A VC - Latest Comments in Honesty Is The Best Policy

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Dan Cornish — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:10:54 -0000

At the risk of being a bit stale, I just saw this post about Tara Hunt and her breakup with Chris Messina. http://valleywag.com/503162...

The part I really liked and though was appropriate to this post was the line "With openness comes vulnerability." If I know your health information, I know what you are vulnerable to. I find out that an executive has a history of mental disease or depression, I can use that against him. I can start a whisper campaign against him. Steve Jobs learned how being vulnerable can give ammunition to your enemies.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

michael — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:13:17 -0000

it's interesting to note how infrequently people are touching on the continuation-of-apple question. not to diminish the work of so many fine people, but the very real public opinion is simply that apple is steve, and steve is apple. no steve? well... this is a macabre exercise, but it is absolutely the best one. i, like many other people, have been told in no uncertain terms that the reality is far worse than we are led to believe.

in the interim, yes, they have to find the balance to -- at the very, very least -- stave off the shorters.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Charlie Crystle — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:24:59 -0000

I think you're an honest blogger, and I think I've been reading you since you started, and from all accounts you're an honest VC. Good VCs can only be honest. Now, some might use their leverage for the best possible deal for their LPs and themselves, but that's not about honesty, it's about restraint.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

BP — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:59:10 -0000

indeed

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Franz — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:25:03 -0000

hi, i'm currently experimenting with this honesty stuff .

and open up the figures of one of my pet projects in visual search. http://www.facesaerch.com/b... The thing is not about the figures but more to see what happens - if honesty produces more reactions than digg like headlines. i will see.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:22:09 -0000

Thanks Charlie

I didn't mean I write about honesty. I meant that I try to be as honest as I can be when I write

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

vruz — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:44:56 -0000

whoever profit mightly by taking a risk buying AAPL know the material they're handling.
you can't return that stock saying.. "but I didn't know Steve was so secretive and so important to the company"
you want the profits, you have risks, and Steve is part of the package, take it or leave it. easy as.

on the legal aspects, here's some more interesting commentary by Andy Updegrove:

Nocera spends the bulk of the article expanding on the question of whether the health of a CEO is "material" under the securities laws, and therefore a subject upon which disclosure may be mandated by law. And he quotes experts that say, in effect, that if a CEO's health prognosis is not such that it will have an adverse impact on the fortunes of his or her company that there may be nothing required to disclose at all. He never pauses to note, however, that he has learned that perhaps no disclosure by Apple may be necessary at all. Nor does he note that the greatest risk for a shareholder suit arises on the slippery disclosure slope between "no comment" and full disclosure of all details. Assume, for the sake of argument, that as a result of Steve's most recent surgery he must wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. Is that a press briefing you'd like to authorize, if you were Steve?

source:
http://www.consortiuminfo.o...

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Charlie Crystle — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:26:37 -0000

Apple is the most interesting public company today. If Jobs is the primary driver behind everything--design, platform, marketing, etc, then they absolutely need to find a way to instituionalize his contribution and start developing other potential leaders--if they care about the long term future of the company. And who's to say they aren't already doing this?

Steve Jurvetson once told me that while he was at NeXT, Jobs would come through and point to one guy and call him a hero and point to another and call him an asshole "You're a hero, you're an asshole". To him the world was black and white. Arrogant.

And so what? Is it arrogance if it's true? So what! Great products, great hype, cool platform, hugely profitable, and positioned to significantly shit on Microsoft in a beautiful way by releasing the crown jewel as open source OR at least as a generic PC version. (What and lose the design of the $2799 MacBook Pro?--yeah.).

Jobs' health really isn't any of our business unless it gets in the way of Apple's goals. But a long-term succession plan is incredibly important. Do they have one? Do they have "Mack truck" contingencies? Does Apple know its asshole from a hole in the gorund without Jobs? I think it's very shortsighted for investors to think that the rest of the company doesn't know what it's all about.

BTW--on my way to the Knopfler show I stopped at the Apple store in King of Prussia last night to pick up a cable. It was packed, yet I got personal attention and was able to purchase and check out without standing in a line because of the handheld/mobile POS thing. I'm not a Mac guy, so that was new to me--perfect customer experience. Paying $20 for a bullshit $.30 monster cable wasn't, but the experience itself was terrific. Now, Jobs leaves Apple and does that go away? People need to give the Apple board, management, and employees much more credit.

Jobs rocks. I hope he's well or able to get well, but so what. He's great, and part of that is he's created an amazing legacy in Apple.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Charlie Crystle — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:13:11 -0000

Well, the blog isn't all about honesty, but as a longtime reader I can say you seem very honest and open. Max, it's easy to spit on someone but it takes truly paying attention to understand. I don't think you're paying attention enough to suggest Fred is dishonest. Biased for his companies, naturally, sure, and he's open and honest about that too.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

LIFTr — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:51:12 -0000

Since I don't really know what happened with this situation (to be honest) and also understand enough about witch hunts to be cautious, I'll just add that I'd be glad he doesn't have cancer.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

markslater — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:24:53 -0000

wow - tell us more abut yourself please

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Eben Thurston — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:14:21 -0000

Thanks Fred.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:06:07 -0000

I should have asked you to write my post for me. You said it much better than I did

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:43:07 -0000

Yes you are right about that. But I was playing steve's words back

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Eben Thurston — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:04:03 -0000

I can see Steve, as a human being, not wanting his health to be the subject of public discussion, but he is Steve Jobs, so they need to find a way to strike a balance. AAPL should probably have done a press release stating a few facts, ie: cancer has not returned, non-life threatening digestive issue has caused weight loss, nothing that will impact his ability to run AAPL, etc. I'm no PR expert, but you need to fend of the short selling rumor mongering hedge funds. Silence is just asking for trouble.

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

danhau — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:34:13 -0000

I don't think you're a liar but...

"I'm personally with Joe on this one. Steve Jobs is an arrogant fuck who thinks he's above the law."

"So honesty is the best policy. And calling influential reporters 'slime buckets' should be avoided as well."

Don't you think calling super influential CEO's "arrogant fucks" should be avoided too?

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:11:05 -0000

They said he had a "common bug" when he had something much more serious

That's not honesty

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:55:07 -0000

My family's health could affect my performance and if something bad happened, I'd absolutely inform my partners and investors

My health is an even clearer obligation. If anything happened to me, I'd disclose it immediately to my patners and investors

Fortunately I don't run a public company. But I would never opt to do that. Its steve's choice and he has to understand what comes with it

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:55:06 -0000

Agreed but some of them pissed me off

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:55:05 -0000

This blog is all about honesty and I don't really appreciate the implication that I am a liar

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:25:05 -0000

What is SYY?

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

Drew — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:21:46 -0000

Careful Fred one day you are going to buy CSCO rather than SYY

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:21:06 -0000

I used that title because my mom used to pound it into my head as a boy

So you are right, nothing new about that advice

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:18:07 -0000

That's a decent and persuasive argument but I don't think its right. If he were to have to leave the company for any reason, it would crush the stock. Investors want to know how to handicap that risk. And they won't stop trying until he levels with them

Re: Honesty Is The Best Policy

fredwilson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:15:08 -0000

That's debateable. When analysts all over the street are talking about it in their research and calls with customers, its impacting the stock. How much is another story entirely. We'll only know if Jobs comes out and says something definitive and then the stock will tell you