Cyber Game of Thrones

Let me tell you a tall Texas tale of two cowboys wrestling for glory.

WillJam - a shrewd Chicago businessman known for buying and selling, mixing and matching cyber companies the world over.

AT&T- a telecom known for one of the worst M&A Corp Dev teams in corporate history (buy high, sell low is their motto).

These two cowboys met in the street one spring day. Staring each other down, sizing each other up, intent to win big in the game of thrones - cyber style.

T thinks they’ve found their su---r, a one-man shop, desperate for the biggest catch of his career.

WillJam, looking at T, sees a corporation in free fall, buried in debt and racing to fulfill the outlandish demands of its mad CEO, driven to make his mark before the clock times him out. And he’s got commitments, you see, to his investors, to viciously lay the axe to his global empire, cutting tens of thousands of people a year, and to rip out everything that lacks a port or can’t transmit a byte, to pull the stock out of the gutter.

So these two foes meet, each with their own aims. AT&T hoping to unload 1,100 employees without expensive severance payments, and shed a unit riddled with incompetent leadership and a costly sunset process. WillJam, hoping to add yet another notch on his headboard of companies that have born his name.

For a year they circle each other in the hot sun, sweat dripping, pens itching to sign on the dotted line. They negotiate terms, haggle over definitions (what did you really mean when you said “preferred provider?”) and sometimes laughing at the poor souls outside with their heads and ears pressed to the door, hoping to catch hints of their miserable futures.

But WillJam, he’s got a trick up his sleeve, and an ace in the hole. He’s studied his foe. He knows their weaknesses. He watched and learned their strategies. And so he laid a trap, a way to make his money without the headache of turning around their failed venture. A way to save himself the work and still make a shiny buck. Borrowing from the ghosts of failed mergers past, he’s decided to “T-Mobile” them. A brilliant strategy maneuver he calculates they will never see coming.

Stay tuned for more tales from cyber game of thrones to hear how this sordid tale ends….

Comment! It's anonymous!

21 replies (most recent on top)

"This is nonsense. You’re making it sound like it’s two warriors doing battle over a prize. This nothing like that. It’s a JOINT VENTURE. That means it’s a collaboration between two parties that deeply respect each other and what both parties bring to the table.

It’s a partnership not a Mexican stand off"

You must be new, don't worry kid, one day you'll get it

A modern day Sears? You appear to be implying that Sears is like an ancient prehistoric civilization. You realize they still exist right? They have 11 locations.

They are probably bigger than AT&T cybersecurity even in their vastly reduced state, and have more employees, and certainly more offices….

The Cyber group will be seen as the modern day Sears…..

“ My 11 year old could write a more creative story. Terrible punctuation and grammar. OP thinks they are so clever, but this mess is beyond cringeworthy.”

Dooouucchhhee of the month club president

To be clear, many of us in the know see the many subtle and brilliant points made in this post.

In all likelihood, there is no 11 year old daughter, but a middle aged business executive sitting behind a screen pi---d off that their incompetence is laid bare and ridiculed in plain sight and that there is no one to lash out at with meaningless threats of poor ratings and low raises.

Su-ks to be seen for the empty suit you are.

"My 11 year old could write a more creative story. Terrible punctuation and grammar. OP thinks they are so clever, but this mess is beyond cringeworthy."

Wow, I had no idea I was competing with the literary genius of an 11-year-old. Here I was, thinking I was just sharing a story, but apparently, I've stumbled into the arena of high art. My deepest apologies for not living up to the Shakespearean standards set by your preteen. Next time, I'll be sure to run my drafts by them first—assuming they're not too busy solving world hunger or reinventing the wheel. Your critique has been a wake-up call; clearly, I've been the amateur hour. Let me go sharpen my pencils and my wit—I've got a young prodigy to impress.

“ Don’t know much about the cyber security business but OP should become a writer! That was very creative.”

D+

And he probably spent most of his work day on Friday on it.

“Don’t know much about the cyber security business but OP should become a writer! That was very creative.”

My 11 year old could write a more creative story. Terrible punctuation and grammar. OP thinks they are so clever, but this mess is beyond cringeworthy.

"Joint venture "is the verbiage used for the first 6 months to make everyone happy. Then the gloves will come off, you got purchased and this was an acquisition when cuts some.

Don’t know much about the cyber security business but OP should become a writer! That was very creative.

So why would it be a "joint venture" if it wasn't a respected partnership? Huh? Can't answer because you're the ignoramus. Just watch what AT&T and WIllJam create TOGETHER in the marketplace the next 3-5 years and you'll be eating those words. We'll all come back to this thread and make you eat your words!

“ That means it’s a collaboration between two parties that deeply respect each other”

Ignorant quote of the month winner

Most people I know in cyber that like to brag about their “industry credential” are egotistical id--ts with an attitude problem. I highly recommend not hiring anyone in that category. You will live to regret it.

There are plenty of places that hire people without “industry credentials” - whatever that means.

Most of T cyber isn’t going anywhere since they lack industry credentials.

Just kidding! My boss paid me $20 bucks to post that. They don’t get their bonus if too many people resign before closing.

The sky is still falling!

To the guy that said nonsense. You are a FOOL!!!! This is no joint venture. Stank sheds employees and payroll for about $200m/yr, and keep on cutting. Many fantastic folks left at T cyber and only the good will survive. Problem is....over half of them are incompetent. It's sad to see it happen this way as it wasn't the intention....yet a sad result

This is nonsense. You’re making it sound like it’s two warriors doing battle over a prize. This nothing like that. It’s a JOINT VENTURE. That means it’s a collaboration between two parties that deeply respect each other and what both parties bring to the table.

It’s a partnership not a Mexican stand off.

The sky is falling.

The Business can't run without employees.
Time for T to own up to their mistakes in this whole shady process and do right by their employees before they lose them all to the competition.

Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Cyber Game of Thrones

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