[asterisk-biz] Sun Rocket?

[Trixter aka Bret McDanel]

On 7/19/07, Tim Booth <tbooth at visioncom.us> wrote:
> what happens when a big provider like this goes under, do lines just
> stop working or have the passed/sold their customer base to another
> provider?
>

it depends, some people do try to wholesale off their customer base,
however it apepars that sunrocket went under while trying to negotiate
a buyout (or so some of the press about this leads one to believe).
Some of those that were listed as potential buyers denied ever having
an interest and have no current interest.  So its unclear at best if
they were really trying to sell to a specific person, or just to
anyone with enough cash to rescue them.

The mere fact that one report said they had raised $80M and still went
under like they did indicates that the company wasnt run as
efficiently as it could be.  Customer revenue plus VC/angel money
should have been more than enough to carry them for a while.  Wonder
if they were part of the 90s tech boom, where the 'burn rate' was more
important than an actual product (burn rate refers to how quickly you
spend money).

If you look at their pricing, they were selling 1 year (often with 2
free months) for $199, that works out to $175 or so after USF
contributions, which means $12.50-$15 per month per customer, which is
somewhat discounted, although volume and low marketing overhead should
have been able to compensate.  Vonage runs negative because they spend
more in marketing than they receive in a year, sunrocket doesnt do
nearly as much advertising.

I did hear rumors (not from any direct employee, but a friend of a
friend type thing) that they were playing it fast and loose with
buying equipment and other things.  Equipment that wasnt required but
would have been fun to have.  That indicates a management problem,
where managers were getting equipment to put on their CV/resume as
opposed to ordering what is actually needed and within a budget.  I
have seen that at other places that went through a similar end result.

-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
Belfast +44 28 9099 6461        US +1 516 687 5200
http://www.trxtel.com the phone company that pays you!