The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Sunday, March 31, 1996 lomega: An Obsession for MotleyFools @ Continued from E-1 cent $40 million debt offering HARVEY MACKAY would only temporarilyrelieve. Others pointed out that compo- Innovation Paves Way For Success Mark Twain once said that anyone who couldstate the poar opposite of conventional wisdom in a credible way would never want for an audience or a livelihood. Dale Dauten, whose column appears in some of the same newspapers as mine, not only has succeeded by taking Twain's advice, he’s done it by twisting the tails of orthodox motivators like, well, like me. Set goals? Work harder? Plan for success? nent shortages could prevent the company from meeting its projections. Gardner says such divergent views on the company’s outlook are e: ly what the Motley Fool boardis designed to promote “You can find people who are positive and negative about a company’s stock just as you can find those who are positive or negative about political situations or anyother topic,"’ Gardner says “One thing you do not like to see is someoneposting false information and going beyond the boundaries of fair play.” Sabour agrees. ‘You want and need the negative viewpoints so that you can figure out what information is important and what is not,” she says. At Iomega Corp. headquarters, officials reserve comment about I've been preachingthatif we }] that goodstuff,life's re- wards are sureto follow. No, says Dauten in his new book, The Max Strategy. It works in school, it works at home, but it doesn’t work if you are trying for the big breakthrough Dauten tells us whyhe thinks conventional wisdomyields the conventional result. Nine out of 10 newbusinesses fail not be- cause the people who run them are stupid, lazy or underfi- Motley Fool’s popularity, although company spokesman Cory Maloy hints that executives are less than comfortable with the wholeprocess. “We try not to make a big deal out of it,’ Maloy says. “We do not want to seemas if we are supporting it or knockingit. It is just sort of a mass-communications device that lives on its own. Someofthe information is good, some of it is not.” lomega indicated in a recent filing with the Securities and Ex- change Commissionthat postings on commercial online services and other bulletin boards contain false information about the companythat maybe contributing to volatility in its stock price. It is the prospect that someone may post false information on the Internet or elsewhere with the intent to influence stock prices that has the Securities and Exchange Commission interested. It is a fairly new area and we are constantly monitoring the situation as it develops,” says John Heine, a commission spokesman Naturally, we would be concerned if that were happening and investors were acting on false information.” The accuracy of information posted on the Internet and elec- tronic bulletin boardsoftenis difficult to judge, says Daniel J. Bar- rett, author of Bandits on the Information Superhighway. It is easy for people who post informationto hide their true intentions, given the anonymity that is available,” Barrett says. “It all comes down to the question of who you are willing to trust.” Someonewho posts negative information about a company and its stock may have a vested interest in seeing that the price falls — such as someonewho has shorted the stock in hopesthat it will go down. Then again, they might not. Those who distribute positive information about a stock may be trying to prop up the price while theyliquidate their ownpositions, or they may truly believe the stock is a good deal Activists Take Byte Out of McDonald’s By Dirk Beveridge THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS LONDON — Activists who at- tack McDonald's as the epitome of corporate evil have gone online, opening a new front in a war that has raged for nearly two years in a British libel trial. The anti-McDonald’s forces ac- cuse the hamburger giant of try- ingtostifle criticism. So they have fought back by creating ““McSpot- light,” an Internet site that con- tains 25 megabytes of their at- tacks on the Big Mac. McSpotlight is constantly growing, with untold pages of testimony and documents from the court ‘The Associated Press Anti-McDonald’s activists such as Brian Healey of London have gone online to spreadtheir criticism of the hamburger chain. paying its workers low wages, plotting against trade unions and exploiting animals. McDonald's says it is trying to set the record straight to protect its reputation. Its foes saythe corporation is using high-powered lawyers to squash valid criticism. McSpotlight gleefully points out the response given by Ed Oakley, the McDonald's headof purchasing for northern Europe, over the country,” Oakley testified. show that a leaflet — entitled whenhewas asked on the witness What’s wrong with McDonald's? stand why it was environmentally friendly for McDonald's to produce mountains of throw-away packaging “Otherwise you'd end up with lots of vast, emptygravel pits all people are interested in sifting case, dubbed the “McLibel” trial, as well as tidbits includinga video clip “linking McDonald’s Corp. with rain forest destruction.” The activists call McSpotlight the “finalnailin the coffin of MeDonald's global censorship strate- gy. McDonald's has been in court since June 28, 1994, in England's longest-ever civil trial, trying to Everything they don't want you to know — is a pack of inflammatorylies. Theleaflet accuses McDonald's of promoting an unhealthydiet, With suchinformationcirculating, McDonald’s may have no good ways to fight back “We're not aware of any action that can be taken,” said McDonald’s spokesman Mike Love, noting thatlegalissues of content on the Internet are part of a “wider public debate” that has yet to yield any conclusions. It remains unclear how many through an electronic library that contains many thousands of words — including the original anti-McDonald’s leaflet that prope the courtfight. Yet with so manydivergent views being offered on companies, proponents of Motley Fool and other financial bulletin boards say it would be unlikely that anyfalse information would go unchallengedforlong. nanced, but because they are afraid to experiment, 4i to alter 6-Montu CD their goals whentheresults of lead them in a diftion. Eyen when temporary They have created a model that is vulnerable to competition because it is so easy to copy. John Pemberton was a pharmacist who was trying for a headache remedy whenhe saw a coupleof the boysin the back room swilling thestuff. It didn’t work on headaches, but they liked thetaste of it anyway. Did Pemberton throw it out and start over because his “goal” was to concoct the world’s greatest hangover cure? No, he took the facts where they led him, and they led him to CocaCola Levi Strauss was a wandering peddler who madeit out to San Francisco in Gold Rush days with a fewbolts of tent canvas to sell to miners. The miners didn’t want tents. 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Substantial penalty for carly withdrawal AIBal Interest rates currently offered are as of March 29, 1996and are subject to change withoutnotice MEMBERFDIC a AMERICAN INVESTMENT BANK 200 East South Temple, 297-1 7th East Branch, 3785 South 700 1@ Key Bank Tovwe 50 South Main, Suite 460, 297-1050 Branch, 1324 Foothill Drive, 297-1950 | | | material he was selling was “supposed” to be used for making tents? Hellno. Fortunately, we don’t have to be geniuses to employthe techniques geniuses use to open their minds to new ideas. That is where Dauten’s book breaks newground in the stuckin-a-rut genre of self-help and motivational books. People mayhate change, but they love to experiment. Experiments never fail; they are the building blocks of every success. Is spring traininga fail- ure because a baseball team loses game after game trying out different lineups? Innovation is experimentation. Innovationis not invention. When Muhammad Ali was beginning his pro career, he wasinterviewed on a sports talk showin his hometown of Louisville. Gorgeous George, the THOUSANDS OF DRIVERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO REACH THE TOP OF PIKES PEAK. flamboyant wrestler, was in town for a match the night after Ali's fightandalso on the show. Ali didn’t have much to say be- yond the conventional “I'll do my best,” but the Gorgeous One practically melted the microphone with his over-the-top bragging andattacks on his op- ponent. Ali's fight drew 4,000 fans; Gorgeous George's drew 14,000. The message was not lost on Ali. Herealized that if he was going to draw crowds — and ONLY ONE PAGING SERVICE HAS MANAGED TO ACTUALLY GET THERE. make the big bucks — he had to become an entertainer as well as a fighter. Ali did. He didn’t invent the idea he was using. Ali innovated by adapting it to his own situa- tion Adapt“The Max Strategy” to uur situation. It will challenge every preconceived notion you Every July 4th, hundreds of drivers tempt fate in the annual Pikes Peak Race to the Clouds. have about making your career takeoff. Mackay’s Moral: Don't just is still the only practical way to communicate the drivers’ times to At speeds of up to 130 mph, they navigate 156 hairpin turns. And when theyfinally cross imitate: Imitate and innovate. race officials all over the mountain. ET Leaol SUITE UIs) 1 MONTH FREE VOICE Mali far we'll go to cover you, the finish line at 14,110 feet, we're there waiting. Nationally syndicated business columnist Harvey Mackay is the author of “Swim With Because even in this era ofsatellites and fiber optics, a Westlink pager Of course, Westlink is just as reliable at other altitudes. To see how give us a call. 1 800-262-PAGE PAGING the Sharks Without Being Eat- en Alive” and “Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt.” Salt Lake City 80 W. 2100 Si 31, 1996. We proudly feature quali Motorola prot x '