Mike Ramsay, co-founder and former CEO, leaves Tivo

[SeattleBrad]

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/070905/tivo8-k.html

[MickeS]

Eek.

"he will continue to provide services to the Company as a consultant focused on technology and other issues"

= we'll continue to pay him. :)

[BlackBetty]

I wonder if this really means anything.

[DLR]

I wonder if this really means anything.
Yes, it means people "in the know" are manning the lifeboats and getting out while they can :eek:

[jlb]

From the article:


As we previously disclosed, we expect to incur approximately $3 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense in connection with the agreement during our quarter ending October 31, 2007.

[vman41]

From the article:


As we previously disclosed, we expect to incur approximately $3 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense in connection with the agreement during our quarter ending October 31, 2007.

What does that mean? What are the expenses of stock-based compensation?

[jmoak]

What does that mean? What are the expenses of stock-based compensation?printing cost.
;)

[cowboys2002]

printing cost.
;)

The difference between what the options are priced at vs. how much they are worth?

If you give stocks as compensation, it is an expense either when they are granted, or when they are exercised, correct?

[ZeoTiVo]

Yes, it means people "in the know" are manning the lifeboats and getting out while they can :eek:
People in the know know that Ramsey handed the decision/deal making over to Rogers long ago. This is just another classic example of a tech inspired entrepreneur handing the reigns off to the business people after the fun is done and it becomes more grind it out business strategy than anything else at the top.
I say so long and thanks for all the fish :up:

[MediaLivingRoom]

It means bad things are coming. Over the last 3 years were trouble and this is a way to get out. Next sell the company for cheap to GE (NBC), CBS Corporation, or Disney (ABC).

[BlackBetty]

It means bad things are coming. Over the last 3 years were trouble and this is a way to get out. Next sell the company for cheap to GE (NBC), CBS Corporation, or Disney (ABC).

Thanks Chicken Little.

[MickeS]

It means bad things are coming.

I am SHOCKED that you think so. :D

[jlib]

Other than the minor stock dilution it is not a significant event.

[Phantom Gremlin]

I don't know if it was Ramsay, but someone at the early TiVo had vision. The concept of a computer based VCR wasn't new. And the technology was there. But someone managed to define and develop a product that did more, much more, than most people thought could be done. Someone built a product that was much more than the sum of its parts.

Was Ramsay the visionary?

Maybe he's leaving because nobody at TiVo cares about vision any more. Maybe he's leaving because Rogers is making dumb decisions and he's powerless to influence him. Only one person knows for sure, and that person didn't give any reasons for his departure in the Form 8-K filed with the SEC.

[jlib]

...Maybe he's leaving because nobody at TiVo cares about vision any more. Maybe he's leaving because Rogers is making dumb decisions and he's powerless to influence him. Only one person knows for sure, and that person didn't give any reasons for his departure in the Form 8-K filed with the SEC.From the Form 8-K: "Mr. Ramsay has been named to the post of Venture Partner at New Enterprises Associates, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm..."

[ZeoTiVo]

Maybe he's leaving because Rogers is making dumb decisions and he's powerless to influence him. Only one person knows for sure, and that person didn't give any reasons for his departure in the Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
Ramsay was the tech visionary along with others from the initial days. He figured out how to do a cheaper DVR due to the patented media switch technology that makes recording shows and playing them back easier to do in inexpensive hardware. Ramsay was never big on the business deals and typical running a company tasks. He most likely did not want much influence over Roger's but performed a long smooth transition of Rogers in and Ramsay moving on after reaping his profit from the venture. This is just along planned end point for the tech entrepreneur to move on.
Rogers finished the deal with Comcast, UNBOX and that New Zealand deal that he is most likely now working on doing in Europe. He lit a fire under TiVo that got the S3 out and then even quicker pumped the TiVo HD out the door.

and as pointed out by Jlib the reason was to go full time with a venture firm but he will still lend his tech visions to TiVo.
Mr. Ramsay has been named to the post of Venture Partner at New Enterprises Associates, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, which already has representation on the Company's Board. Pursuant to our Transition and Consulting Agreement with Mr. Ramsay, effective August 30, 2007, he will continue to provide services to the Company as a consultant focused on technology and other issues.

so now that your questions are answered, what do you think?

[Phantom Gremlin]

From the Form 8-K: "Mr. Ramsay has been named to the post of Venture Partner at New Enterprises Associates, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm..."
I disagree with your implication that the above is why Ramsay left TiVo.

The above is what he is doing after TiVo, it is not necessarily the reason why he left.

People quit jobs for a variety of reasons, but let's pretend there are only two:

1) your job sucks
or
2) a great opportunity comes along

For all we know, Ramsay quit because his job sucked (and we don't know the reason(s) why his job sucked). He didn't necessarily quit because a great opportunity came along.

[MichaelK]

I disagree with your implication that the above is why Ramsay left TiVo.

The above is what he is doing after TiVo, it is not necessarily the reason why he left.

People quit jobs for a variety of reasons, but let's pretend there are only two:

1) your job sucks
or
2) a great opportunity comes along

For all we know, Ramsay quit because his job sucked (and we don't know the reason(s) why his job sucked). He didn't necessarily quit because a great opportunity came along.


or 3) you made enough and it's time to retire.

(not saying that's what he's doing but myself if i had a pile of scratch like him I'd be done with the whole getting up in the morning to go to work thing....)

[bicker]

If it were Rogers, I'd be more concerned. :)

[jlib]

If it were Rogers, I'd be more concerned. :)Right! Ramsey has not been on the executive staff for a couple years now. One of his buds on the board is from the same VC firm he eventually ended up at. It is pretty obvious what happened. Even more easy to understand since as ZeoTiVo points out this is a classic scenario. The rich, bored, technically oriented entrepreneur parachutes out to do things he really likes. One thinks of Wozniak at Apple and Bosack at Cisco...

[dmdeane]

If it were Rogers, I'd be more concerned. :)Exactly. The Chicken Littles seem to have forgotten that prior to Rogers taking over, everyone (well, not everyone, but a lot of people on this forum) were calling for Ramsey to step aside. He did, Rogers took over, and shortly after that things started to turn around (ie, they announced the deal with Comcast, etc). Ramsey hasn't had any real impact on the direction of the company in years. So trying to spin this announcement into some kind of doom and gloom scenario for TiVo shows a certain lack of perspective and appreciation of recent TiVo history.

[ZeoTiVo]

. One thinks of Wozniak at Apple ...

what?! Wozniak left Apple :eek: Oh they are doomed to never have a good product again.

[hongcho]

> Wozniak left Apple

Well, it would be probably more like when SJ left/forced out of Apple...

Hong.

[EVizzle]

I am no business expert, but operating in the red can last for how long? Changes at the top (or near it) are fine with me, it is just the operating losses that make me slightly concerned. I completely understand how a government can do that, but can a private company continue to borrow against its value forever? (maybe I should have gotten a business degree instead!)

[jlib]

> Wozniak left Apple

Well, it would be probably more like when SJ left/forced out of Apple...Yeah, you're probably right. Even though Ramsey is himself a degreed engineer, the technologist Barton (co-founder) is to smooth idea man Ramsey as Woz was to Jobs.

The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur (http://books.google.com/books?id=uYIGJWJGncYC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA98&ots=6nadrHkwib&dq=%22mike+ramsey%22+%22the+monk+and+the+riddle%22&sig=BKExurdFnksVFJM2S9q4921HTsw)

[matt314159]

People in the know know that Ramsey handed the decision/deal making over to Rogers long ago. This is just another classic example of a tech inspired entrepreneur handing the reigns off to the business people after the fun is done and it becomes more grind it out business strategy than anything else at the top.
I say so long and thanks for all the fish :up:

The part that worries me a little for tivo is that usually the tech inspired enterpreneur hands off the reigns to the experienced executive within the first few years (I think of Pierre Omidyar and Meg whitman for eBay...started in sept '95 and handed power off to meg a little over two years later), without waiting till the horizon is starting to look bleak. Hopefully tivo can rethink their strategy and keep afloat. But I guarantee you, if they do, everyone's in for a major paradigm change of some kind, because they can't keep up what they're doing now and stay afloat.

[ZeoTiVo]

The part that worries me a little for tivo is that usually the tech inspired enterpreneur hands off the reigns to the experienced executive within the first few years (I think of Pierre Omidyar and Meg whitman for eBay...started in sept '95 and handed power off to meg a little over two years later), without waiting till the horizon is starting to look bleak. Hopefully tivo can rethink their strategy and keep afloat. But I guarantee you, if they do, everyone's in for a major paradigm change of some kind, because they can't keep up what they're doing now and stay afloat.

see my other post in this thread
Rogers finished the deal with Comcast, UNBOX and that New Zealand deal that he is most likely now working on doing in Europe. He lit a fire under TiVo that got the S3 out and then even quicker pumped the TiVo HD out the door.this is TiVo inc. 2.0

[jlib]

The part that worries me a little for tivo is that usually the tech inspired enterpreneur hands off the reigns to the experienced executive within the first few years...We are having fun playing with these metaphors but let's not forget that Ramsey was an experienced and polished 40s something executive with HP and had experience at two major startups (including SGI) under his belt by the time he started TiVo. It may be true he later lost interest but he was not exactly incompetent. They had an incredibly good IPO during his watch (it was something like 30% higher than first estimated and then the stock doubled in just a couple days. Of course, it has been a struggle ever since...