First of all, it was a nice surprise to receive a long and detailed email only a couple of hours after publishing my blog post. The email has a very informal tone, with general comments about my blog and other direct information I'd rather omit. As Jim later told me, it was meant to be personal, not public. However, as the matter touched by my post is relevant, he agreed with my request for posting some quotes from the email.
In the email, Jim acknowledges that investment in the tools business by Borland was limited in past years, and that his role is to "focus the organization on the needs of the development community and return the company to growth".
The Quarterly Results
The mail has two key points. One is on Tod Nielsen (Borland CEO) comments to the quarterly results. Jim Douglas says he is "a very competitive person and reading the comments in print certainly wasn't a lot of fun. However, Tod and [Jim] had worked on the wording together in advance of the release and they reflect the facts." The rationale behind those comments relates with shareholder expectations.
On the other hand, he confirms that "Borland has strategically committed to investors that the ALM sector of the [company] will drive the business and support their expectations for growth".
"Selling" CodeGear
The most important concept of the email, at least in my opinion is the second point, regarding the future of CodeGear. Consistently with what was told in the past, Jim confirms that "selling the company is still the plan of record and consistent with the strategic needs of both organizations. Despite consistently generating profit and positive cash flow, I didn't feel like [CodeGear] was prepared to thrive as a stand alone entity when I joined at the beginning of the second quarter."
There is no specific time frame for the ownership change, but "this is the path we are on". I think this is very good news... Again, what is the price?