From I-hub! This is big!How many times have any of thought how nice it would be to get some kind of solid indication which way the future would break on a critical issue for a stock such as NEOM's court hearings on the 17th. If this isn't the prevebial writing on the wall I don't know what is.
From the I-hub
https://www.gomonews.com/jonathan-bulkeley-ceo-scanbuy-on-barcode-territory-and-m obile-operators/
Bena interview with Bulkeley
(Comment: Sounds like he is parroting the EFF line, no surprise there.. heh.. and says he wouldn't mind agreeing to a "small" license fee..good luck with that....not.)
Jonathan Bulkeley CEO Scanbuy on barcode territory and mobile operators
Posted by Bena Roberts on Apr 13, 2009 20:54
Tags: jonathan bulkeley, Mobile barcodes, scanbuy, understanding mobile barcodes
I had a delightful interview with the CEO of ScanbuyJonathan Bulkeley at CTIA. We had been trying to meet each other for over a year now and I felt that there was a time there that Jonathan didn’t want to meet me – so catching up for an interview was great.
The only hiccup was that I had been to the Skype party the night before and I am not as young as I used to be so I am afraid to say it but at one point I did think that I might actually vomit on Jonathan – but he was very good about it! (I wish I was joking!)
So, I sat down with Jonathan and we drunk coke as I interviewed him. I had a few questions that I wanted to address immediately to clear the air and then move on.
Bena: So how is business?
Jonathan: Good. We have a strong foothold in the operator market – one of the best and that is where we are well placed.
Bena: Is the US your main area?
Jonathan:No. Actually, I know you are aware of our deals with Telefonica and recently TIM. Europe is huge market for us.
Bena: So you are targeting Europe first?
Jonathan: No. Our strategy and I think it is a vital strategy is to target markets. We feel that we can penetrate certain markets and own them.
Bena: What do you mean? So you control or create a seamless service in an area.
Jonathan:Yes. This is what is happening in Spain. We are going to have a seamless agreement with Telefonica and Vodafone. So any users can share the or take images of the same code. This is vital for the mobile barcode market and will make mobile services rocket. Mobile codes have amazing potential and we need to capture that. Our aim in territories is to capture it and own it.
Bena: That is a very interesting strategy. (Pause) Very ambitious – but very interesting. My only concern is that the operator market is a very tough space and there is little loyalty. What is the cost of entry?
Jonathan:Its free. Free is the best way to engage operators and that is why we have a head start. We make our money with revenue share and uptake and this is starting to happen now.
Bena: OK. But there is always competition from new or local players. There is a mobile code start up weekly.
Jonathan: Yes – but we have such a strong position in some markets it will be tough to penetrate.
Bena: I thought that you and CTIA had some kind of special thing going? So the US was a big market for you.
Jonathan: Yes. We are just a partner. The CTIA chose to make us a preferred partner and we went with it.
Bena:I thought there was some back hander or something there. Usually groups such as the GSMA will have a preferred partner - but pick one exclusively.
Bena: OK. (I have some other thoughts on this which will come out in another article on codes in general.)
What about the patent issue and NeoMedia?
Jonathan: Laughs – some one is suing someone!
Bena: Yes. But they won this patent war now – what does that mean for you?
Jonathan: They won the war on a scaled down patent.
Bena: Does that mean you will or won’t accept a license fee?
Jonathan:Today we are going to make our barcode open to the world. Open is the way forward.
Bena: I agree Open is a great strategy and I hated the fact that your code was proprietary. That will be good for you – but it won’t effect a license fee.
Jonathan: If there is a small and reasonable and very affordable fee – I am sure we wouldn’t mind. But will it be small enough?
Bena:I am sure it will be reasonable, or at least that is what I was told in an interview with Iain McCready.
Jonathan: Yes I have spoken to Iain, he is a nice guy.
Bena: Yes he is. So just to get this if this is a reasonable license fee you wouldn’t mind.
Jonathan: Yes.
Bena: How confident are you on the business in the recession and moving forward?
Jonathan: It is a tough market but we have made some great waves. We are in a lot of markets and we haven’t sat around we have a crafted strategy.
Bena: So what is the most important thing for you moving forward?
Jonathan:Well it has to be local territories. If we can achieve a seamless barcode eco-system in Europe (Spain) we have entered the road to success.
Bena:Do you see yourself as a barcode leader?
Jonathan: Yes. We are in some key and vital mobile markets and with high level operators.
Bena: But so is 3G Vision and others what is your value?
Jonathan:Bena – we are a growing company. We have a strong service and longevity already in the market and we have local and global teams. The operator space can be high burn but we are nearly there now the hard work has been done and rewards will follow.
We share a couple of jokes and I thank Jonathan for not eating the barbecued pork or whatever they were serving in the press office as the smell was having a very negative effect on me!
What we think?
Now. I had a nice chat with Jonathan Bulkeley and he was a very straight realistic guy. He wasn’t what I was expecting but I imagine he is a very tough cookie on the business side of things.