[kwlug-disc] Orion Electronics

[Khalid Baheyeldin]

A friend of mine got a job early at RIM, before they even made phones.

He had a lot of stock options. When his options vested, his financial advisor
told him he should sell his options, and pay the house and other debts (standard
advice really). He sold them very cheap, at a profit, but still at a
very low price.

The employees that came in after him had options too, but they
have not vested when he was selling his.

When the stock shot sky high, he had no options to sell anymore. Those who came
in after him were millionaires and never had to work again. He who heeded the
standard advice ended up with nothing more than paying his house a few years
early.

He was eventually laid off.

Such is the lottery of stock options ... and right place right time.

On Mon, Jul 16, 2018 at 11:49 AM, CrankyOldBugger
<crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, the story of RIM is legendary, but here's the truth:  when I worked
> there in support, stock prices were $160.  Then I left to take another job,
> and the stock price shot through the floor to unheard-of lows.  Coincidence?
> We may never know...
>
>
> On 16 July 2018 at 11:39, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>>
>> Business, local or not, deserve criticism when they have practices that
>> warrant
>> it. Being local does not give a business immunity from criticism just
>> because they
>> are local, or there is a lot of nostalgia for them.
>>
>> The big example is RIM/Blackberry: they had a large majority of the smart
>> phone market, but became overconfident, arrogant, complacent and oblivious
>> to market changes. They saw Apple in 2007 introduce a new paradigm (no
>> physical keyboard, interaction by touch only, short battery life) and saw
>> all
>> that as a fad that is going to fail. They missed the App Store concept.
>> Then
>> a year later Android was released by Google with similar concepts (App
>> Store,
>> many free apps, free SDK) and still talked themselves into : businesses
>> will
>> never stop using our BlackBerry, we are the most secure, ...etc.
>>
>> At that time, they were so popular, kids would send their BB ID to message
>> each other. Governments around the world (including the US Congress) were
>> dependent on them.
>>
>> Mike Lazarides was so focused on the hand sets, he bought an Apple iPhone
>> when it first came out and dismantled: he always thought users would want
>> physical keyboards and a battery life of several days. He missed the
>> ecosystem
>> part.
>>
>> I had friends who jumped from whatever company they were in to RIM at the
>> height of their dominance, only to be laid off or jump back after their
>> demise.
>>
>> Where are they today? Last I checked they had 0.4% market share, and that
>> was a couple of years ago.
>>
>> A reporter wrote an article, and later a book, on how this once dominant
>> company declined in the span of less than 5 years.
>>
>>
>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 5:57 PM, Chamunks <chamunks at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I'm all for trashing local business if they're taking you for a ride.  I
>> > have fond memories of being a youngin working on PCB kits with my Dad in
>> > grade 3/4[ish?] making little alarm things etc that we got from Orion.
>> > Also
>> > my first TV was purchased with a Toonie I had available in my change jar
>> > down the street it was a black and white little tv on a swivel stand and
>> > it
>> > only had a dial for 13 channels.  We bought a coaxial to RF adapter and
>> > a TV
>> > channel box thing so I could watch cable on it eventually.  I think my
>> > dad
>> > thought it was absurd so he eventually bought me a 20"(ish) color tube
>> > TV so
>> > I could play my Nintendo in my room in color :P I bought the little
>> > black n
>> > white so I didn't have to share my consoles with my sisters, very
>> > different
>> > times.
>>
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>
>



-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
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