Has Dotcom made a Mega cock-up in bashing Xero?

Kim Dotcom’s sudden silence in his war of words with Xero CEO Rod Drury has not gone unnoticed in some circles, with many speculating shareholder pressure to have severely bitten his tongue.

After engaging in a public spat over Drury’s recent comments about his Internet Party’s ICT policies, Dotcom and his notorious Twitter account has uncharacteristically moved on from the dispute - leading many to question why?

Could Dotcom’s mocking of Xero as New Zealand’s most “overvalued” company come back to bite him in the backdoor listing ass?

According to TechDay sources observing the dispute, the whole social media scrap is drenched in irony given that Dotcom’s comments, in which he jokingly implored his 350K followers to become Xero customers to avoid a stock price crash, could seriously impact plans to list both Mega and Baboom on NZX and ASX respectively.

Is it smart to claim any internet company in New Zealand is “overvalued”, as the outspoken Dotcom puts it, when through Mega and Baboom, he hopes to follow the exact same formula as Xero?

So much so that the New Zealand-based software company, which went public on the NZX on June 5, 2007 with a $15m IPO, recently passed $100m in annualised revenue for the first time.

As mentioned by Drury at the time, passing the $100m annualised revenue is a “huge milestone for any tech company.”

So is it wise for a man who would no doubt crave a fraction of the same success to bash a Kiwi-founded tech company hitting their stride both locally and internationally?

“Clearly Dotcom shoots from the hip and quickly realised his mistake,” one tech figure told TechDay.

“Dotcom more than anyone should know any tech listing in Australia or New Zealand is completely dependent on the success of Xero, and given the level of respect for Rod across ANZ, it seems like he’s once again shot himself in the foot.”

But as TechDay’s sources speculate, did Dotcom realise his embarrassing gaffe? Or was the mistake brought to his attention by disgruntled shareholders?

At this stage it remains unclear, but the irony of Dotcom’s latest outburst and sudden silence suggests all is not well over at Mega HQ.

But given Dotcom’s apparent retraction and Drury’s focus on the serious issues in the ICT industry - don’t be surprised if this spat lays washed up in the Twitter archives.

Has Dotcom displayed a serious lack of business nous with his latest outburst?