1. saintforlife's Avatar
    I know most of this forum was very high on him during the early part of the year, going so far as to give him nick names such as the 'Thor' etc. But in hindsight nothing he planned seemed to have panned out. Personally I was never sold on him. What about him enamored you in the first place that led you to believe he had what it took to turn RIM/BlackBerry around? Anybody care here care to admit that they were wrong about him and he will be first guy out of the door as soon as Fairfax completes the deal?
    milo53 likes this.
    09-25-13 09:53 PM
  2. kevinnugent's Avatar
    Heins (I think) did exactly what the BoD's asked him to do. Flog the company off - quick.
    southlander and TGR1 like this.
    09-25-13 09:56 PM
  3. Harvey Specter's Avatar
    Heins (I think) did exactly what the BoD's asked him to do. Flog the company off - quick.
    Either that or he is one of the most inept managers ever.
    Icarus3000 and robkd like this.
    09-25-13 10:05 PM
  4. CHIP72's Avatar
    I can honestly say that I never thought Heins was the right guy for the job, if the job was to keep Blackberry as a viable smartphone manufacturer. He struck me at the time he was promoted as being too conservative and similar to the previous leadership. The company needed someone who was more bold, dynamic, and willing to take chances at the time he became the CEO.
    milo53, TGR1, thedark722 and 1 others like this.
    09-25-13 10:07 PM
  5. sportline's Avatar
    heinously bad. no marketing skill, no business sense. all incentive is on to mess up the company, get is sold and get $50M dollar?
    09-25-13 10:09 PM
  6. birdman_38's Avatar
    We expected Thorsten Heins. What we got was Heinsenberg.
    robkd likes this.
    09-25-13 10:22 PM
  7. saintforlife's Avatar
    We expected Thorsten Heins. What we got was Heinsenberg.
    bobauckland, angad7.10 and robkd like this.
    09-26-13 12:14 AM
  8. Aljean Thein's Avatar
    heinously bad. no marketing skill, no business sense. all incentive is on to mess up the company, get is sold and get $50M dollar?
    No marketing skill in the US. Other part of the world, the marketing is there. I did believe in Thor and his vision of mobile computing. But he's not clearly showing us the "mobile computing" part just yet.
    09-26-13 12:17 AM
  9. kevinnugent's Avatar
    No marketing skill in the US. Other part of the world, the marketing is there. I did believe in Thor and his vision of mobile computing. But he's not clearly showing us the "mobile computing" part just yet.
    Hmm. How can one "believe in Thor and his vision of mobile computing" when he hasn't even clarified what he meant? Even he doesn't believe all his BS.
    09-26-13 12:20 AM
  10. southlander's Avatar
    Speaking of transitions. I guess in retrospect he was and is just a transitional figure. A placeholder until BlackBerry could get BlackBerry 10 out and then find a buyer.

    Z10STL100-4/10.2.0.1443
    09-26-13 12:51 AM
  11. mkwb's Avatar
    Heins (I think) did exactly what the BoD's asked him to do. Flog the company off - quick.
    I think he is doing well from an execution perspective. From a strategic perspective it is hard to guess what he is thinking.

    You'd like to imagine there is some secret plan to return BlackBerry to dominance in the mobile space (via some new technology they are hypothetically working on), but, part of me (and this is the super majority) thinks (knows) they are just reacting to crises after crises with no clear plan of survival.

    It's obviously all part of a secret plan. The decimation of over $75 billion of shareholders wealth due to ongoing incompetent management, poor product delivery, poor marketing, missed release dates, was all part of a grand scheme by Management to take the company private and make, even, more money as a small private company?

    Or not.

    Posted via CB10
    09-26-13 01:06 AM
  12. unbreakablej's Avatar
    I can honestly say that I never thought Heins was the right guy for the job, if the job was to keep Blackberry as a viable smartphone manufacturer. He struck me at the time he was promoted as being too conservative and similar to the previous leadership. The company needed someone who was more bold, dynamic, and willing to take chances at the time he became the CEO.
    I can do that!

    Posted via CB10
    09-26-13 02:26 AM
  13. g33kphr33k's Avatar
    Gift of the gab, but that's it.

    Fire the lot, get in a board of people who want the company to succeed. If board members stopped being given large sums of cash for failure and only got paid to perform, it'd be a whole different story.

    That can be applied to most companies. But, the financial world never works this way. Just look at banking.....



    Typed on and then corrected by my Z10
    potatoguy likes this.
    09-26-13 02:35 AM
  14. lnichols's Avatar
    Well if he was instructed by Mike L to sabotage the company to drive down the stock so his buddy Prem could buy it and take it private then he would be very successful. If he was legitimately trying to turn the company around then he is a miserable failure! So I guess it depends on which he was hired for and trying to do.

    Posted via CB10
    09-26-13 06:23 AM
  15. BlackBerry Guy's Avatar
    He was hand picked by the previous CEOs wasn't he? If that's the case, 'nuff said.

    Still, you had to admire his enthusiasm and his willingness to chat and open up with tech blogs such as CrackBerry and engage the enthusiast community through them. It did create a little hope and excitement, however short lived it was.
    milo53 likes this.
    09-26-13 10:24 AM
  16. anon(870071)'s Avatar
    I know most of this forum was very high on him during the early part of the year, going so far as to give him nick names such as the 'Thor' etc. But in hindsight nothing he planned seemed to have panned out. Personally I was never sold on him. What about him enamored you in the first place that led you to believe he had what it took to turn RIM/BlackBerry around? Anybody care here care to admit that they were wrong about him and he will be first guy out of the door as soon as Fairfax completes the deal?
    I didn't think that at first but yeah I'm afraid he's gotta be held accountable! I think plans back fired and definitely this outcome was the last resort. I really think Blackberry could have been more aggressive with their roll out plans and delays equates loss. With the huge latency to market with bb os 10 and the devices that support it was just too late. The delays I think costed the company their life line. CROSS PLATFORM bbm should have been rolled out at least two years ago.

    Sent from my SGH-I957R using CB Forums mobile app
    09-26-13 10:46 AM
  17. nyc_rock's Avatar
    I was never impressed with Thorsten, not from the get go. With that said, I think it was the self disillusionment of many in thinking that blackberry had a chance. Honestly? This outcome was determined at least three years ago when Blackberry was still dismissing the need for Apps and high res screens. There was nothing Thorsten could have done to alter the inevitable outcome we are witnessing today.
    09-26-13 12:41 PM
  18. zapblam's Avatar
    Take the helm "new" captain. Oh yea one thing, the ship started sinking long ago. Gotta run. have fun, good luck.
    09-26-13 01:12 PM
  19. EchoTango's Avatar
    In my view, if what seems to happening does go through, he will be known as the man that killed a Canadian Icon.

    I thought he was very enthusiastic supporter of the company but if results are the true measurement, he's been a complete and utter failure. His acceptance of the Fairfax offer is the icing on the cake and sealed his fate, as he will walk away with $55million while inverstors and employees will be wiped out. He will not be employable in Canada and I suspect he'll need to leave the country for his own security.

    I would not like to be in his shoes when all the court cases start being heard.
    milo53 and robkd like this.
    09-26-13 01:35 PM
  20. nyc_rock's Avatar
    In my view, if what seems to happening does go through, he will be known as the man that killed a Canadian Icon.

    I thought he was very enthusiastic supporter of the company but if results are the true measurement, he's been a complete and utter failure. His acceptance of the Fairfax offer is the icing on the cake and sealed his fate, as he will walk away with $55million while inverstors and employees will be wiped out. He will not be employable in Canada and I suspect he'll need to leave the country for his own security.

    I would not like to be in his shoes when all the court cases start being heard.
    Are you suggesting he did something illegal? And for the record, he did not accept the Fairfax deal, the board of directors did.

    You make it sound like he destroyed a thriving enterprise. He was given the keys to the titanic 100 feet in front of the iceberg.
    milo53 likes this.
    09-26-13 01:45 PM
  21. EchoTango's Avatar
    Are you suggesting he did something illegal? And for the record, he did not accept the Fairfax deal, the board of directors did.

    You make it sound like he destroyed a thriving enterprise. He was given the keys to the titanic 100 feet in front of the iceberg.
    I'm sure they are well "lawyered up" but that doesn’t mean they're not guilty of gross self-indulgence and blind to the moral implications of their actions. Courts take a very dim view of large corporations taking advantage of small investors to line their own pockets. Since they also trade on the Nasdaq, I’m sure there’s more than a few US pension or mutual funds that will be looking for restitution.

    As for the Titanic analogy, I think TH had significantly more runway than “100 feet” to turn this ship around. Many here have commented on the shortcomings of the BB10 launch and I don’t need to repeat all the issues, they’re very well known.
    m0de25 likes this.
    09-26-13 02:16 PM
  22. angad7.10's Avatar
    Definitely.
    09-26-13 03:21 PM
  23. Vorkosigan's Avatar
    I realize I'm in the minority, but I think that Heins has done his best. I think he hoped for a better outcome at the beginning - hence his enthusiasm. I think he knows that BB10 is a great product. But I also think he had his Plan B ready in case of the very real possibility that Bb10 didn't take off immediately.

    Heins said there was a three part plan. I hope that's still on track and I believe it is. I think this is just part two and hope part three is more popular.

    I'm also quite sure that Heins knew how unpopular this part of his plan would make him. Personally I feel a bit sorry for him, but I recognize you have to have a pretty thick skin to be CEO of a major company.

    Posted via CB10
    09-26-13 07:00 PM
  24. kevinnugent's Avatar
    I think this is just part two and hope part three is more popular.
    Part 3 for Heins involves palm trees, blow, lots of cash and hookers. $55m worth.
    09-26-13 07:07 PM
  25. Skatophilia's Avatar
    I like him, even though he isn't a very good business man per see he is a very intelligent man
    09-26-13 07:13 PM
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