I Got Diane Greene's Autograph ....

Well kind of ... I decided to be in VMW for the loooonnnnnngggggggg haul. That being the case, I didn't want to be tempted to sell anytime soon. I really believe in this company long term. I think companies like this come along once every decade or so. The Microsofts, Dells, Googles, Apples of the world. Those companies that are not just doing a "Me Too" impersonation. The companies that are inventing things, changing the world, doing things fundamentally different than anyone else.

Who doesn't wish they had shares of Google, Apple, Dell, even Yahoo from the day they went public until today ? With most of those companies we are talking decades of investing, yes investing, not trading, in the market.

So back to how I got the autograph. I decided to get the actual stock certificate. With it sitting in our safety deposit box at the bank (yeap never thought I'd have one of those) I can stop thinking about it and just let it ride.

Of course it could go to ZERO. I'm not ignorant enough to ignore the dot-com mayhem that may once again occur. But jeez, this company is growing, been doing the virtualization thing for a decade, I've seen the products from day 1. If I remember correctly all the dot-coms were talking about "Potential earnings, or even revenue". This one already has real profit. So be it if it goes to nada. I won't even care. At least I was in to have a chance, and won't be saying, "Ohhhh I wish I would have bought some."

Here's the certificate. How cool is that, it's number #0123.

I got in for under $50, anybody else get in for under $50 ?, besides all you VMware employees :-)

8/17 Buy Vmware Inc @ 48.91 20
8/17 Buy Vmware Inc @ 49.56 180

One little piece of paper, currently worth $22,418. Enough to pay for my WSOP entry next year :-)

I like poker.