Brightshares blog

It’s been a while since we’ve updated. It seems our first release is imminent.

Update (July 3rd): I apologize, there seems to be delay after delay….

I came across this article by Carl Icahn. A bit lengthy, but a good read. The point about the government finally being aware of shareholder rights is a great one.

The link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/opinion/29Icahn.html

It’s been a while since our last update. We are progressing! Just a few more items to check off our list, and we’ll get brightshares into your hands =).

Stay tuned!

So we have the first screenshot of brightshares. This is the main login page.

This is the main login page for brightshares

You’ll notice we took a very minimalist approach to the design.

Others to follow soon.

still working hard

developing some more cool ideas for initial release

We’re on twitter! Check us out

We know the anticipation may be causing some serious stress =). But we hope you have some patience. We’re production ready, working out some kinks, and should deliver a working model in no time.

The alpha will go live first, limiting access to just a few people. Shortly after, we will start inviting people for beta testing. It really shouldn’t be long.

We have some neat ideas to show people. But mainly, we just can’t wait to get started on changing shareholder communications.

Some screenshots will be available soon.

Cheers!

Apparently, some domains can still sell for a lot of money. Marketing tactic? Maybe. Travelzoo is a publicly listed corporation on the NASDAQ. I really like the fact that on their site (which doesn’t seem to be that user friendly; maybe a few dollars should have been spent on User Interaction) they have their Corporate Governance mandate on their investor relations page. That’s a good step.

But, they still spent $1.8 million on a domain name, when domain names (in my opinion) are becoming less relevant with more prevalent use of search. With those funds, Travelzoo could invest in projects that actually provide some ROI to investors. Or, if no opportunities exist, give some cash back to investors in the form of dividends. It’s basic corporate finance.

If I am a shareholder of Travelzoo, I would demand to see some metrics that indicates (over time) that the new ‘investment’ in the fly.com domain generates returns over $1.8 million.

I think everyone can see the issue with this. You don’t have to be a Citigroup shareholder to be a bit annoyed. Even taxpayers should be a little confused with this corporate decision.

At least the big 3 automakers gave up their corporate jets (albeit after getting grilled by the oversight committee). Maybe Citigroup needs a good grilling too. Wait, doesn’t the TARP take care of that?

This is where shareholders need to step in. We need to start taking charge in overhauling the corporate governance structure of many corporations. One way is to start communicating with each other, and start making votes that will lead to change. Shareholders need to be less lazy, more proactive, and less reliant on the government to help them out.

Update (Jan 28): Citigroup is no longer taking delivery of their $50 million jet.