Waterville Research provides fundamental Wall Street investment research, market maker support, financing expertise, and Social Media Strategies for Small-Cap companies.
With Social Media Strategies, Waterville connects clients with online audiences specific to their individual market and industry needs. When we set up or add to a clients's Social Media Infrastructure, it is THEIR infrastructure. If a client moves on without Waterville, the following created by Waterville stays with the client.
Waterville uses a system that mines online data, social networks, and new media to selectively engage and connect with significant “Online Industry Influencers” and online groups on behalf of its clients. The specificity of the information produced by the Waterville process allows it to locate, prioritize, and engage in a variety of market segments by:
- Connecting investors to companies on the public market
- Fund raising for public companies
- Finding sales prospects for sales and marketing departments
- Gathering real online data for research and analytical purposes
Follow Me Strategies - The historic problem for Small-Cap companies has been creating and sustaining a strong investor following. Companies have often been at the mercy of one or two key investment firms. Now with the rise of Digital and Social Media, Small-Cap companies have the ability to DIRECTLY create investor followings. The days of looking for a quick fix are over and Waterville supports clients looking to create and grow a long term investment following that will "Follow" them anywhere.
Social Media Strategies - Twitter, Stock Twits, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media forums are increasingly being used by investors to gather information on new products and services. Investors are using these platforms and vertical applications to get investment advice. A recent report by Spectrem Group termed "Social Media and the Investor" is based on a survey of 500 financial decision-makers in households with $50,000 or more in annual income who spend at least two hours per week on the Internet. 77% of investors who read investment blogs said they are likely to consult them for financial product and service information. Sixty-nine percent of LinkedIn users are likely to consult their LinkedIn networks on investment issues and 63% of Twitter users would pay attention to investment tweets, according to Spectrem.
Waterville Research was started in October of 2002 when the Dow was at 7500, NASDAQ was at 1200 and the Russell 2000 was at 340. That was the bottom of that market, and the belief was that after three down years, it was a good time to jump back into the Small-Cap market. Wall Street is typically very severe in its reaction to small companies in down markets, so the focus at Waterville is exclusively on Small-Cap stocks which Wall Street has ignored, abused and/or forgotten. Here we are again with the new market of 2011. In the words of LinkedIn’s founder, Reid Garrett Hoffman, "Entrepreneurs don’t write a 100-page business plan and execute it one time; they’re always experimenting and adapting based on what they learn." The Waterville model continues to evolve and we now head into the new market of 2011 and beyond. However, Waterville continuues with it philosophy of owning a long-term stock position next to management and investors.
Waterville Philosophy On Compensation
While many firms talk about long term plans, Waterville delivers on this promise by taking the majority of our compensation (90+%) in 144 restricted stock. Cash is king to our clients. We take a long term look at the company so we are not going to do a report on one we feel is well overvalued or one that may not survive in a year but look for companies that are undervalued so we can share in their success
Forbes Magazine acknowledged the Waterville Philosophy in an article on Independent Research, where it stated, "Waterville Investment Research, founded in October 2002, gets further into bed with the subjects of its reports. It asks companies for compensation in restricted stock." Our interpretation is that "getting into bed" means believing in the long term view of the Client and the market. As 144 stock holders, all sales will be recorded so that client companies and potential investors can see the fully disclosed transactions. We are looking for long term growth of stocks.
Why Us ?
- 144 Stock Holders
- Many Competitors Seek Free Trading Shares, Thus Diluting Client's Stock From Day 1
- Long Term Market Professionals Who Have The Experience That Most Competitors Lack