Popular Woodworking
#21
While I also expect that Popular Woodworking has not performed well in its evolving format, we really don't know if that is the case. F+W Media is a large company, 42 brands, and Popular Woodworking could be one of the better performing brands in the company.
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#22
The "problem" isn't bankers, it is the progress (a.k.a. "the Internet").

25 years ago I subscribed to several magazines, purchased magazines at news stands as well.

Today I subscribe to zero magazines, and cannot remember the last time I purchased a magazine at a newsstand.  Nor can I tell you where there are any newsstands any longer.

The family that sold F+W saw the writing on the wall, and got out.

The people that purchased the organization thought they'd be able to leverage the print magazines into online revenue generation.  Turns out, that doesn't work, either.

There is an abundance of content available for free or nearly free consumption out there, some (much) of it exceeding the quality of the content for which we once paid.

IMHO, this was inevitable.

There is plenty for which we can blame greedy businessmen and banks, I don't think this is one of them.
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#23
What's Fine Woodworking got that Popular Woodworking doesn't have? Fine Woodworking has been going for a long time and doesn't show any signs of deterioration - at least not to me.
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#24
(03-12-2019, 10:50 AM)Phil Thien Wrote: There is an abundance of content available for free or nearly free consumption out there, some (much) of it exceeding the quality of the content for which we once paid.
And some of which is complete junk.  One of the benefits of editors, in theory, is that the junk can be filtered out.  It's not always so - I've seen some howlers in the printed literature (oddly, more often in books than in magazines; I'd have expected the reverse), but not nearly at the level I've seen on the internet.

I called the magazine customer service this morning and confirmed that, if I cancel, they'll refund the balance on the subscription.  Part of me hates to do that, but I can't imagine the quality of the magazine improving as part of a reorganization - at least not in the near term.

Bill, a little reluctant about posting that last paragraph...not wanting to start a magazine version of a bank run. But, still...
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#25
(03-12-2019, 10:50 AM)Phil Thien Wrote: There is plenty for which we can blame greedy businessmen and banks, I don't think this is one of them.

Well, you can to a certain extent.  Venture capital buys existing enterprises, hoping to improve operations, divest non-performing assets and refocus with a new business plan, and when running well exit the investment in 5 or 6 years as they have no intention of running it long term.  Ok, that's good, if it works out.  But they buy with a business plan in mind, filled with assumptions, and they massage their excel spreadsheet models to get the result they need to get to obtain the financing.  Notably, these VC acquisitions are highly leveraged, and those lenders (mostly other VCs or their investors) want their return, so buildings get sold, opex is increased, cash is siphoned from what should be capex in building the business to pay the lenders/investors, and eventually the enterprise chokes on debt and is starved for operating cash.  Same thing happened to Sears.  Same thing happened to Toys r Us, e.g., leveraged buyout by Venture capital.  Examples could go on and on.  Think of the old Danny DeVito/Gregory Peck movie (and play), "Other Peoples Money" but that was buying something and liquidating it as the sum of the parts exceeded the enterprise value.

Did the VC make money, maybe a little bit on the returns from invested capital; did they triple their investment (a common goal), no; so its a failure by VC standards.  So they file bankruptcy, screw suppliers, re-schedule debt, and try and sell it to another VC..... and the circle continues.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#26
(03-12-2019, 12:24 PM)Admiral Wrote: Well, you can to a certain extent.  Venture capital buys existing enterprises, hoping to improve operations, divest non-performing assets and refocus with a new business plan, and when running well exit the investment in 5 or 6 years as they have no intention of running it long term.  Ok, that's good, if it works out.  But they buy with a business plan in mind, filled with assumptions, and they massage their excel spreadsheet models to get the result they need to get to obtain the financing.  Notably, these VC acquisitions are highly leveraged, and those lenders (mostly other VCs or their investors) want their return, so buildings get sold, opex is increased, cash is siphoned from what should be capex in building the business to pay the lenders/investors, and eventually the enterprise chokes on debt and is starved for operating cash.  Same thing happened to Sears.  Same thing happened to Toys r Us, e.g., leveraged buyout by Venture capital.  Examples could go on and on.  Think of the old Danny DeVito/Gregory Peck movie (and play), "Other Peoples Money" but that was buying something and liquidating it as the sum of the parts exceeded the enterprise value.

Did the VC make money, maybe a little bit on the returns from invested capital; did they triple their investment (a common goal), no; so its a failure by VC standards.  So they file bankruptcy, screw suppliers, re-schedule debt, and try and sell it to another VC..... and the circle continues.

ALL of retail is struggling, whether run by venture capitalists or not.

Eddie Lampert's deep pockets are the only thing keeping Sears going at this point, they'd likely already be gone otherwise.

A business like F+W cannot exist as it historically did, those days are over and it isn't the fault of a venture capitalist.
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#27
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonysilber/...791b04355d
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#28
(03-12-2019, 01:26 PM)Rob Lee Wrote: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonysilber/...791b04355d

According to the Forbes article, their entry into ecommerce was the primary reason for the debt they racked up.  It was the poorest performing sector of the company.  If management had learned one thing from the dot-com crash, it should have been that ecommerce by itself is not going to be profitable.  There still needs to be a solid business plan behind it.  Perhaps they were, indeed thinking about the future of print media declining and wanting to be more digital, but there wasn't a good vision behind the plan, or more likely there wasn't a plan behind the vision.

Schwarz's speculation (much of it based on first hand knowledge in the trenches) is different than the Forbes version, which, admittedly, is based on interviews or quotes from F+W's CEO, who naturally isn't going to blame himself.

If there's a restructuring to be done, any reasonable new investor would eliminate the portions of the business causing the most bleeding.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#29
(03-12-2019, 11:23 AM)Hank Knight Wrote: What's Fine Woodworking got that Popular Woodworking doesn't have? Fine Woodworking has been going for a long time and doesn't show any signs of deterioration - at least not to me.

FW has hundreds of writers...something no other magazines can compare to.

However, FW has also been moving towards digital/online contents (subscription based), organizing shows (think WIA), publishing books (revenue stream), and adding contents about traditional woodworking. All this is to say FW is also facing the same kind of decline in readership challenges as others.

It is too early to say FW is out of the woods as the social media are still evolving and affecting everyone. Elsewhere, someone recently reported that one Woodcraft store is no longer offering any woodworking classes because of youtube!

Investing in a woodworking magazine in this era is as risky as starting up a new department store when most consumers are looking for goods delivered to their doors (without shipping fees).

Simon
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#30
The competition for digital and physical subscribers is tough:
Y’all get this?:

https://subscribe.woodworkersjournal.com...g_code=WWJ
Gary

Please don’t quote the trolls.
Liberty, Freedom and Individual Responsibility
Say what you'll do and do what you say.
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