Aardvark Daily

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Woosh about to run out of puff?

28 July 2008

Right from the early days when it was known as Walker Wireless, I had my doubts abut Woosh.

Then, when they appointed former Xtra CEO Bob Smith to the same position within their company, I knew Woosh would have a difficult row to hoe.

While Smith did a capable job during his time at extra, it was a job something akin to managing a piss-up in a brewery and I don't think anyone could have really stuffed that up.

But when it comes to managing a company like Woosh, I think they really needed someone with a whole lot more technical savvy and vision.

Why am I talking about Woosh today?

Well it would appear that my original prediction that Woosh was a lame duck may soon be proven sadly true.

According to reports, Woosh is having significant difficulty in retaining the confidence of major investors and is now looking for an angel investor.

In VC parlance, an "angel investor" is normally someone who's prepared to take the biggest risks, usually making their investment long before the business is proven and while the likelihood of failure is highest.

It would appear from this that even Woosh's own executives are having a tough job painting a rosy picture for the company's future prospects.

The big mistake that Woosh has made was trying to compete with the likes of Telecom's DSL service. Smith seems to have figured that all Woosh had to do was offer a cheaper service and wait for the customers to come flocking.

That's the problem when you spend a good deal of your formative time in an industry while at the head of a virtual monopoly -- you don't get a good feel for the real market dynamics.

Of course the worst thing that ever happened to Woosh was the government stepping in and forcing an unbundling of the local loop. Until then Woosh had a small chance of success as a niche player whose primary competition was a monolith with non-agressive pricing.

Once Telecom lost its grip on the loop however, the market changed dramatically.

Now any ISP can effectively step in and fill the niche that Woosh was hoping to own, but at a lower price and with higher levels of performance.

I almost cry when I look at Woosh and the amount of money that's been poured into this black hole.

They have had some tremendous opportunities laid out in front of them but a succession of very bad choices and poor planning has left them high and dry, despite the enormous capital they've been given.

But all is not lost.

If the company would step back, look at the very large picture and think outside the square a little, I honestly believe they could still this business around.

How could they do this?

Well there's a nascent market out there just waiting to be tapped, and Woosh would appear to have most of the infrastructure to support that market already in place.

Given their lacklustre and very blinkered vision so far, I strongly doubt that Woosh have even considered this market because it really is too far outside their tiny box.

However, if I had any significant money tied up in Woosh, I'd be demanding that they really do sit down, have a cup of tea and reconsider their existing direction.

There is no guarantee that my own vision for a company like Woosh would succeed but I'm damned sure that their existing plan is a real dud (as witnessed by the accuracy of my predictions to date).

If Woosh want to have a chat about this, they're welcome to drop me a line.

If not, then I wish them all the best but I won't be holding my breath.

Have you been following the (mis)fortunes of Woosh?

Have you been a Woosh user?

Do you think they're a dead duck?

Did the unbundling of the local loop and Telecom's planned huge investment in fibre spell the end of Woosh's viability as a broadband supplier?

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