Maven conference call to investors. A lot of good info.

1. 66

   RonElFranposted 7 years ago

   This conference call addresses the synergy between Maven and Hubpages. Focus is on how the 35 million unique visitors HP contributes brings the scale needed to maximize ad revenue.
   
   The integration between the Maven and HP technical teams seems to already be well under way. Apparently there's going to be a big element of video in the new combined platform.
   
   Interestingly, Paul Edmondson is listed as "former HubPages CEO and new Maven Chief Growth Officer," and much is made of how Maven has already helped HP increase monetization.
   
   https://www.themaven.net/the-maven/inve … NyX0sL8jCQ

   replyreport
   1. 78

      jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      In addition, recent collaboration with po.et, a block chain company will also help with security and ownership and copyright...

      replyreport
2. 65

   psycheskinnerposted 7 years ago

   Hmm.  I wish my broker offered MVEN, I might invest.....

   replyreport
3. 68

   Sue Adamsposted 7 years ago

   Interesting, although the very positive conversation is primarily a sales pitch full of promises to attract advertisers and investors.
   
   A few points I could make out from the business jargon:
   
   HubPages will join as a separate entity, keeping its current payment structure to authors. They call it "commission based".
   
   HubPages is apparently bringing 6000 authors to the Maven platform and increasing their currently 5 million unique visitors to 40 million.
   
   Any future payments from Maven to HubPages will come as shares in the company?
   
   The money Paul gets from Maven is to pay off his own original investors. Does that mean HP is in debt?
   
   Please Ron, correct me if I misunderstood some of it.

   replyreport
   1. 66

      RonElFranposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Sue, the way I understand it is that the only cash Maven put out was to pay off HubPages' debt to its investors. Otherwise, HP is being acquired for stock which won't vest for a year. That gives the HP management and technical teams incentive to stick around and work hard to make Maven/HP successful rather than immediately jumping ship. The stock goes to HP management and (I think) employees, but not to writers, who will continue to be paid on "commission" (as we are now).
      
      Heckman seems to be saying that HP has positive operating cash flow (it's profitable), though it did have debt to its original investors. He emphasizes that HP is standing on its own financially.

      replyreport
      1. 75

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I believe the full stock options don't "vest" for three years, not just one.  This was stated somewhere when all of this first started, but cannot remember if it was on the forums or in a magazine article or both.

         replyreport
   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      "Focus is on how the 35 million unique visitors HP contributes brings the scale needed to maximize ad revenue."
      
      That's what worries me about the Maven takeover.    It sounds as though the Maven network wasn't growing as fast as he hoped, so James Heckman looked around for something to give an immediate boost to the numbers for a fast fix.

      replyreport
      1. 75

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Remember that Maven is a very new company.  There hasn't been a lot of time yet  for "growth".

         replyreport
4. 97

   Rochelle Frankposted 7 years ago

   Yes, change is always a little scary, and big change is even scarier, but we have to trudge forward and see what will be.

   replyreport
5. 63

   Bradley Robbinsposted 7 years ago

   Some great info in there. Even if growth seemed slow at the start for Maven, the combination of the two might see quite an uptick, which is probably what they're after. Interesting times.

   replyreport
6. 61

   HoneyBBposted 7 years ago

   I'm pretty sure, we the writer's are considered "publishers" when it comes to publishing our articles on Hubpages or Maven. We are also considered "content creators". So, I believe they have us covered in this.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      @HoneyBB
      No, we are not publishers. We (the writers) are content creators. A few of us (very, very few) may be invited by Maven to create their own channel and become a Maven publisher.

      replyreport