ZBB Energy Corporation Message Board
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Drove PAST ZBB & TIER
Zbb had about 20 cars in the back parking lot (all cheap) and about 14 cars in the front lot (all cheap). Tier had on car in the front by the offices (Mercedes 550 SL) and about 12 along the side (all cheap). Why do I think the management of the two firms will not see eye to eye?
tier's plant was a well kept small building od cheap construction but not necessarily cheap to buy. it is the concrete block one sees in Wisconsin industrial parks. ZBB is in a metal and masonry facility (steel walls over a short concrete block lower wall apparently built in two stages probably for another company in the past. Nice to see that they were reroofing about 2/3 of the plant as roofs are expensive and firms in trouble don't tend to spend the money.
The people going into ZBB (it was the end of lunch time) looked like factory workers in Wisconsin. Anyone for a beer and fishing? The cars at Tier were pickup trucks and compacts. Not what one expects from tech people making a buck.
Hard to imagine a company supporting a significant market cap operating out of one small building and one not so large a building without any recent sales.
Overall the maintenance of their buildings looked goo, but the only sign of wealth was the guy at Tier's 550 SL.
I look at a lot of buildings and after a while they tend to talk to you. Given that this is Wisconsin and habits might be a little different there. Besides a large market cap for a company in little facilites the thing that impressed me was the obvious mismatch between a 550 SL and the cars at ZBB. Maybe the 550 was not the former owner of Tier, but if it was then it is discomforting.
NICE DAY TO DRIVE AROUND DAIRYLAND.-
That car is the owner's car. That was probably bought from the money he got from AMSC when his patents were bought out by them 6-8 years ago. Same money he used to get the new business started. And who are you to judge the credibility of a business by the cars of employees. You take some psch courses with your mba?
He could have inherited the car, but that is no reflection on his ability as an engineer or business man.- 2 Replies to Old2Old
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How's it going Jeffrey? Making some nice sales over there at Tier?
Onto something else. I don't think Jeff ever said anything about your ability as a business man or your skill sets were impacted by the car he (you) drive. I think what Jeff is alluding to is that the car you drive and the fact you park it out front while all your employees park on the side with modest vehicles are a cultural difference between TIER and ZBB and could have some conflict down the road. I can see his point, but overall I see yours and others (and my own) that the car is completely irrelevant ~~ now parking it out front as if to say 'I'm better than the rest of the folk that work here' I don't care for. Maybe closest spot, but not up front. -
it is a nice car and I think my only comment relative to the SL is that t is very different from the cars parked at ZBB showing a difference in perspective or consumption leading to some interesting inter personal actions.
How would you know if I have an MBA or not or if the MBA were from a junk school or a highly rated one or if I was at the top of my class or at the bottom or if I have or have not a few decades at looking at this kind of thing?
Don't worry about my observations as it did not cost you anything and you have nothing invested in if my impressions are right or wrong. Just forget about it and go on your way.
Geeze, an owner in a 550 SL perfectly clean and the employees are driving pick up trucks. Wonder what they think and say behind his back? Even odder in that the SL was the only car parked in the front lot and the rest were in the employee lot around the side. In fairness the company van was also parked in the front lot.
Don't worry about the validity of my impressions. Just put your money up and place your bet. Thanks for confirming it was the former owner's automobile as I was not sure since everyone here says they are a down to earth management style. I guess it could have been a Ferrari...
The car was spotless. Shining in the sun without a pickup tuck to diminish the view. Anyone else work in the office?
Hey what do I know after all it is Wisconsin : ) .
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Wow, really Jeff?! Reaaaaally!? Nothing like runing your cred in a single msg! Ouch!
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Call it what you like but, you didn't get under my skin, Jeff. However, it sure looks like I got under yours :)
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Seriously, could not care less what you think would be interesting as it is clear you have no experience. If I tend to lack patience I do. Too many things to do and too little time. If you do not think that one can gain insight from observation or that after enough observations there tend to be patterns which although not perfect have a good probability of repeating that is
Ok with me. If you think my observation was tainted by prior knowledge I suggest it was more complete.
Take what you want from my comments. The sharing of them was presented free if charge.
Before you get disturbed feeling upset that my comments conflict with your long position recognize that I am also long significantly although significant is relative.
Forget about it. As far as you are concerned I did not drive past the facility, did not observe anything pleasing or not pleasing. Now feeling better?
Before leaving I just reread your post to determine if I am being to nasty. No you are a naive idiot. When you go look at a facility you see different things than in a picture. You see the beer can on a lawn and try to decide if it came from a roofer or an employee and how many days it was there. You look at the employees and their appearance. You get a feel for these and other things. Businesses give off indications of how they are doing. This paragraph is just a comment on an idiot kid and not about ZBB. -
What would be interesting though is for a blind test of your analysis skills ... where people provide you pictures or say cell phone footage of a building and parking lots without signs indicating who owns it.
You knew it was ZBB and have knowledge and opinions of what the company is before your ever saw the buildings. We often only "see" that which confirms our biases or expectations. -
Not to mention the Facebook CEO who lives in the house he grew up in that's a 1500 sq ft normal house. I don't make anywhere in the ballpark that execs make, but I make a decent living and drive a hyundai santa fe b/c of the warranty, solid mpg and it has the best ride by far of anything I've driven (It's my second one actually). It's irrelevant the cars people drive to work...completely ridiculous imo. The people are not that well paid, we all know this, they will be well paid via their stock if the thing takes off. Rich has bought a million shares, I doubt he is poor. People come from different values and money impacts people in different ways...some take their money and become arrogant toward lesser folks and think they are above others ~~ usually have to pay for their friends ~~~ others are wealthy and you will never know it b/c they are down to Earth regular folks...which is what I hope the management team of ZBB is and by those I've met that's seems to be the case.
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Seriously I could not bother to read the junk you write. I have spent about four decades looking at industrial facilities and working as a consultant/negotiator for public and private firms. There are things that one looks for that are telltale indicators. Not right all of the time, but the pieces start to fit together increasing the probability of the observation being correct.
I really don't care if you have any money or not or feel good or bad about your situation or how you rationalize your position. It doesn't matter to me at all. Obviously some very wealthy people often drive inexpensive vehicles - so what? There is often security in blending in. On the other hand do you think there are no Porsches in the Google parking lot : ) . Obviously there are cultural differences between California and Wisconsin but money talks and something else walks.
My take is that this is a development stage business and resources are tight. Doesn't mean that they will not succeed and I remain fairly long in this position. The roof repairs were good to see as not deferring maintenance is a very good sign.
If I got under your skin get your head on straight and realize that in our society money is the key. Sad, but true. Don't reply with moral junk as I will not read it anyway. Just too much to do to fool with a fool. -
I like you sbsgps, your Scion can roll with my 08 Subaru any time!
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No offense Jeff, but you think too much like a lot of people in this country who right now don't have a pot to p--- in! Too many people think that just because they have a big pay check means they can go around flaunting how much money they make. We all know this is immature and is a sign of someone who is in desperate need of acceptance and attention. I was a district sales manager for a large company in Milwaukee. I sold expensive power supplies that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and made very good money at it. Our engineering manager (MSOE Grad)
rode a Harley Davison motorocycle and a beat up old 1995 Chrysler. Our top mechanical engineer also an MSOE Grad and a PE, drove an old Dodge Charger. Our top design engineer still drives a beat up old pick-up truck that constantly needs repair. They all make top pay for their professions. By the way, I presently drive a 2007 Scion XA that gets roughly 42 miles to the gallon. Start thinking about people like Warren Buffet, here is a guy that still lives in a modest home in Omaha, Nebraska and drives a modest car. He can have anything he wants. The difference between people like him and people who think like you is, they work very very hard for their money, live modestly, don't flaunt their wealth but instead share it with others less fortunate. -
Don't get upset. The level of pay reflects on the quality of person sought and obtained. The type of car is a hint of the level of pay. This is not to say that some well paid people do not drive inexpensive cars, but if you have a group of well paid people some will like their toys and comfort.
Get over it. - View More Messages
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