Will the nice guy save his VON shows?

Those who have been in VoIP industry since long know that Jeff Pulver has been one of the driving forces behind this industry in its early days. These people probably also know that the future of VON shows is in trouble because Pulvermedia has messed up with its lender/investor TICC. What I thought would be a good idea today is to put Pulver’s contribution in perspective.

I came across some emotional posts and comments on blogger sites. Hard to imagine a tech guy stirring up emotions! You are going to see comments on the blogs debating whether Jeff Pulver is a nice guy or not. Does that really matter sisters? I have had a few interactions with him and I can tell you that I found Pulver rather crude. However I have over the years learned to draw the line …. I am glad to be capable of separating attitude from the equation. I will give him credit where I feel it is due. I once tried to list the ten most influential persons in VoIP history. Each time I shortlisted the candidates, I could not get rid of Jeff Pulver’s name. In self-protest I abandoned the idea of writing such a series on this site!!

If you are able to quantify Jeff’s contribution to VoIP, it will be of a small magnitude for sure. But the point I will try to make is that there are few that match that magnitude of contribution. To be specific, Jeff has played a role in influencing policy makers in the US. Yes, without him the story could have been slightly different. He has encouraged VoIP entrepreneurs and developers to think out of the box. And most of all he has been instrumental in effectively bringing the voice of VoIP together through the VON shows. VON shows admittedly attract the best VoIP talent you have out there.

Now let me get back to the recent issue of his tussle with TICC. Pulver has been trying to sell his company (again) since 2005. I was helping out a small investment group a couple of years back in identifying possible acquisitions for their clients and stumbled upon someone there who was actively seeking a buyer for VON shows. Again! I don’t understand Pulver’s motivation to sell something that has been his bread and butter and the only success he has had so far.

If he is trying to offload VON business in order to turn his attention to some of his 50 other ‘disruptive’ ideas, this could turn out to be a big mistake on his part. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. In Pulver’s case, 50 in the bush. None of his tremendously disruptive ideas have worked: Network2, Pulver Innovations, Pulver Records, Min-X, IPeerX, Pulver TV, Vivox, Cellsocket, …. whatever. Look at his recently launched PrimeTimeRewind.tv. Yeah, that is a disruption of titanic proportions. All these ideas have been rather ordinary.

The other issue that I don’t understand is why the company is facing financial crunch in the first place, given the high margins he makes from VON shows. I have been involved in organising a few trade shows myself and can tell you that average earnings from a typical VON show in the US are in the region of $2.5 million. Knowing Jeff, he will never settle for less than 50% margins. Pulver spends negligible amount of money on marketing the show. Joint marketing with media outputs, in-house telemarketing, and leveraging his huge email database means he only has to shell out money towards hiring the venue and paying for minor things like audio-visual stuff.

In conclusion, Pulver made an early contribution to an industry which has now gained maturity and respect. He has a choice to remain part of a much evolved community. That is why I hope he comes through this mess clean with his reputation in tact. Although not a fancy rags-to-riches tale, but VON is what gave this day trader a great platform for which he should be thankful.