If I had my say in the matter [and for the record, I do]…I’d place the valuation for Hexagon Lavish® at approximately $________________ (USD). I had to throw a number out there. Notice that I did not specify pre-money valuation or post-money valuation nor whether or not I included the valuation for the foundation of PIR.
Overvalued is the operand here, tied to “startups” that really do not develop the type of products nor introduce any kind of service that would qualify such high numerical merit. Some would say the same thing about HL® since very little information is disclosed about the startup’s vision, mission and all of the typical attributes usually inferred in an executive summary or whatnot, however, people are missing the bigger picture. You see, I do not overvalue the worth, the purpose, the mission nor the vision of HL® for the sole purpose of getting VC-attention. There are people in this world that will let the numbers do the lying for them. This is obvious when you read various articles on “overvalued startups” (well, really companies), and by that, I’m making reference towards your more adulated high-tech companies.
People, in general, are unaware of what valuation truly is, which is just numbers. Most make the mistake of equating valuation with wealth. Wealth is non-cash assets. Wealth is infinite only because the value is theoretical. The money supply is finite. An EBT card is a non-cash asset, but people wouldn’t associate an EBT card as a form of wealth since “poor people” (snicker) would liquidate a non-cash asset like an EBT card for $.50 on the dollar. What will “poor people” do with $3.5 million in non-cash assets? Answer: They’ll immediately liquidate their assets for cash. What happens when everyone sells? Answer: The price and/or value declines. Wealth does not equal cash.
Another example would be a “wealthy” (snicker) individual liquidating his assets into cash. Let’s say, an individual has a net worth around $3.6 billion (USD). The majority of that $3.6 billion is “reserved” in stocks and will not be liquidated into cash; only a certain [small] percentage gets liquidated into cash. So, is the individual in question still considered a “billionaire” in terms of cash on-hand? Answer: No.
“Well…wha…what about Bill Gates?”
Bill Gates. What can I say about the man? He’s a real billionaire; he’s a philanthropist; he’s also a charlatan. That’s right, Gates has amassed vast wealth and has employed hundreds of Microsoft employees who became millionaires themselves…..through illegal business practices. Bill Gates operated a monopoly and engaged in anti-competitive practices. Remember Espon? Well, not only is the company known for their printers, they’re also known for their computers and other accessories. Decades ago, the U.S. military purchased several Epson computers. Those computers had systems that, at the time, ran on QDOS, which was the original disc operating system. Where Bill Gates comes in all of this is that Gates bought the rights to QDOS from its creator–and then breached the contract by turning it into MS-DOS [which was a mess since Gates didn’t know what he was doing]. MS-DOS used Windows, but Microsoft did not create Windows. Windows was created by the Software Group. Before Gates disoriented the protocols of Windows, an individual could have over eight windows opened simultaneously. I’m talking two word processors; three different databases; two spreadsheets and a window for telecommunications to send data back or Fortran or what have you. A software engineer or data analyst [back then] would’ve been asked a specific assignment, they would go to the telecommunications window, call up a file and send the data right to their supervisor or whomsoever. Gates purchased the rights to that, took the product off the market and when it resurfaced to the market, it was called MS-Windows and performed nowhere near the capacity it had originally. Just compare the performance rates of other disc operating systems to Windows. They aren’t issuing a new revision of their software every four weeks like Microsoft did. And why exactly would a software company need to issue a new revision every damn month? Answer: Because the company’s CEO was clueless so he turns around and blames the problem on a “virus” (snicker). So now people actually think that there’s such a thing as a computer “virus”–and, in turn–they’re scramble about looking for the best in “anti-virus” software; loading their computer systems with crap software [that was sloppily programmed] that just perpetuates the problem.
In reference back to company valuations, they can be justified off of the ignorance of the general public. For instance, a lot of you profess to have a “love” (snicker) for your electronic devices, yet are completely and totally absent-minded as to how software works. If the architecture ain’t cross-compatible, I would not consider putting it on the market to be purchased. Furthermore, you have a Computer & Communications Industry Association; a Computer Hardware Manufacturing Benchmark Association; a Computing Technology Industry Association; and a Cellular Telephone Industry Association.
So, what about an Operating Systems Industry Association? Answer: There isn’t one. Why? Answer: Because Gates wouldn’t allow it. But, you have the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation…
In software programming, code is everything, as in EVERY THING. In order to write software, it’s mandatory that one would need to have access to certain codes in the operating system. Companies the likes of Apple and IBM had absolutely no problem with having access to their codes made available, but not Gates. But, who are the hypocrites? Answer: The consumers. It’s hypocritical [and irrevocably idiotic] to claim that “software sucks, maaaaan!” and refusing to acknowledge that Gates deliberately withheld code from potential competitors that wasn’t even protected by copyright or patent-protected nor was it even deemed proprietary is a fallacy [circular argument]. Gates didn’t invent anything, except for clever ways to dodge anti-trust actions.
With all of that in mind, I’m reminded on how glad I am that I did not sell the foundation of PIR to Microsoft when I attempted to do so back in 2013.
Yet, Gates is still an actual billionaire…and you’re all happy about that.
“So, what about companies like Uber and Dropbox. Their valuations are legit, aren’t they?”
Uber promoters remind me a lot of the Enron employees. They would save clients tons of money by selling them cheaper energy. Yet, none of the employees would infer to their clients about how they made their money but were completely convinced of the value of their stock and wouldn’t hesitate for a minute whether or not you were interested. Like Enron, Uber wants you to not question certain liabilities involved in the taxi business that probably aren’t being recorded in their books.
The fact of the matter is the valuation, and it shouldn’t be of any surprise to folks if they could remember the dot.com boom of the late ’90s when no matter how damn stupid the premise was, people would invest in them. Back then, you had billion dollar valuations on stocks that often had less than a million (USD) in revenues. The pressing danger was taking short positions in those stocks when the valuations aren’t based on any fundamentals.
I’m not even going to speak on the whole “driverless” cars thing.
As far as Dropbox or any other startup centered around anything “cloud” goes, it’s a failure waiting to happen. For those of you who aren’t “in the know”, there’s this thing called electronic pricing, and it’s just around the corner. You can thank everything that’s “cloud” for that. For instance, Kroger’s all geared up for it, but their strategy is to not be the first entity to implement electronic pricing. Pretty soon, whenever you or your lazy, good-for-nothing, unfaithful housewife waltzes into the neighborhood Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart or Whole Foods (or wherever you shop for stale produce), you’ll come across electronic displays that will be implemented to replace those little price tags that were on the shelves. In less than two microseconds, retailers will be able to change prices for every product store-wide. If you need an example for clarification, let’s say there’s a 20″ bike you’d like to purchase for your eight-year old (in spite of the fact that he’s having to repeat the first grade for the second time). You first arrive at your favorite retailer, walk inside and make your way over to where the bikes are and take notice that the electronic displays says the price is $45.99, and it’s 11:00 a.m. You decide to come back to the store later, say, 2:30 p.m., and see that the electronic displays shows a price $54.99.
So, how do we remedy something of this nature?
Here’s a cleverly stupid idea. How about investors pour their “hard earned” (snicker) money into startups that develop mechanisms that will put all information you have stored on your computers and “smartphones” into a “cloud”? Oh wait, that’s happening already, right? I’ll go out on a limb here and assume you all read those privacy agreements, correct? Does it even matter, since English is a second language for the majority of you. These “cloud”-based startups are sifting and dissecting through your “clouds” [and “iClouds”] and they are analyzing everything in them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they know more about you than your own god-damn family knows about you. The information in those “clouds” will permit various companies to know exactly which buttons to push to get you to buy what they want you to buy–at any price. For instance, just think about your bills.
In addition the aforementioned cleverly stupid idea, how about investors pour even more money into those “cloud”-based startups to incorporate something sinister the likes of facial recognition software that will be implemented with the electronic pricing displays? Just imagine walking up to an item and suddenly, the price drops from $4.59 to $1.19.
That would be individual pricing.
arheliean.com 