Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo!

Let's look at the numbers: $44.6 billion in cash and stock (62% premium to current trading price). This is on par with the carriers acquisitions we have seen in the past.

Yahoo, you should take this offer and run. Nobody else can make you a better offer and you don't stand a chance to make it on your since you haven't had any significant innovation in the last few years that can threaten Google's domination in the search area (if this is your space?). You are in a slow decline and I don't see a leader emerging to take over the company and make the changes needed. Anyone trying to make the required drastic changes would go against the board that probably doesn't want this kind of changes.

Microsoft, you have a huge amount of cash but nothing in the works that can produce growth on the scale needed by your shareholders. Yahoo is a falling knife that you are trying to catch. This seems the only options, but I can't imagine how many start-ups or smaller companies you could evaluate, purchase, and develop with $44 billion dollars. Far more difficult but so much more rewarding.

Ubiquitous Network Triangle

A picture is worth a thousand words. What are the components of the ubiquitous network? I drew this picture to illustrate the dynamics at play in the new converged network.Three different players are fighting for one customer. Names are self-describing. Historically, the equipment manufacturers used to make the network and handheld equipment but this is now changing. The key question for all these companies is: Who ultimately will control the customer experience? Who will become a commodity?


Now a quiz: Where is Google on this picture? Apple? Yahoo? RIM?