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If it is at the FDA's doorstep and worth $5-$10 per share, why wouldn't we rather wait until it hits the market and get another big bump? Anyone who sold their ISRG at $25/share is kicking themselves for that one!
We need to fine-tune the distribution list for the letter. Management team is now just McNally and Randall; BOD is only 4 guys - McNally, Bernholtz, Barker, and Wolff; Commercial team is Sankholkar, Hargrove, Seibert, Nahon, Shore, and Brar. BOD plus Randall is a minimum; should the rest of the Commercial team receive copies as well or should we not distract them with this? Maybe a subset of the Commercial team... Thoughts?
It'll be time for another beer soon... I'm in for over 4 years now.
I wonder if some of today's increase in PPS is due to the positivity on this message board! You folks may all be more influential than you realize!
Granted, it is much easier to stay positive when there are good things happening.
Most likely in the morning; can do last-minute edits if needed and verify the distribution list, then blast it out before lunchtime (East coast lunchtime, that is...).
I just want to get as many eyes on it as possible first to make sure everyone is on board with it (really, to ensure the letter properly and accurately reflects everyone's sentiment to the maximum possible extent).
Anyone out there today? Still seeking feedback on the letter, hopefully to be sent tomorrow!
As far as I know, the only addition is Mr. McNally, and there are a couple departures to delete from the previous list. Should be easy, but we want to all send to the same list so can refine it tomorrow.
Maybe I can add a question like:
Given the recent changes to management and the SAB, does Titan still have the same relationships with organizations such as Mayo and SAIL?
To you iHub folks, I must ask if the wording seems correct and appropriate, as well as if there are any other such clinical organizations which should be included? I wasn't really that up-to-speed on what some of these outside orgs were doing in conjunction with Titan.
Thanks!
Here is the first draft of Letter #3 on a very quiet day. I used Wednesday's date to allow tomorrow for feedback and updates before the big send. We also need a revised distribution list to match the revised leadership team. Let me know what you think...
Subject (for email subject line): Titan Medical Shareholder Letter 3
January 18, 2017
To Titan Medical Inc. Board of Directors and Management:
This letter is the third such document from our group of shareholders who regularly communicate via the InvestorsHub Titan Medical message board, and the first to be addressed also to our new CEO. To Mr. McNally, welcome to the Titan Medical community. We do not know if you have been informed about our group and our prior letters, so for a very brief history, we banded together on the aforementioned message board to convey our concerns over the direction of the company last year. We are unanimously pleased to have you on the team. As a group, we had reached substantial agreement on the list of attributes we had hoped to find in a new CEO, and your experience shows you to be a great match for that list. To Mr. Barker, we would like to express our gratitude for stepping up to the proverbial plate as interim CEO when it became necessary, as well as for creating a new model for shareholder communications, and also for finding Mr. McNally to help guide Titan Medical through these next critical phases.
One of our greatest concerns in the past was the infrequency of communications from the company, leaving shareholders feeling as though we were “in the dark” with regard to our investments. In November, Mr. Barker wrote a Letter to Shareholders which was unprecedented in our recent experience, and greatly appreciated. He provided information and status updates on a number of fronts including personnel and leadership changes, funding, development, and the need for 2017 milestones toward regulatory approval and commercialization. Despite the tenuous situation we felt the company was in at the time, his letter appeared to initiate a new chapter for the company and for investor relations. We truly hope that the depth and breadth of that letter can be a model for ongoing investor communications, whether issued as a Press Release or as a Letter to Shareholders via the Titan Medical web site, as was the first one. The Investor Presentation dated January 5, 2017, is certainly pertinent to new investors who may be getting familiar with Titan Medical and the opportunity being pursued, but most existing shareholders are seeking more intimate details on ongoing operations. As this is now a period of rapid transition on most of the topics from the first Letter to Shareholders, we would hope that more such letters can be written with reasonable frequency. Some contributors on the InvestorsHub message board have also suggested that we propose periodic conference calls with shareholders, but either form of ongoing communications would serve to help dispel fears and increase confidence within the investment community.
The first Letter to Shareholders touched upon the topic of funding and the “desire and need to fund the development all the way to market.” Ongoing discussions on the message board frequently address the concerns over funding, including whether non-dilutive funding measures are possible, and if a merger or buyout is imminent in order to reach the commercial market. The latter options would likely reduce financing risk substantially, but most likely would also greatly diminish the ultimate returns for those of us who are in it for the long haul. This leads us to pose the following questions:
Is Titan Medical still committed to remaining an independent organization, or is it more likely that Mr. McNally’s strong experience in developing partnerships will be relied upon for a new direction?
Is the “Longtai deal” (as it is colloquially known) still a possibility?
Is Titan currently working with any private equity investors?
Might Titan be considering a reverse split for uplisting potential, or is the prevailing assumption that it would not be necessary given a natural rise in price per share due to imminent milestone achievements?
From a shareholder perspective, funding is closely tied to schedule. Can information be shared about the correlation of funding and schedule, such as approximately how much additional funding is budgeted to reach each of the imminent milestones? Also, have the 2017 milestones yet been determined from a schedule perspective?
We know in very general terms that we need to achieve conclusion of development efforts and design freeze, and we need to file for regulatory approvals, and we presume some amount of clinical data will need to be generated via pre-clinical and clinical trials to support the regulatory filings. Is there a fairly firm date anticipated for design freeze and some additional estimates for subsequent milestones?
How many SPORT systems are to be built as "production equivalent" systems for clinical trials and other activities, and what anticipated costs are associated with these early systems?
Are we actively working with the regulatory agencies to ensure we are on the optimal path to approval?
We understand that we cannot necessarily expect detailed answers to all these questions in a public forum, but this represents a sample of the most frequent topics of discussion among our group, and we feel they best represent our most pressing concerns at this time.
We also look forward to an increase in public exposure to the SPORT system as it nears completion, via appearances at trade shows, conferences, and trade journal articles both in print and on the internet. Updated videos on the Titan Medical web site to show SPORT's capabilities would also attract favorable attention.
In summary, we are grateful for the recent and ongoing changes in personnel and we feel the outlook for our Titan investments is certainly brighter than it had recently been. We believe that continued communications and frequent status updates are critical to encourage new investors and allow for a more optimistic outlook within the investment community, ultimately improving share price and thereby making subsequent funding requirements easier to fulfill. We hope our newly revised management team is in agreement.
Sincerely,
Name:
City/State:
Shares held as of January 18, 2017:
The difference in terminology seems subtle... One would think ISRG should be selling the version surgeons don't dislike!
My wife said her hospital HAS the single site ISRG system and the surgeons universally dislike it. Not sure where word came from that it isn't being sold yet, but that is false. Unless they suspended further sales pending some re-design to make it more user-friendly and "intuitive" to use...
Sorry about the lengthy link, but this is a diagram of Intuitive's single site solution:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=da+vinci+single+site+port&view=detailv2&&id=75C752BF468B05DEB69C2153B5F22C22D8D5492E&selectedIndex=0&ccid=Gpn0N%2bWS&simid=608006377868168063&thid=OIP.M1a99f437e592eebf7c4c9ad34be16e51o0&ajaxhist=0
Doesn't look very "intuitive" to me.
The single port with dual snake arms is advantageous because it is more natural than controlling the left side with your right hand and vice versa. Also, the 3D imaging screen with polarized glasses is a big advantage over having your face stuffed into a headset for extended periods of time; it also allows for easier viewing by additional personnel. And given the costs associated with technology, that is also another big advantage.
Intuitive has product maturity and supply chain maturity to their advantage, possibly helping with attributes like reliability and service response time, plus the ability to house large inventories of supplies for quick order fulfillment. Any start-up will have to work their way up to match those advantages, which will require time and sales revenue for any competitor to achieve.
I also think that being smaller can mean more flexibility and more responsiveness to early customer input. It's a lot easier to turn a canoe than to turn a cruise ship. Intuitive is less likely to make changes based on input from just a couple customers, but a small organization has to pay attention to those "little things" and react accordingly.
I honestly believe that many hospitals feel that they are held somewhat captive by Intuitive and many would love to jump ship to the next competitor out of spite, especially when a company like Titan shows them how much they can save. It will make them feel as though they have been getting ripped off for the past 15 years. Better technology, half the price... That's why I'm still here!
One big advantage to the snake arms is that they don't cross over constantly like the Intuitive arms. Any surgeons (or OR personnel) out there care to opine?
My wife said that at her hospital, the da Vinci arms end up crossed over so the surgeon's right hand is working in the left space of the surgical site and vice versa. Titan appears to keep everything clean and organized as if you are working with your own hands in front of you, with left hand on the left and right hand on the right. She also said that if those are indeed Microline end effectors, that is also a good thing. Great reputation in the field. She said one-time use scissors are ideal for ensuring best sharpness at all times, and other reusable ends are fine for a specified number of cases. From my days in Clinical Engineering, that sounds like a reasonable assessment to me (but I trust her professional opinion more than my dated judgment call).
Your mantra is my fear. I think we have a much greater reward in store if we can get this to market as Titan. To use a silly example, what if J&J bought us? What is their market cap? What if Titan adds a billion dollars to their market cap... For us, a billion dollar market cap as a solo act means $7.50/share... nice gains for anybody here at this time. What percentage does a billion dollars add to J&J's stock price? About a third of one percent! Not quite the profit I was looking for. I can do better in my checking account.
For the letter
Honeycomb777 Tuesday, 01/10/17 03:36:49 PM
Re: glg20 post# 49154
Post # of 49174
This should not r/s if Mc plans to sell prior to FDA submission. It most certainly will r/s if they grab 50milly from the shelf to try and get it there. For me, that would be the biggest question for him to answer IMO
I want this on the radar screen for the next letter... This is definitely an important question; it might require a little wordsmithing to make it "answerable" or at least to ensure our concerns are recognized.
In the words of the immortal (despite being deceased) Rodney King...
"Why can't we all just get along?"
(I have previously hypothesized that this was an incomplete quote, and that the full quote was actually "Why can't we all just get a Long Island Iced Tea?")
Dr. Rayman still listed under Board of Directors as both Director and President. Mr. McNally is not listed on BOD. I assume by COB tomorrow they should have web site updated with latest changes.
These past few postings make my job so much easier! These are all great ideas and deserve consideration. Just a couple comments... I thought there was an indication that Plexus was also back on the job; maybe this can be verified before we pose it as a question. Also, as was noted, there is a lot to be said for stability in a transition period. If people are truly detrimental to the operations, they should go immediately. Otherwise, they may have a good synergy with Mr. McNally and just need the proper direction and guidance to fit into the bigger picture.
Despite my personal disappointment that I could not get so much as an acknowledgement from my email to Paige, that doesn't necessarily mean she is clueless about the marketing requirements. Marketing a new medical device requires a lot of advanced planning. She was brought on board before the revised timeline, so she was "on deck" until the delay but it may have been a reasonable decision to keep her on board until the spotlight is once again on her; otherwise a vacant position during the delay and a new hire afterwards could be throwing away some great prep work. Given the track record of success McNally brings to the table, he is probably a pretty good judge of that and can make a fair determination in a brief amount of time. He knows she has been there for years, and if she doesn't show him a mature marketing plan already in place, he should be escorting her to the door immediately. But it is possible that she is staying abreast of the development process and refining her plan to accommodate additional indications and features of the machine to market the SPORT advantages as soon as it receives regulatory approval.
As for Rayman's position, I can't think of as many possible scenarios which could prove his value to the organization, but it is further from my field of professional expertise so I wouldn't be the best judge of that. Again, I believe Mr. McNally should be well positioned to make that judgement. I do like how Mr. Barker stepped up to the plate as Interim CEO and I wouldn't mind seeing him in the position of president if he wanted it. I don't know what else he has on his plate outside of Titan and maybe he isn't interested because he can't commit sufficient time to the tasks. McNally may have his own outsider waiting in the wings, or maybe Rayman will demonstrate his value and prove his capabilities to McNally. Ditto for Randall.
For the letter, I think we might want to mention that we have concerns about these positions based on historical indications of performance, but also based on an absolute deficit in communications regarding their function. If anything, we should ensure McNally is aware of our concerns and evaluates each position accordingly, but I don't believe we should blindly request the immediate termination of people in these critical positions. If cleaning house is what is required, I'm all for it, but it has to be the right thing to do.
And yes, and am quite pleased with the selection of Mr. McNally for CEO!
We can be putting our thoughts together here while we see if Mr. McNally does something first. If he is monitoring the message board, he will certainly have a good idea as to what our thoughts are, but we should still formalize them in a letter, or at least those which he doesn't specifically address before we hit the Send button!
Vacation was great! Snow coming my way now though, so I should tape a picture of the Cancun beach onto my snowblower...
Back from vacation and mostly caught up!
A few thoughts and ideas...
54 year old CEO with his track record would not take this position if he wasn't highly confident in a successful outcome. He surely has the money for a very comfortable retirement already but he probably loves what he does, and therefore it is unlikely this will be his last rodeo. He wouldn't risk tarnishing his record for future prospects. He knew what he was getting into before he agreed to take the position, and he already has a tentative plan in mind, particularly for financing. He may well also have his own small team for certain other positions; if so, those of you who wish to see the lingering squad removed may be happy with results after a brief transition period. If he sticks with the team that is in place, it will be because he will have sat down with each of them and ensured that their plans and goals are on track. I don't think he will keep dead wood around if he feels they are just that, but it will be his call. Not much different than a pro sports team; we just got a new coach and every player is being re-evaluated and if necessary, replaced. This is truly a whole new ball game. It would be interesting if anyone can research some of the key players from his last couple organizations to see if he tends to bring some of his own folks from place to place.
We need to get latest ideas together for a letter, starting with a warm welcome. If we really feel certain positions should be overturned, we need to cite specific reasons as to why we feel that they should be replaced. We need to ask that communications are frequent and drive home the level of necessity for this as it pertains to price per share (positive news gives us a nice pop in price but the span between communications allows the market to take back all gains plus a little more). We need to ask for a real timeline as soon as it can be established. We need to ask for an estimated budget to go with milestones on that timeline, and frequent updates on progress/status. The onus will be on us (no play on words intended here) to properly justify our requests, and also to ensure we are clear about our positions. I am reasonably sure that he is aware of us as a group and he just might be waiting to hear from us. Therefore, we need to be sure that we don't start out on the wrong foot. We were certainly pleased at the acknowledgement and response we received from Mr. Barker, and it would behoove us to have at least that strong a relationship moving forward. Most specifically, we do not want to make a nuisance of ourselves!
We can share our ideas also on the potential merits and pitfalls of bringing the device to market as Titan and maximizing our potential profits as investors versus looking for M&A activity which may reduce risk and shorten the timeline. Personally, I have about 6 years to kill before I can start digging into my retirement accounts so I have time to wait for maximum rewards, but that isn't everybody's situation, and ultimately it is up to Titan which direction they go. Mr. McNally certainly has a history here which doesn't necessarily work toward my end goals, but I believe he will build value before any such activity, and maybe do so by getting on the market independently first.
To make this easier, if you are posting content for possible inclusion in the next letter, please start your post with "For the letter" so it will be easier to find when we are putting it together.
Thanks!
Mustang
In Mexico... Limited grid but just catching up on developments... Can't read all posts until home. And not sure how I feel. I was hoping to dump my SEP IRA check off Monday and pick up another 80k shares on the cheap. Can't get that many now! But at a quick glance CEO looks like reasonable fit so I'm still happy. And we will still get a letter out soon!
Just catching up again, probably the last time this year...
I do like the observation that insider trading means no imminent buyout. I still want Titan to run solo and hopefully thereby maximize our ultimate profitability. Insider buying also shows some faith in the direction of the company. Maybe they are pleased enough with their "short list" of CEO candidates that their confidence is up. If they thought there was a reasonable chance of going under, why would anyone flush $12K down the toilet? They know they're on to something good.
BK, I have added the note about more/better/updated videos for our next writing campaign. I'm back in the country on Jan 9th and we will need to dive right back in with ideas for the next letter.
Personally, I'm looking forward to next year and I'm excited by the prospect. I'll probably try to get my SEP IRA contribution in early so I can grab a few more shares at these fire sale prices. I'm all about the technology, and I really think they have it in place.
Meanwhile, I wish all of you a very Happy New Year and a healthy and prosperous 2017!
Be good and be well!
Mustang
Cowboy - That is something I am closer to agreement on. I don't think it is at that point right now. If we collectively pursue legal representation, it would quickly get expensive, so we would want to ensure we have objectives which carry high confidence that it will make a difference. We would first need to think about what specific actions we think the company should take and how they differ from the current course of action. It appears right now that they are active in pursuit of a new CEO. They do not appear to have run out of funding again yet, but they have kept this as part of their communications so they are fully cognizant of their financial situation. At this point it appears that Plexus and Ximedica both remain engaged in the development process. They already have an active relationship with the FDA, so I suspect the viability of an early review program is considered,; it just needs to be appropriate for the program schedule. There may be some disagreement due to her name, but Paige is on board with experience in this specific market; she knows the competition well and knows the other related players including distributors and the largest customers). My only disappointment with Paige is the lack of communication including a mere mention from Mr. Barker that a plan is in progress. However, we know they plan to launch in Europe and maybe Asia prior to the U.S., which means some marketing plans exist. We are all curious about what those plans are but it would probably be detrimental (and possibly illegal) for them to share plans on how to market a medical device which is not approved for sale.
I think that we have their ear and their respect, so we are likely to help them at least as much by continuing our writing campaign when we feel they are straying from an optimal path. Right now, it seems they are doing everything they should be doing. The biggest issue remains monetary, and they openly communicated about that situation.
The last time we had major disagreements about the direction of the company, we organized and shared our opinions with them, and they acted accordingly. We have no reason to believe this relationship can't continue. The suppressed PPS is outside of their immediate control and further hindered by tax loss selling. Their job now is keep development rolling, find the new CEO, and secure more funding. Funding is required for development, and CEO should be part of the funding strategy, I would guess the logical sequence is CEO, Funding, then Development. It sounds like that is their short-term mission plan.
As for the 5-step Robbins-Arroyo plan you suggested:
https://www.robbinsarroyo.com/shareholder-services/
Combat corporate fraud and misconduct that reduce shareholder value - This fall, we helped them to change upper management to better meet company and shareholder objective.
Improve the honesty, transparency, and effectiveness of corporate governance - We have initiated bi-directional communications, and as soon as a new CEO is announced we need to ensure he becomes part of the communications team.
Secure fair value for your shares in the event of a corporate merger or acquisition - TBD, but it is good to keep this in mind if that becomes the future of Titan (I thinks the longs, of which I am one, would rather see them hit the market as Titan and reap more eventual profits but we need to help maximize a per share buyout price if it comes to that).
Remind officers and directors that they work for YOU – the shareholders - Also accomplished this fall, and we will stay on their proverbial radar screen.
Restore confidence in the integrity of America’s financial markets - I think this is beyond the scope of our interaction with a single tech start-up company and beyond the scope of one specialized law firm, unless they have a direct line to our President-elect.
May all be well and may Titan eventually be greener than my artificial Christmas tree!
Hey Rebster, that sounds great! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well, and I look forward catching up with you and checking out the TapHouse offerings!
I'll be heading out for the day soon and my connectivity will be sparse next week, and non-existent the first week of 2017. I want to take the opportunity to thank each of you for your contributions this year, even those I didn't necessarily agree with. It is good to know the overall sentiment on the board, and sometimes the differing opinions can bring new light to a situation, so it's all good.
I think we made a difference in 2016, and can continue to do so next year. I'll never deny the risk here but still remain optimistic and will do whatever I can to help keep communications open with the company and will all of you. That being said, I am really curious as to how the CEO situation will play out (and WHEN!). One more big bump in the road will not surprise me (disappoint, maybe, but not surprise) but I think it will all work out to our benefit if we remain patient and helpful to the extent possible.
The Hematology analyzer I have been working on for three years has officially launched as of yesterday, and I want SPORT to be the next big product launch I get to see!
Meanwhile, I hope you all enjoy a well-deserved holiday break, and continued collaboration next year. Take care and be well.
66Mustang
It seems to me that a lawsuit at this point would be fruitless in all possible aspects. They are nearly out of money, so you can't get money from them because they have none. All that could come of it is bad publicity and/or guaranteed bankruptcy. That is not good for us investors. Can anyone on this board provide a reason for a lawsuit which would be beneficial? I know some people are angry and want to punish them or teach them a lesson of some sort, but most of the folk(s) who are most deserving of punishment are not there any more, and it appears the remainder are truly trying to get this back on track. I assume you must not own any more shares if you would seriously consider a lawsuit.
Out of office yesterday, just catching up...
Looked at video. I thought SPORT used a 3D imaging system which would allow surgeons to use simple 3D glasses, not unlike at a movie theater. Past of the allure was supposed to be the 3D visualization without having your face stuck into a stationary control module or needing a bulky VR headset strapped on. In the video, the first guy has no glasses of any sort, and the second one has a strap-on around his face.
Does anyone know if we have any IP protection on the concept of standard 3D viewing glasses for robotic surgery? That would be another big competitive advantage if we were the only one to offer that level of freedom to a surgeon. I'm not sure exactly what is in our patent portfolio at the moment.
On the down side, people have sold over 600K shares today. On the Up side, people have Bought over 600K shares today!
Personally, I think Q2 and Q3 next year will be most telling. Q1 may still be too soon to ensure we are on the best path forward; the new CEO will just get there and will not be up to speed yet, plus funding will be drying up before then if nothing more comes in quickly from these private investors. I would not be surprised if there was another temporary lull in development mid/late Q1. If so, there will be a lot of ticked-off investors who didn't see it coming - I hope it doesn't come, but we need to consider the possibility. At that point, how they pull out of it and re-start yet again will be most telling for the company's long-term prospects.
At issue for investors who are staying on the sidelines is that once the right one or two announcements come(s) along, a 25 cent stock can double or triple in a couple days. And if Titan is able to keep rolling in the meantime, then right now will prove to have been the last opportunity to really get in cheap!
If only I had an extra half a mil kicking around...
Mic, greatly appreciated, for both having the call and posting the highlights. This affirms my suspicion all along; the tech is strong, development is continuing, but there will still be a couple bumps in the road, mostly pertaining to funding. I think the new CEO will need to be good at smoothing the bumps out; communications will be critical for that. I feel good about my investment at the moment, and any further decline from here is just additional buy opportunity to lower cost average!
Thanks again, and have a great holiday season.
I tend to agree with drrc... There certainly is some merit to delaying an inquiry until after the holidays. There is only so much (presumably not much, with businesses in year-end wrap-up work as well as holiday activities) which they can accomplish between now and January. I am still keeping notes in a Word doc to compile questions, ideas, and shareholder sentiment, and I can put something together on fairly short notice after the calendar page flip.
What if we defer the group letter until second week of January, and meanwhile we can each take the opportunity on our own to extend our best wishes for the holiday season to each of the Titan leadership team, and leave it at that? To stay respectful, we would need to keep it short and simple, avoid ANY specific inquiries or business-related topics, express appreciation for the difficult decisions they had to make this year and provide positive wishes for the upcoming year.
If we do this, we should also each identify ourselves as members/contributors to the shareholders group; we want them to know we are still active as an informal organization so they can surmise correctly that they will continue to hear from us.
Does this sound reasonable?
I was just reviewing some prior input regarding CEO selection with thoughts of piecing together another letter. As much as I would like to believe we could make a positive impact on share price, I'm not sure that is feasible right now. There is probably too much liquidation ongoing for the tax season. And pressing for a CEO is probably superfluous if not downright distracting to them; I'm sure it remains at the top of their list. Although in the holiday spirit, we could perform a rousing rendition of "All I Want For Christmas Is a New Buff Chief (Executive Officer)" but I don't sing well, so that's out.
I have also considered different content for the third letter, basically wishing them a joyful holiday season, and possibly requesting an update on a few issues: the status of the CEO search (Have they found a few viable candidates? Narrowed it down to two or three? Maybe already signed someone on for a late January start date?) as well as status of development, update on projected timelines, funding strategies and budget vs. burn rate, any progress on the regulatory front (CE and/or FDA), marketing plans, and imminent publicity we can look forward to. I would also mention that to those of us who believe in this technology, the few times it has had any public exposure, we are proud of the instrument and the organization and always excited to hear feedback from those who saw it in person. We need more of those opportunities. Another reason for this letter would be simply to keep the communication channel open. Mr. Barker hinted that they are listening to our input, and if sparse communications from them was one of our prior gripes, we shouldn't be too sparse with ours. But if we don't have anything meaningful to communicate, it will just waste their time and we will lose their respect.
If you folks believe such a letter would be worthwhile, I'm all for it and will jump right on it. Please opine!
I certainly prefer to look at it this way!
Shall we start a list of specific attributes for our ideal CEO? They should be tangible, verifiable characteristics; they must be somewhat realistic (I don't believe there was a Business Management school on Krypton) and achievable. We will need to think critically on this. Before suggesting attributes to Titan, we should discuss them amongst ourselves with pessimism to ensure this isn't a pipe dream.
As examples, there have been posts regarding a CEO who knows people in the finance world. More specificity would be a good start, i.e. do we want someone with a finance background, or is this suggesting the new CEO would have some corporate investment sugar daddy in his hip pocket with a few dozen million dollars to spare? The latter is unlikely and probably not realistic to suggest. If we suggest a finance background, why would that be better than a marketing background or a technical background? Each has their merits for CEO of a tech startup looking to get into a market that is about to explode.
Requesting some number of years of experience can also have contradictory indications. Is the organization more in need of youthful energy and a "get it done" attitude than a highly experienced, more mature executive who may take extra time for all options to be considered in a given scenario?
I'm up for the exercise, but we will need to consider the duality of some of these characteristics, and try to figure out what we think is best for the company. If we take this seriously and do it well, it could potentially be used as a checklist or scorecard they could use when evaluating potential candidates, if they are not yet that far along in the process. They would certainly be free to modify their priorities within the categories we offer, and it still would be a beneficial exercise on our part to offer it for their consideration.
If nothing else, we as investors and posters on this board should develop a healthy respect for the task they are faced with. It is surely much easier to write about it than to have the responsibility of making the selection and living with the consequences.
My first quick list of attributes for consideration:
Background: Tech, finance, sales/marketing, med device vs. some other tech background. If we make a suggestion on this, we should be able to offer rationale as to why our suggestion is superior to others.
Years experience: As a CEO, would need to consider track record of the organization while under his/her leadership and what other challenges the company faced at the time which could impact this assessment. Also, youth vs. experience probably shouldn't be too strictly considered; Mark Zuckerberg did pretty well at the helm, as did Jeremy Hitchcock at Dyn (local boy for me; NH resident, co-founded Dyn as a school project, and just stepped down as CEO to pursue other interests if I heard correctly - maybe he's looking for a new challenge!)
Communications history: In last position(s), did he generate external communications such as press releases, or did he have a team of folks including legal team to generate and review everything? (Is the legal side of communications part of what EVC is contracted to do?)
Management of rapid growth: Titan is still quite small but will need to grow quickly when the time comes. It would be beneficial to have someone who has been through the process of dealing with company growing pains and remained firm enough to resist hiring the janitor's daughter because she can read. (Not intended to be a slam on Paige or JH; sometimes nepotism can bring in truly superior employees but it can also put blinders on the hiring team).
Phase-based leadership focus: Guiding and organization from development to clinical trials to limited market to full-blown market domination would be wonderful, of course. A candidate who has a history of shifting gears as the company needed to re-focus its energies would be a good find, since this will surely need to happen.
Well, I already have more time into this post than I was planning, but hopefully this will plant a couple seeds for fruitful, thoughtful discussion, and I'll be taking notes when I can. I appreciate all reasonable input!
BK, I'm mostly with you on this... I don't call BS on Verb's vision, but I am a bit leery about its potential with Titan. For Titan to try to launch with a new OS, we toss a lot of existing development work without any guarantees on stability of the code. Maybe Verb would love to see Titan run their OS to work the bugs out, giving Titan a bad reputation and letting Verb release their own robotic system with the bugs already worked out. In some ways, an OS is an OS... Nobody wants the challenge of validating a Windows-based software package for this type of application. You can strip down Linux, maybe a Ubuntu-based system to run Java and have a fairly easy go of it, as long as your user interface is reasonable. Android is making inroads in medical devices as well... hopefully more stable versions than my cell phone!
The surgeons will be interested in the User Interface more than anything else, then the stability of the OS. I don't think Verb plans to offer a standardized UI. But if Titan comes up with a superior UI design, maybe they could license it back to Verb and Verb can offer subsequent competitors a full package, and Titan gets royalties from the competition! Just need feedback from the surgeon's to be REALLY REALLY good!
Yeah, still dreaming, I know.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! And to our Canadian and Canadien brethren (depending on Province), I'll pop on my Bob and Doug album this weekend and play Beer Hunter!
If the guy meeting those qualifications shows up under your Christmas tree, I'll chip in for a one-way ticket to Toronto!
I hope you aren't saying you are bailing out on us! Our patience gets tested almost daily because of our frustration levels. We all seem to understand the potential of this product, and where it should have been by now. And every time we have received a hint of good news, the stock doesn't seem to respond as we would expect. Eventually that HAS to change. There is a lot of discussion about getting the new CEO on board so the stock price can soar. Personally, I don't know if that alone can really impact the price; I see it as solidifying the foundation on which the future of the company is built. For certain, he/she will need to address the fundraising requirements in the short term, and each of those events should cause a small pop in price, but the big gains (IMO, of course) won't come until regulatory approvals come in. That is the news which will drive the price up, followed by sales. I also foresee a slower climb because each time we get a bump in price for any reason, a number of frustrated investors will decide that they cleared their breakeven point so they'll jump out, dumping shares and stock price. I don't think this stock is for the faint of heart! I think the frustrations will stick around long after the good news arrives, but eventually is should have a real breakout as a true competitor in the marketplace. I've accepted my fate as a long in this stock, and I feel your pain on a daily basis, but I still believe. I grabbed another 19K shares this week so I'm all in at this point - 151K total; not bad for a northern redneck with two kids in college! I;d love to see the majority of you stick around for the ride... It will be roller coaster before we hit the highway, but as long as we all end up in Vegas for that scotch, it's all good!
Trains accelerate slowly... Just got back on the tracks! Waiting for new Conductor Extra Ordinaire (CEO) so we can pull out of the station and get rolling.
Fortunately, you didn't opt for a jet plane metaphor... this could still take a while! But I'm on board, waiting patiently.