Whats going on at Fountain?
11-11-2009, 02:00 PM
#11
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11-11-2009, 06:57 PM
#13
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“This group said they can run the operation better than I can. That’s like me saying I’m flying to the moon in my new rocketship today,” Fountain said.
well..if the operation ran so well, why did the spaceship crash..and Reggie is defending his piloting skills as the craft lay there bent broken and smoldering, and he's pizzed because the scrappers are trying to haul chunks of it away
11-12-2009, 01:24 PM
#14
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"well..if the operation ran so well, why did the spaceship crash..and Reggie is defending his piloting skills as the craft lay there bent broken and smoldering, and he's pizzed because the scrappers are trying to haul chunks of it away"
Why the crash? Not rocket science (no pun intended). Not long ago with fuel at $4-5/gallon, and prices climbing so fast people were worried they'd be seeing $7-10 dollars a gallon soon, coupled with the general sinking state of the economy (housing, jobs, auto makers, etc), it's easy to see what happened. And the Fountain company wasn't hardly alone. Lot's of businesses took a hit, or went under, especially in the areas of recreation vehicles.
And as the saying goes, "In a bad economy, the first thing to go is the yacht."
But IMO Reggie couldn't have gone 30 years in this game if he wasn't an expertly qualified at what he was doing. Personally, as a boat consumer, if a bunch of investors were at the helm of Fountain I'd be seriously worried that the quality of the Fountain product would suffer, for the sake of a better profit margin. I think the smartest thing the investors could do would be to concentrate on expanding sales avenues, and leave Reggie at the helm to run the show. He's the reason Fountain exists.
With the economy starting to show signs of improvement and fuel prices stabilizing I'm betting Reggie will pull a rabbit out of his hat in December, and much like his race history, he'll come out on top (again). Go Reggie go!
SR-71
Belhaven, NC
Why the crash? Not rocket science (no pun intended). Not long ago with fuel at $4-5/gallon, and prices climbing so fast people were worried they'd be seeing $7-10 dollars a gallon soon, coupled with the general sinking state of the economy (housing, jobs, auto makers, etc), it's easy to see what happened. And the Fountain company wasn't hardly alone. Lot's of businesses took a hit, or went under, especially in the areas of recreation vehicles.
And as the saying goes, "In a bad economy, the first thing to go is the yacht."
But IMO Reggie couldn't have gone 30 years in this game if he wasn't an expertly qualified at what he was doing. Personally, as a boat consumer, if a bunch of investors were at the helm of Fountain I'd be seriously worried that the quality of the Fountain product would suffer, for the sake of a better profit margin. I think the smartest thing the investors could do would be to concentrate on expanding sales avenues, and leave Reggie at the helm to run the show. He's the reason Fountain exists.
With the economy starting to show signs of improvement and fuel prices stabilizing I'm betting Reggie will pull a rabbit out of his hat in December, and much like his race history, he'll come out on top (again). Go Reggie go!
SR-71
Belhaven, NC
11-27-2009, 01:43 PM
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“This group said they can run the operation better than I can. That’s like me saying I’m flying to the moon in my new rocketship today,” Fountain said.
well..if the operation ran so well, why did the spaceship crash..and Reggie is defending his piloting skills as the craft lay there bent broken and smoldering, and he's pizzed because the scrappers are trying to haul chunks of it away
well..if the operation ran so well, why did the spaceship crash..and Reggie is defending his piloting skills as the craft lay there bent broken and smoldering, and he's pizzed because the scrappers are trying to haul chunks of it away
11-27-2009, 11:17 PM
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I'm curious how many of the people bashing Reggie have ever broken away from the umbilical cord themselves???
I wasn't there everyday anymore than you were but it's just not quite as simple as saying "he ran the company into the ground". Why?
1. Although I'm sure he was not perfect by any means, no one including him could have anticipated how ugly things would get. If NOTHING else, Reg is a very, very proud, vociferous, and reasonably high-profile man in his industry. Regardless of what any of the haters say, there is no way; no way this man would intentionally run his company into the ground when his last name is on several thousand boats out there. Imagine the embarrassment and stroke to the ego. There's more to the story than just to say "he failed".
2. If you know anything at all about marketing and selling a tangible good, then you must admit that taking him out of the picture will be disastrous if not detrimental to the brand that he has created. People / buyers are very sensitive to the standing of a brand when considering a large purchase. The boats sold well because he knew how to promote everywhere he went. Love him or hate him; without his personality behind the brand, it may as well say Bayliner, Sea-Ray, or Oxford on the side of it. People buy Fountain for the same reasons they buy a Cobra or Chevy or BMW. There are lots of black sandwich cookies with vanilla crème in the middle but none of them taste the same as an "Oreo".
It's very, very easy to throw stones when you go to work everyday for that paycheck. Everything looks to be black and white. Perhaps from where you sit, maybe it does look that simple. But rest assured; it’s NOT that simple.
Having said that, start your own company where there is a tangible good involved with inventories, tons of employees, taxes, money on the table that ages while you sleep and have the azz end of it fall out from underneath you. Then, you will realize that you're no different. Things happen. Things go wrong. No one had a problem waiting in line to meet him at the boat shows when the economy was good.
Realize it or not; own a Fountain or not; if you own any offshore performance V boat, you can just about bet that there is something in or on your boat that was copied or influenced by Fountain. Whether or not Fountain is the best boat or not is wide open.
The man has done more for this sport than all others combined. It's my opinion that the industry would miss him (admittedly or not). Fountain did not survive for nearly 30 years by being stupid or irresponsible. He made some significant decisions during very crucial times and he's paying the price like millions of other business owners and CEO's out there. That's it.
Finally, most really sucessful people got it, lost it, and then got it again. Trump (twice), Colonel Sanders etc.
May The Beak Live A Little Longer - - -
I wasn't there everyday anymore than you were but it's just not quite as simple as saying "he ran the company into the ground". Why?
1. Although I'm sure he was not perfect by any means, no one including him could have anticipated how ugly things would get. If NOTHING else, Reg is a very, very proud, vociferous, and reasonably high-profile man in his industry. Regardless of what any of the haters say, there is no way; no way this man would intentionally run his company into the ground when his last name is on several thousand boats out there. Imagine the embarrassment and stroke to the ego. There's more to the story than just to say "he failed".
2. If you know anything at all about marketing and selling a tangible good, then you must admit that taking him out of the picture will be disastrous if not detrimental to the brand that he has created. People / buyers are very sensitive to the standing of a brand when considering a large purchase. The boats sold well because he knew how to promote everywhere he went. Love him or hate him; without his personality behind the brand, it may as well say Bayliner, Sea-Ray, or Oxford on the side of it. People buy Fountain for the same reasons they buy a Cobra or Chevy or BMW. There are lots of black sandwich cookies with vanilla crème in the middle but none of them taste the same as an "Oreo".
It's very, very easy to throw stones when you go to work everyday for that paycheck. Everything looks to be black and white. Perhaps from where you sit, maybe it does look that simple. But rest assured; it’s NOT that simple.
Having said that, start your own company where there is a tangible good involved with inventories, tons of employees, taxes, money on the table that ages while you sleep and have the azz end of it fall out from underneath you. Then, you will realize that you're no different. Things happen. Things go wrong. No one had a problem waiting in line to meet him at the boat shows when the economy was good.
Realize it or not; own a Fountain or not; if you own any offshore performance V boat, you can just about bet that there is something in or on your boat that was copied or influenced by Fountain. Whether or not Fountain is the best boat or not is wide open.
The man has done more for this sport than all others combined. It's my opinion that the industry would miss him (admittedly or not). Fountain did not survive for nearly 30 years by being stupid or irresponsible. He made some significant decisions during very crucial times and he's paying the price like millions of other business owners and CEO's out there. That's it.
Finally, most really sucessful people got it, lost it, and then got it again. Trump (twice), Colonel Sanders etc.
May The Beak Live A Little Longer - - -
Last edited by SDFever; 11-27-2009 at 11:57 PM.
11-27-2009, 11:47 PM
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For What It's Worth...
If Donald Trump called you and gave you a really good real estate tip and if you had the money I bet you'd listen.
Did he run his previous two empires into the ground or is there more to it?
Did he run his previous two empires into the ground or is there more to it?
