FlipperPA Peregrine

Shit, I gotta email him. That sucks.

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Nika Talaj

Well, that just blows. Pathfinder was one of the most active proponents of SL as a vehicle to improve people's lives.

Does anyone know who he actually reported to? LL doesn't appear to have anything so straightforward as a VP Marketing anymore. I assume this was brought to us by one of the dynamic duo hired by M at the end of 2008: Tom Hale (VP Products) or Howard Look (VP Customer Applications). I suppose Pathfinder could have reported in to Cyn, but she wouldn't ax him. Maybe that's why there is no place for him - only M is responsible for LL's "message"?

LL certainly appears to be stripping down, usually a sign of intent to sell the company. Compared to the job openings they used to post, they now have 7 openings, which generally would not be enough to cover routine attrition in a company of 350:

Lead Software Engineer, Search
Web Analytics, Lead
Payments Architect
Senior Software Developer (Core Web Services)
General Ledger Manager
Product Manager, International Billing
Email Marketing Manager

Ann Otoole

They can use getafreelancer.com for that sort of thing lmao.

O.O

Anya Ristow

Not gonna happen any time soon.

I believe their real-world books are probably straight enough that they can talk to the IRS without being arrested. The numbers they feed us and the press, though, I believe are so crooked they can't exist in our space-time. In order to sell to a legitimate real-world entity they will have to stop reporting this crap for a long enough period of time and lay off enough people that they can realistically say, "we don't remember how we used to calculate those numbers." I do not see those things happening so I do not believe a sale is anywhere on the horizon. In fact, I believe they are probably financially healthy and not even thinking about selling out.

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Ingrid

whaaaaaatt

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Noel Marlowe

And here I thought I saw Bub log in a few days ago. Boo.

Fred Rookstown

Pathfinder was the first Linden I talked to after I left the PN.

(I was banned an hour later)

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Nika Talaj

I think you and I come at this from different worlds.

In venture capital terms, the ONLY time to sell a company is when it is financially healthy. You would lay people off to make it appear MORE financially healthy - that is, up the revenue/runrate ratio. LL's revenue numbers are quite healthy, have been so for a while.

Another important reason to layoff folks heading into an acquisition is to minimize duplication with an acquirer's existing workforce.

One thing that may make LL attactive is that they now own one of the very few, possibly the ONLY, successful market for virtual goods (if you don't count music and video). Certainly, I think, the only successful micropayment one. Note that analyst comments about Facebook often cite its lack of a viable market space as a weakness (FB has recently backed away from an IPO in 2010, but speculation persists).

I don't see why a potential buyer would care about inflated usage numbers. They would be buying it for what THEY could make of it, not for what LL has already made of it with a nearly complete lack of marketing.

Ann Otoole

Kingdon is compartmentalizing and outsourcing sections that a buyer would most likely jettison anyway. Like support. Like all the server operations can be dropped easily when the plug is pulled. Like the viewer programming got outsourced. Smart Lindens already found another job in 2008 or 2009. Just because they looked at what Kingdon did to Organic rofl.

Smart people should get that resume shopped around on linkedin. Oh my all the lindens are on linkedin lmao. Perhaps Kingdon told them they really needed to do that but forgot to mention exactly why.

FlipperPA Peregrine

Talked to Bub today, he's doing well. Despite the rumors, he left of his own accord. If you have any design projects, I can tell you he's one of the best Surreal and I have ever worked with... he did all the SLBoutique designs on the side. Can't argue with how people reacted to that.

His URL Is:

DO IT CREATIVE \ JONHENRY RIGHTER INTERACTIVE DESIGNER + DEVELOPER

(What a great domain name!)

So, support Bub. He's really talented and doing a balls-out move. He didn't say anything, but I'm guessing he didn't agree with the Big Fucking Spaceship iPhone copying nonsense that went on with the SL web presence. Can't say I disagree. My first impressions when I was chatting, IMing and so on of the new viewer were very positive. That's good for the Lab.

However, today, I logged in and actually had to do some shit. Land properties, inventory transfer, etc. Total fail.

I'm guessing they'll fix these interface annoyances for the old-timers in short order - they're clearly oversights, and not coding challenges - but I'll stick to my opinion that for a new user... much more familiar interface (my dad agrees, so hey, that's good evidence, even though he keeps creating new accounts cuz he can never remember his avatar name).

OH, BTW, crazy shit. My dad got honored by the King of Morocco. He's now a Commander for his work in Arabic translation. Sorry for the aside. I'm just kind of psyched for him. And on rum and coke #3.

FlipperPA Peregrine

Disagreed and Agreed, simultaneously.

The best time to sell a company is:

(1) At its maximum value;
(2) When you can get the most for it before value plummets.

Never forget: sometimes you cut your losses. Sometimes you win. Sometimes, you ride.

If you ever want to know how business really works, hang out with an addicted gambled some time. The basics are essential.

Regards,

-Flip

Nika Talaj

I think we are essentially in agreement

But this brings up the question of Azure:

We’ve got some fairly big news for the residents of the Azure Islands, as of March 16th, the Azure Islands will be transferring from us, over to a new management team run by Metaverse Services Limited.

One hopes, for SL, this decision is closer to scenario 1) above! I know Adam & co are busy with OpenSim, but this still surprised me.

ETA: by the way, big congrats to your dad! I hope that, as a commander, he gets to wear lots of gold braid and stuffs!

Sansarya

Dang. We live in Azure Islands. We love the place. We've been residents of Azure for two or three years. First we've heard of this change.

/end derail

Phoenix Psaltery

Where is this quote from, if I may ask?

P2

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Sansarya

We didn't hear any rumors. P2 just contacted Bub and asked him if he'd left LL.

Ciaran Laval

What the heck? Where did you get this quote from?

Tyche Shepherd

So in 3 days time ACS leaps from 6.3% of private estates to 7.5% ?

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Ann Otoole

I thought I heard the sound of ACS bulldozers warming up like panzers just before Operation Watch on the Rhine.

Brenda Connolly

YOU were a PN? I thought you were all dead...at least that's what we were told. They said they found you all in Afganistan.

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Max Herzog

I rented from Azure for ages, until fairly recently. I'm still in the group, for some reason, and I received a notecard from Azure with that very statement.

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Tyche Shepherd

It's probably much more the 2nd option in Azure Islands case - Sell before the value of their holdings plummets.

The majority of the top ten rental estates have based their model more around renting out homesteads rather than full regions (or parts thereof) - about on average only 1/3rd of their holdings are full Regions.

Azure Islands and Fantasy World Estates differ from the other top 8 because they have a much larger proportion of Full Regions (63% & 68% of their holdings respectively). Considering how long Azure Islands have been in business, I'd guess that many if not all of their Full Regions are currently grandfathered - when the grandfathering on transfer is removed on these regions on 1st May, they will loose a lot of value. Selling at this moment in time is an excellent time to capitalise on their current value, and they are a valuable asset for any new estate owner with their grandfathered tier - A win for Azure and for ACS .

FlipperPA Peregrine

Oh, I didn't mean you guys - Bub said he'd heard rumors going around.

Nika Talaj

As Max said, it's an excerpt from a notecard sent to a renters' group by Azure. Azure has had a few different renters' groups over the years - Sansarya, it's quite possible that you are a member of an older one that newer support folks no longer know about.

I always enjoyed Azure; we left when the wonderful desert sim we were in was severed from the estate-traversing road. Though Azure never built a community among residents, it was fun to ride through the whole place and see the landscape and builds. Word on the street is that Azure will be 'checkerboarded' to provide more completely private, isolated sims.

Many apologies for the derail. I brought it up because, for me, the loss of Azure chimed with the loss of Pathfinder.

Times are a'changin ...

Phoenix Psaltery

Actually, I think I neglected to join the group again after we bought the land where we are now, so it's probably my own fault.

P2

Sansarya

Huge news when you consider the history of these places and the owners, what they've meant in the big picture of Second Life. Even Prok doesn't have anything to say about it (though he apparently has much to say about Pathfinder leaving the Lab.)