MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-01-07 |
| FROM | From: "Steve Milo"
|
| SUBJECT | Re: RE: [hangout] Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'
|
Either way he's no doctor no matter how you cut it.
I wonder if his middle name is bob and he has a short chubby counterpart
with glasses who also goes by the name of bob.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Inker, Evan"
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2004 6:14 pm
Subject: RE: [hangout] Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'
>
> More likely that he has the Vulture Mentality...
> Swoops down when you are dying and picks your bones clean
>
> Regards,
>
> Evan M. Inker (New York) x. 4615
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Milo [mailto:slavik914-at-rennlist.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 6:14 PM
> To: Inker Evan
> Cc: 'Hangout-at-nylxs.com'
> Subject: Re: [hangout] Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking
> dead'
>
> A 'music manager'?
>
> If the musicians he managed are any reflection of his business
> philosophy I'm not surprised he chose the business he's in today.
>
> Sounds like pichinson has a knack for ruining good talent.
>
> Steve M
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Inker, Evan"
> Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2004 2:29 pm
> Subject: [hangout] Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'
>
> >
> > Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'
> > Tech company 'doctor of reality' expects another busy year
> >
> > PALO ALTO, California (AP) --Amid rising hopes for a high-tech
> > turnaround,there's this sobering sign: Martin Pichinson -- a man
> > who has buried nearly
> > 150 failed startups since 1999 -- has swooped into Silicon
> Valley
> > like a
> > vulture lurking over a pack of wounded animals.
> >
> > Pichinson, a self-described "doctor of reality" who helps
> liquidate
> > companies, says he wouldn't have moved from Los Angeles to Palo
> Alto a
> > few months ago had he not smelled more high-tech trouble looming.
> >
> > "Sadly, it looks like 2004 is going to be another busy year for
> me,"
> > Pichinson said. "There's still another 6,500 to 7,500 companies
> out
> > there who are among the walking dead."
> >
> > Even before the move, Pichinson became a familiar face in Silicon
> > Valley and
> > other high-tech hubs, largely because so many venture
> capitalists
> > summonedhim and his firm, Sherwood Partners, to help clear the
> > debris left by the
> > dot-com implosion.
> >
> > Kozmo.com, iChristian.com and Alladvantage.com are among the
> high-
> > profilecasualties bagged by Pichinson during the past four
> years.
> > Pichinson figures more than 50,000 people have lost their jobs
> on his
> > death watch.
> >
> > It's a macabre job that most venture capitalists abhor.
> >
> > "Venture capitalists only want to deal with the top 40 percent
> of the
> > companies in their portfolios," Pichinson said. "We get the
> bottom of
> > the barrel."
> >
> > With most of the dregs flowing from Silicon Valley, Pichinson
> > decided to
> > move Sherwood's headquarters to the high-tech center so he's in
> a
> > betterposition to handle the future carnage.
> >
> > Sometimes, Pichinson and Sherwood's 60 employees are able to
> salvage
> > troubled startups by cutting costs and training the executives
> to
> > rethinktheir ways. Sherwood even brings in an FBI consultant
> > specializing in hostage negotiation techniques to help management.
> >
> > But for every company that Pichinson has saved, he has overseen
> the
> > liquidation of roughly three others since 1999.
> >
> > Conventional wisdom says Pichinson, 57, is about to face a
> > business downturn
> > himself. With technology stocks finishing their best year since
> > the 1990s
> > and companies poised to spend more money on computer gear,
> there's
> > a growing
> > consensus high-tech's high death toll is tapering off.
> >
> > "Most of the biggest problem companies have been restructured,
> > sold off or
> > closed down," said Barry Kramer, a Palo Alto attorney who
> advises
> > venturecapitalists.
> >
> > Pichinson scoffs at that notion, predicting the carcasses of
> > doomed startups
> > will continue to pile up for the next three to seven years.
> >
> > "I have closed more companies than anyone in the world, so no one
> > knowsbetter about all the things that can go wrong in a
> business,"
> > Pichinsonsaid.
> >
> > Sweeping statements like that are vintage Pichinson -- a colorful
> > former pop
> > music manager who enjoys schmoozing, even when he is filling the
> > role of a
> > grim reaper. Pichinson boasts that his Rolodex is filled with
> more
> > than5,000 Silicon Valley contacts.
> >
> > "Someone has to dance to bring in the business and Marty likes to
> > dance,"Sherwood Partners co-founder Michael Maidy says of
> > Pichinson's networking
> > skills.
> >
> > While Pichinson's showmanship helps open doors, it's his ability
> > to close
> > businesses that wins Sherwood the trust -- and patronage -- of
> venture> capitalists.
> >
> > "Marty likes to talk, but he also walks the walk," said Spencer
> > Tall, a
> > general partner with APV Technology Partners, a Palo Alto firm
> > that has
> > worked with Pichinson. "He can help you make some very cogent
> > decisions."
> > It's a process that often requires Pichinson to be brutally
> honest
> > with the
> > entrepreneurs running a troubled startup. Sherwood Partners
> "comes
> > in and
> > talks tough," said Doug Koo, who ran a failing San Francisco
> > startup, Cat
> > Technology. "They teach you that some of the things are a
> > necessary evil."
> >
> > When Sherwood entered the picture in late 2002, Cat Technology
> > didn't have
> > enough money to cover about $15 million in unpaid bills, Koo
> said. The
> > startup seemed destined for bankruptcy until Sherwood engineered a
> > restructuring that led to the startup's sale to a rival firm,
> > FusionStorm.
> > Sherwood Partners isn't the only business gravedigger in Silicon
> > Valley. The
> > list of other high-tech undertakers in the area includes Diablo
> > ManagementGroup, Venture Asset Group, Gerbsman Partners and the
> > Sage Group.
> >
> > But Pichinson's flair has helped separate Sherwood from the rest
> > of the
> > pack, enabling the firm to demand a premium fee. When closing a
> > startup,Pichinson says Sherwood typically charges a 7.5 percent
> > commission on the
> > liquidation of the company's assets or $75,000, whichever is
> greater.>
> > Pichinson began working with the downtrodden in the early 1970s
> > when he
> > began managing music acts around Los Angeles.
> >
> > His clients included The Miracles after Smokey Robinson left the
> > group, and
> > Lou Rawls several years after the singer had fallen on hard times.
> >
> > Under Pichinson's management, both acts turned out major hits in
> > 1976, "Love
> > Machine" by The Miracles and "You'll Never Find A Love Like
> Mine"
> > by Rawls.
> >
> > Pichinson grew weary of music management and left the
> > entertainment business
> > to begin working with distressed companies in the 1980s. He
> shows
> > no signs
> > of burning out in his current job, despite all the tales of woe.
> >
> > "We are trusted caregivers, like a hospice," Pichinson said.
> > "There is
> > always going to be something in trouble, or someone who needs
> our
> > help."
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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> > ____________________________
> > NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
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****
> This message contains confidential information and is intended
> only
> for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named
> addresseeyou should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-
> mail.
> Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have
> received
> this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
> E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
> as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed,
> arrivelate or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender
> therefore does not
> accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of
> this
> message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
> If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
> This message is provided for informational purposes and should not
> be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any
> securities or
> related financial instruments.
> GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
> regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
>
************************************************************************
****
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
> NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
>
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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