b!X even has a PDF download of the letter in a followup post.

Update!, more from Portland Communique.

You remember WebTrends don’t you? They had a dot.com bubble IPO and then got acquired by NetIQ Corp. (NetIQ being one of those companies that will explain what it does, but then you still have no idea what they do: “Knowlege-Based Service Assurance“) The BizJournal story also mentions that former 800.com founder Greg Drew will be the CEO of WebTrends (which makes me happy, I always liked 800.com and having a local-boy CEO is legit).

How does a company remove itself from it’s corporate owner? Just find someone that can cover the $94 million, like Francisco Partners. According to their website they “provide transformational capital by working in close concert with the management team to reposition, recapitalize, or otherwise rejuvenate companies to support strong long-term value creation.” And mercurynews.com says, “Web analytics is a competitive sector, but WebTrends was stuck within a larger company focused on computer-system and security management.”

WebTrends will have to keep an eye on Urchin, which was just acquired by Google. There is definitely something of a buying spree going on (MSN purchased AdCenter), with some referring to the buying trend as “Bubble 2.0″. I like seeing the buying frenzy work out so that some businesses are freed from corporate parents, instead of all the cool little companies (Flickr, Bloglines, Technorati, Feedster) getting gobbled up.

Sidenote: While trolling for dirt on Francisco Partners (none found), the closest thing I found was that managing partner David Stanton was a general partner with Texas Pacific Group and both Texas Pacific and FP have invested in Smart Modular Technologies, but I suppose the “private equity investment world” is relatively small and this doesn’t mean much.

Yay!

Seriously, I think IRV is a great idea. The idea of ranking all the candidates seems like such a better idea than just choosing one of two.

The TBA is the yearly event I am most excited about in Portland. it used to be the PIFF, but the TBA is so much more challenging. Performance based art intimidates me, and last year I didn’t go to as many things as I should have. It’s also exciting to have people I know be a part of such an important city event.

You are invited to attend the world premiere of Gimme Doughnut, a documentary short about Portland, Oregon’s notorious late night doughnut shop, Voodoo Doughnut. Located in Portland’s Old Town district, Voodoo Doughnut has received inernational attention for their elaborate, unusual, and tasty doughnuts, the annual “Cock Fest,” free Swahili lessons, weddings, and more. Much more.

Friday night – March 18th at 7pm.
Hollywood Theater on Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR

You’ll remember my last post about Bishops was complaining about their lack of originality. I ended that entry with, “Well, until I learn more, I plan on staying away from Bishops.” I was there last Saturday, needing a haircut before a wedding later that day.

I still find it frustrating that Bishops gets press for their “original” idea.

But that isn’t true!

Potter was pressured into upping his campaign contributions to $100! And he did!

I know it’s nit-picking, but I think the fact that he upped it to $100 is an important fact.

This adds an interesting twist to the idea of renovating that block and creating a smaller store and a hotel. Will Federated want to do that as well? Or will they want all the space for their Macy’s?