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Maybe they just missed the boat on this one, but the final bullet point in the above document (also quoted in the Groklaw commentary) seems like a remarkable testament to a total lack of competence in very simple due diligence (or possibly to some unscruplous behavior, but either way I can only imagine investors having pretty good grounds to consider action) as well as their obvious inability to understand very basic facts about technology and the history of the computer industry:

"One possible outcome of the IBM lawsuit is the death of Linux, in which case, we believe, SCO owns the bulk of the intellectual property - the "root of the UNIX tree" - for the world's dominant, hardened enterprise operating system. Certainly software markets would be in disarray, but given the practical alternative to unplugging the lights, we believe a worst-case scenario of the world abandoning Linux and flocking back to UNIX would not be so bad for SCO. SCO once held the dominant UNIX market share, and we believe SCO's current management team is capable of delivering that again if it needs to do so."

In light of the above, please note that Renaissance also sells advisory services that essentially consist of "analysis" like the above about their portfolio companies:

"Minimum pricing begins at $10,000 and includes our detailed financial model, including margin analysis, of the specific issuing company plus 30 days of telephone consultation services. All fees are payable in advance. Please contact us to discuss your particular interest and pricing at info@renventures.com."

Any buyers?

Maybe they just missed the boat on this one, but the final bullet point in the above document (also quoted in the Groklaw commentary) seems like a remarkable testament to a total lack of competence in very simple due diligence (or possibly to some unscruplous behavior, but either way I can only imagine investors having pretty good grounds to consider action) as well as their obvious inability to understand very basic facts about technology and the history of the computer industry:

"One possible outcome of the IBM lawsuit is the death of Linux, in which case, we believe, SCO owns the bulk of the intellectual property - the "root of the UNIX tree" - for the world's dominant, hardened enterprise operating system. Certainly software markets would be in disarray, but given the practical alternative to unplugging the lights, we believe a worst-case scenario of the world abandoning Linux and flocking back to UNIX would not be so bad for SCO. SCO once held the dominant UNIX market share, and we believe SCO's current management team is capable of delivering that again if it needs to do so."

In light of the above, please note that Renaissance also sells advisory services that essentially consist of "analysis" like the above about their portfolio companies:

"Minimum pricing begins at $10,000 and includes our detailed financial model, including margin analysis, of the specific issuing company plus 30 days of telephone consultation services. All fees are payable in advance. Please contact us to discuss your particular interest and pricing at info@renventures.com."

Any buyers?

Funny to find out that the last question in SCO's teleconference (August 5, 2003) came from the same Herbert Jackson at Renaissance Ventures who had fabricated that "Strong Buy" investment thesis in March 2003 and that "Handicapping SCO - vs. - IBM Lawsuit" paper where they allotted the fur of the IBM bear in advance (April 2003) as Groklaw had published some days ago.

The laughter of those two pals might now be seen in a special light.

-----

"Sontag: OK, the last question.

"UF: Thank you. And that will come from Herbert Jackson at Renaissance Ventures.

"Jackson: Hi, guys, you've been busy.

"McB: (laughs) Yes, it's been a busy few months.

"Jackson: (laughs) Can you comment on any discussions with other software vendors that might produce a (inaudible) legal version of Linux going forward?

"McB: We have a variety of discussions going on and I'm not at libertyto go into detail of all the various discussions that are out there. I can say there are companies we're dealing with that have seen the code, have seen the problem, they're stepping up There are others that are taking the approach to really come after us, and to try and take our legal rights that we have and just squash these rights.

-----

For a transcript of the teleconference see here and here.

Funny to find out that the last question in SCO's teleconference (August 5, 2003) came from the same Herbert Jackson at Renaissance Ventures who had fabricated that "Strong Buy" investment thesis in March 2003 and that "Handicapping SCO - vs. - IBM Lawsuit" paper where they allotted the fur of the IBM bear in advance (April 2003) as Groklaw had published some days ago.

The laughter of those two pals might now be seen in a special light.

-----

"Sontag: OK, the last question.

"UF: Thank you. And that will come from Herbert Jackson at Renaissance Ventures.

"Jackson: Hi, guys, you've been busy.

"McB: (laughs) Yes, it's been a busy few months.

"Jackson: (laughs) Can you comment on any discussions with other software vendors that might produce a (inaudible) legal version of Linux going forward?

"McB: We have a variety of discussions going on and I'm not at libertyto go into detail of all the various discussions that are out there. I can say there are companies we're dealing with that have seen the code, have seen the problem, they're stepping up There are others that are taking the approach to really come after us, and to try and take our legal rights that we have and just squash these rights.

-----

For a transcript of the teleconference see here and here.

are available here at Renaissance Ventures site. Pretty amazing stuff. They even have a table calculating how much money they think SCO will make with an IBM settlement.

Just found the second document as well: The SCO Group, Inc. Strong Buy

Here is the first of the two documents that Groklaw originally linked to: Handicapping the SCO vs. IBM Lawsuit

Rennaissance Venture??? These guys are not entrepenuers. They are clowns along for the ride. They obviously don't know
what they're doing.

Their previous experience is in managing bowling
alleys and taking pork from the state of Virginia.

There own boasting is here.

Rennaissance Venture??? These guys are not entrepenuers. They are clowns along for the ride. They obviously don't know
what they're doing.

Their previous experience is in managing bowling
alleys and taking pork from the state of Virginia.

There own boasting is here.

While Groklaw has been slashdotted...

From their "about us" page: (emphasis mine)

We believe the best investment opportunities for realizing outsized returns migrate from sector to sector over time: from buyout, to venture, to public markets, to conglomerates or pure plays within certain industry sectors, in public or private markets - in our view, in no particular order but contrary to the most recent, firmly established trend. We believe investors have a choice: either following the trend in hopes of jumping off early and profitably, or investing contrary to trend in search of outsized returns.

Renaissance subscribes to contrarian theory and believes the best opportunities now exist in microcap public companies that are orphaned from Wall Street with no institutional sponsorship. We will invest in mis-priced public securities and take an activist role in enhancing returns or sponsor management buyouts of undervalued public companies with high intrinsic value. Few investment groups are now equipped to source investment opportunities with enterprise values below $50 million, either due to their larger capital base or otherwise, which presents an opportunity for us. Aberrational pricing in the public markets often correlates with a despondent, disheartened and perhaps uninformed shareholder base, which helps reduce premiums paid while acquiring securities or entire companies.

If they were contrarian, I would think that they would be selling and go against the people who have bought the price up. But, they said they were looking for a whacked-out company, and they found one. Who knows.. they might buy out management and install some honest people.

But, they said it best.. SCO is at an aberrational price, but its abnormally high, not low. Hopefully they got in in January and aren't in it for the long term.