tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post8818625869990504535..comments2007-11-09T18:39:54.098-05:00Tom Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-31735907713366990902007-11-09T17:41:00.000-05:002007-11-09T17:41:00.000-05:00Just to be clear, I didn't say Wireless wanted to be bought out. I said that if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put all my money on an IPO, leading to the firm toppling the publishers.<BR/><BR/>Were I a current investor in Wireless Generation however, I would want an exit that maximized my payout. The way I would get that is by pursuing business strategies that make me both more attractive as an acquisition, and poised for an IPO. <BR/><BR/>The "winner" in any negotiation is not the bigger party with more clout; it's the side with the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. <BR/><BR/>If Wireless Generation has a credible IPO offer, they are in a better position to bargain on acquisition.(In the past few years school improvement firms have not been in that position.)If they have companies running after them, they are in a better position to raise cash in the IPO.Marc Dean Millothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01015137200387473630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-19733203800736058752007-11-09T13:38:00.000-05:002007-11-09T13:38:00.000-05:00Hi Tom,<BR/><BR/>I'm one of those questionable characters -- a publicist -- for the nonprofit Monterey Institute for Computers in Technology (MITE), the creator of HippoCampus and the National Repository of Online Courses(NROC). Your blog came up in my search today and I'm always thrilled to see the HippoCampus name being blogged -- so thank you for that! <BR/><BR/>I do take exception, of course, to your assessment of HippoCampus's usefulness. Despite the stern licensing language, the fact is that anyone can access every bit of content offered on HippoCampus.org for free, without even having to register a login. <BR/><BR/>Go to the site and see for yourself -- click on any course subject and drill down to your heart's content. It's awesome! <BR/><BR/>And you can do this because the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is generously supporting HippoCampus, NROC, and MITE (www.montereyinstitute) with a grant to ensure open access to quality educational materials.<BR/><BR/>School districts and other educational agencies can, and do (37 institutional members, including 18 state departments of education and virtual schools, boards of regents, and community college consortia), pay to license the NROC content so that they can house it on their own servers, fully customize it to their curricula, receive professional development support and training, and receive updates and new materials as they're developed. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, try as we might, we can't get around the reality that creating this content, housing it, providing training and support, and making it widely available does require funding. <BR/><BR/>The good news is that via the licensing agreements and the grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, you can freely access all of the learning materials on HippoCampus -- and I hope your readers do!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for listening,<BR/>Tracitdakinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06670438347364040702noreply@blogger.com