After listening to AOL's Jonathan Miller speak at Deutsche Bank's Media and Telecommunications conference, Cynthia Brumfeld of IP Democracy had some issues. Namely, that Miller was "confusing" and "vague," speaking in "buzz phrases, stream of consciousness, sentence fragments and generalities" and saying a whole lot of nothing. Her bottom-line question: "Is all this vague-talk a sign of real trouble at the online unit?"
I know how she feels -- I hate nothing more than "vague-talk" and frequently wish someone would just answer the damn question. I've had questions not-answered by any number of famous and successful CEOs, from Jeffrey Bezos to the great Meg Whitman herself, and have been frustrated listening to analyst conference call after press day after investor meeting and wondering, when is someone going to answer the question that was asked?
I don't think non-answers are a sign of trouble. The buzzwords: more worrisome. Buzzwords, in my opinion, are always a sign of desperation. I've seen smart people turn into blathering fountains of buzz-speak (notably, a Wharton professor whose catch-phrase "in this space" would tend toward the ridiculous when he wasn't at the top of his game) when they were unprepared to talk about an issue. Heck, I've done it myself.
Cynthia: don't worry about the glibness. It's the buzz you should be concerned about. Either Miller was just tired (hey, we all get that way) and ill-prepared, or there really is a problem. I'll leave the opinions on which is the truth, to you all.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2006 @ 9:38PM
Bill Roth said...
I am sick of watching this stock languish month after month, year after year. I`m in @$25 share
and their should be no reason why this company can`t
get its share value up to that. Clean this mess of a
company up. I think that a house cleaning is necessary from Parsons on down. What a dog.
6-18-2006 @ 3:21AM
Scott Park said...
Yes I think that a house cleaning is necessary
Parsons and/or Time Warner is a big problem at this time for AOL
please help vote him out
(if your still a stock holder)
6-19-2006 @ 5:23PM
Cecila Lee said...
I am a stockholder and in at the unbelieveable price of $45 & $56 a share. AOL has gone down the hill since Ray Oglethorpe and Keith Jenkins were thrown off the wagon. Jon Miller has only sought to bring the integrity of AOL down to the Time Warner level. What has ever happened to integrity in the leaders of major companies?
6-19-2006 @ 8:43PM
Frodo Baggins said...
as an aol employee, I can assure you that jon miller is absolutely full of crap. he's not so much a bullshitter as he is just a rather dull uninspiring individual who doesn't have the answers
i remember jon's first day on campus at aol. we welcomed him in the quad with a classic aol beer bash, there were signs all over the place declaring that it was "miller time"
jon addressed an eager crowd of 1000+ employees from the second story of an exterior stairwell. the contrast between his stuttering awkward presentation and the electric star power of steve case was obvious immediately and incredibly disappointing. i think most of us decided that maybe jon would be a great leader if not a great speaker, but we were disappointed and scared. jon sounded like my grandmother discussing the internet. his knowledge of the industry, of the internet and the company was full on cringe-worthy.
i guess its been about four years now and i've seen nothing out of jon that explains how in the world he ever got his job. he is a wet blanket on morale, always backs the most ridiculous failed initiatives and commands little or no power over his direct reports.
it's high time the world sees jon for the unqualified dullard he is and long past time to show him the door. the big question for shareholders is who is the bigger problem, aol's executive management or time warner's? one grunt's opinion is both, and it's an opinion that's widely shared.
things have been so bleak that we actually came to look on carl icahn as a potential savior. there was an audible gasp of disappointment across campus when the news broke that icahn was backing off.
what do we hope for now? we pray that time warner gets sick of posting record earnings numbers and seeing the stock go down. we dream of a spin off and perhaps a mash up with google. we wish steve case would abandon the foolishness at revolution and come home to right the ship.
don't take this too personally jon, you're not alone in your stupefying incompetence. you're probably only slightly more laughable than leonsis, who commissioned a personalized custom blog platform far superior than aol's consumer offering just so he could report caps and wizards scores (http://ted.aol.com)
you want to make your money back on this stock? throw the bums out!
8-25-2006 @ 10:20PM
Sandy Kluge said...
The "new" changes happening at AOL this fall for their PAYING customer better "knock my socks off!" Jon Miller is giving AOL away for "free" and what are the purchasers of this service going to get for continuing to pay? 24 hour tech support? Is that it?