficult. Most growth is via acquisition. You have to offer Value. You have to have a Plan. You have to Execute on said plan while offering value. - Peter -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
Re: [WISPA] Industry failings
Ok, thanks I'm 100% organic growth, here. And self-funded, too. Call it bootstrap, if you like. +++ neofast.net - fast internet for North East Oregon and South East Washington email me at mark at neofast dot net 541-969-8200 Direct commercial inquiries to purchasing at neofast dot net - Original Message - From: Peter R. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:23 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Industry failings Organic Growth means creating revenue through sales and marketing. *Organic growth* is the rate of business /wiki/Business expansion through increasing output and sales as opposed to mergers /wiki/Merger, acquisitions /wiki/Acquisition and take-overs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_growth Regards, Peter Radizeski RAD-INFO, Inc. - NSP Strategist We Help ISPs Connect Communicate 813.963.5884 http://www.marketingIDEAguy.com -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
