Bright Things Share Discussion Threads

[the analyst] 27/4/2010 11:31

Uncle_bob, I agree with your reading between the lines - all those promises are made to premium networks owners, but no comments made to the free users.
So, I expect we will see changes to the freemium model when the time is right

[the analyst] 27/4/2010 11:25

Was very lucky with the ash, got the first flights out after the lifted the ban! Adriatic sounds good...

[the analyst] 27/4/2010 10:42

Yup, there are quite a few concierge users out there I have spotted on various forums. Not sure what the attrition rate has been with those users as mostly they were complaining about paying fee, yet getting a substandard buggy product and poor customer support. Hopefully they are just a loud minority of concierge users?!

[carl79] 27/4/2010 09:12

an example of a concierge network - they do exist!

"While Ryan deals with this, all the design work is allocated to his personal Concierge account manager, "The Concierge plan is great! If I have an issue I just send an email and within a day I get a reply. It costs more but what comes with it is well worth the price." If you want to build a social networking site, but don't have the skills or time to design it, then the Concierge plan is just right for you.

I must say that in today's service orientated environment a next day response probably not good enough - id expect within 4hrs or better...even on the $25 a month offering...the only way to reduce that is to hire more bodies - probably not an option - or to reduce the number of networks being supported (by charging free or eliminating them)...of course making the platform faultless which is the nivarna would help too...

On a personal note, ive had numerous issues lately, speed not the least of them...I hope all of the pain is not a result of loads of free networks because while it is great and all to increase the base, it is wrong to do so at the expense of paying customers and i can't be the only one who considered alternatives when the service was down, displaying incorrectly, running very slowly etc etc - if you pay to run a network, outages probably cost you brand image, money or worse, both...so as previous, they need to step that up imo and hope they are learning lessons from these growing pains - i lost patience with the issues and im a patient person...there are others who are not so patient

[norbus] 26/4/2010 21:08

TA
All is cool here. Mean to have a chat when you can afford the rate!. Want to do more on our green energy project, so need to get the online business buzzing before i appoint a manager. Weather good, and never seen our garden better. Some admin to do then hope for a short break on the Adriatic. You must have saved money when the ash was about!

[norbus] 26/4/2010 21:05

U-B
agree very useful find and shows Dominic's level of hunger for attracting Ning.
I am encouraged that he goes the whole hog giving a personal guarantee to those tthat switch over. WoW.

[uncle_bob] 26/4/2010 20:04

TE,
Just browsing around on google. The interesting thing in the interview is that Wheatley avoids mentioning charges. Reading between the lines I expect they will review their own charging structure once the dust has settled re Ning.

In the meantime they will try and monetise any converts by providing conversion tools for a small fee.

[the analyst] 26/4/2010 19:58

Good find that uncle_bob,

Out of interest, how did you discover it? - it didn't come up through google news for me, which is unusual for a prlog article...

[the analyst] 26/4/2010 19:50

I think on the ning front, we need to find out what the business plan is that they are coming up with before making our move. We have the advantage (as a company), of looking at their new pricing plan and product offering on May 4th then responding with out own, better plan.

In the meantime, it's been fun speculating and reading the press coverage.

[the analyst] 26/4/2010 19:48

Cheers norbus, things been crazy busy but all is good. Been jetting around visiting folks, so not been around at my seaside place to enjoy the weather. Just got in the door from Ireland in fact (been working remotely on the train today), so I'm hoping the sun continues to shine for the rest of the week!

How about you?

[norbus] 26/4/2010 18:49

I don't seem to get any, other than through the calls I made. I was after a status update, preclose statement around end of March. The Ning story swayed back and forth with loads of analysis and I am really non the wiser whether we'll have a leaner and tougher competitor, or an opportunity that I am not sure of pulling off. I just sense that the game has not played out as I had judged , so I am re examining my fundamental assumptions.

The fact that AIM stinks does not mean the directors should stink; I have a major investment in an AIM company where the board behave as if it were listed.

You should defend your investment; no one can criticise that. anyway, how's you been? Sunny seaside must be a treat.

[the analyst] 26/4/2010 18:16

No wishful tea here, and it's not a defence I am posting. It's an opinion

I'm taking a calculated risk on a long-term investment, but I still think the potential rewards still far outweigh the risks. Made plenty of similar investments in the past, some of which took years for the business model to bloom

By the way, what exactly are you looking for in terms of extra investor communications over an above the standard AIM company communications we are getting right now?

[norbus] 26/4/2010 17:55

TA
I hope you have not been on the wishful thinking tea ; what you put by way of defence is no excuse for the share price or the Investor communications. I will have to sit it out, albeit uncomfortably.

[the analyst] 26/4/2010 17:33

You could be right there, norbus, but personally I'm not coming to that conclusion quite yet. I think we'll only know for sure come the end of december when the Mar-Sep results are out and we know all about V2, prospects of profitability etc. Until then, I expect another 1.25p fund raising and I don't mind management taking them. I've always seen this as a very long-term share where I can slowly build my stake in parallel with the Directors. My last buys were all well below their 1.25p price paid, so I'm happy with that

What I see here is a typical AIM microcap company, with exceptional potential, but in a very tough and competitive market that can change in an instant. Two sets of results per year and one further trading updates on top of that is pretty typical. I prefer better communication, but I don't expect it

I don't feel that the low share price is anything out of the ordinary (given the cash position), but I do agree with your comments about missing a window of opportunity to raise cash at a premium (back when ning were valued at $750m). I don't know for sure, but that window may well now be closed, given that ning 'may' be in financial trouble . So in hindsight that looks like it could have been a mistake, although we won;t know until we know what the current cash burn is. If it's low and V2 is near, then they may have been better off not raising more funds. Who knows right now?

My view is that they will start to roll out better investor communications once the company has moved on to the next level and looks to have the cash to see them through to profitability. I've pencilled in Jan 2011 for that, but it could come sooner...

[uncle_bob] 26/4/2010 11:15

No volume so why the listing.

[norbus] 26/4/2010 07:51

TA
I'm coming round to conclude that BGT is a tech stock, run for its managers, that Vickram took a punt when he invested, and that success or failure is up to the Lords of chance rather than to execution of any commercial plan being played out. My reason is the poverty of the share price performance and the communication with shareholders.I believe you can not wear a PLC mantle with outside shareholders and then play the game like a private company, or indeed it maybe the company is just not yet suitable to be a PLC.

[olly94] 24/4/2010 11:59

Carl, yes! I hope v2 is a near complete rebuild.

[uncle_bob] 24/4/2010 11:24

I would like to think BGT are smart enough to split the paying subscribers onto a different platform from the freeloading scum, and are giving all their focus to paying customers but by the sounds ot it this isnt the case.

This is probably make or break time for BGT so I hope the management team are up to it.

What's the scoop re the big "High St Name"

[carl79] 24/4/2010 08:57

anyone else got CSS styling issues on their SocialGo site?

[olly94] 23/4/2010 19:54

I checked out their site afterwards, i assume the launch can only be days away!