Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
That was my send list as well, and only Susan's was rejected. But none of them would have ever seen my email address in the past. But it means the others most likely got it, at least into their inbox.
Crap... I thought I fixed that. Sorry.
I personally won't be chasing their LinkedIn friends. I'm not looking to make them hate us; I'm hoping they can instead work with us, feed us some info once in a while... If they are truly on track we deserve to know. Lots of people here call frequently for heads to roll, but I tried to word things such that some performance standards can be created and then personnel held to it. In my eyes, they all still have a chance to prove themselves. Several of them may not have realized we were watching them all along, and our judgment is based on the little information we have been able to dig up, which isn't flattering. I just want evidence that they know their jobs and are doing their jobs. If they aren't, then I'm all for the heads rolling (figuratively, of course). If I don't do my job, I'd get fired. We have a lot of money tied up and no evidence it is being handled responsibly; all evidence suggests the contrary is true. A little accountability is a reasonable request. The letter asserts that request in a way that is likely to at least get their attention.
Well, enjoy! I'm gonna snuggle up with a big hematology analyzer (stuck at work) and pray that some good comes of today's little experiment with Titan!
I also got an error from Susan Wilkens account. Is the address correct in the list?
susan.wilkens@titanmedicalinc.com
I got a break between tests here at work and won't have another until lunch so I sent, and got a like response. I apologized and told him I would ask the senders to remove him from the list. His email content:
Hi Al,
I’ve received a couple of similar emails this morning on Titan. I’m not related to the company in any fashion. Any idea why folks would suggest to you to send it my way? Any insight you can provide would be great thanks.
Just curious... Who are we reaching out to at Stereotaxis?
Thanks!
I don't anticipate any immediate response to the emails, but they may generate some communications in the next two weeks. I'm sure they will want to think carefully about what they say. I don't expect our specific points to be addressed directly, but if we get a reasonable channel of communications out of it then we are way ahead of where we are now.
10AM will come quickly enough... I am waiting before I hit the Send buttons.
Please remember to include name (I will add city and state to mine) and number of shares held in the spaces provided at the bottom.
Here it is, in full:
Subject (for email subject line): Titan Medical Shareholder Letter
To Titan Medical Inc. Board of Directors and Management:
As we are sure that all of you are aware, the current state of the company and its future are uncertain. This petition is being sent individually by each member of a collection of owners of Titan Medical stock to express concerns regarding how our investments have been managed to date and what the future may hold for our investments and for the company, and to suggest reforms which we feel may improve the outlook for all involved. We hope these will be taken to heart and strongly considered for action.
Fundraising to date has been much less effective than the program requires, putting not only the schedule, but the entire program and company in jeopardy along with all the funds invested by numerous private investors such as ourselves. As investors, dilution of the stock is becoming a major concern, exacerbated by the continued drop in Price Per Share. Issuing shares and warrants continues dilution of our investments, and due to the low share price, is much less effective. In addition, the issuing of warrants has historically provided no additional value to warrant holders, thus furthering the need for better strategies for fundraising. We were never told of a backup plan for the “Jugu deal” as it was known colloquially, so we must question if there ever was one.
As a collective group of investors, we have been exceedingly disappointed with the level of communication by Titan management with us and with the general public. We agree from the limited public exposure the SPORT system has had to date that Titan has a viable product, capable of entering the marketplace with a substantial impact to patient outcomes as well as investor outcomes. We constantly seek out information to validate this theory, but the general public does not. They remain completely uninformed about SPORT and its potential, and therefore they do not seek to contribute supportive investment dollars which could raise the Price Per Share.
We feel that Titan Medical has an obligation to greatly enhance the public exposure of the SPORT system. The SAGES conference initiated some good exposure and conversation on the internet about SPORT’s capabilities, but that has diminished over time. The AORN presence did much less; it would have benefitted greatly from an instrument on site showing its capabilities, and given the audience at AORN consisting largely or OR support personnel, more focus on ease of setup and use, simpler case turnover processes, and reduction of expense versus the competition. The WRGC presence was surely beneficial but was not as widely publicized as we would have anticipated. Further enhancing the exposure of SPORT to the general public should include a more professional web presence on the corporate web site, the posting of more videos displaying the capability of the instrument, a more active marketing presence in applicable trade journals (paper and digital) and conferences, and press releases to spread good news about the system and the company. Lately we have needed to scan SEDAR filings for status updates, and most of these have not portrayed the organization in a positive light. We believe that substantially increasing and enhancing the company’s image and highlighting SPORT’s capabilities will vastly improve the ability to entice larger investments. An improvement in Price Per Share is a cornerstone of this strategy, both to minimize further dilution and to give adequate confidence to potential investors that their investments will become profitable. Potential investors and potential customers must be able to learn about SPORT and the benefits it could provide to patients and hospitals, and without the necessary exposure, we believe this will not happen.
The sales and marketing team appears to be relying on the fact that some of them once participated in the Intuitive Surgical success story. This bit of resumé trivia will not sell systems if SPORT reaches the marketplace, nor is it going to improve our Price Per Share or attract new investment dollars. We feel that in order to improve the situation, the Board of Directors should mandate that the current marketing team be given 30 days to put forth a viable, coherent marketing plan to achieve the objectives stated above, and an additional 60 days thereafter to begin executing the plan and show the effectiveness thereof. Evidence of effectiveness should include an increase in Price Per Share and a marked increase in inquiries from surgeons and hospitals (e.g. through the company web site) about the SPORT system. Failure to achieve success on both of these goals should be considered grounds for termination of key marketing personnel, as we believe these goals are inherently the purpose of their positions in the company. We also believe that reaching these goals will enable successful fundraising in the future to keep the program moving without interruption while minimizing future dilution.
The current management team is no longer trusted by the investor base. At the AGM in 2015, it was clearly stated that the program was funded to the completion of FDA submission. This has proven to be far from the truth. At the AGM in 2016, we were told that management has “Never been so confident in the future of Titan.” Two months later, Dr. Fowler tendered his resignation. Given the importance of this man to the program, we would have expected notification more than one or two days in advance, and we would expect to be informed as to why he resigned and what specific plans are in place to fill the roles he vacated within the organization. This did not happen. Earlier, it was announced that Dr. Hargrove was no longer Chairman of the Board. Several months later, there is still no replacement for this position and no indication that there is an honest effort to find one. We believe it is reasonable to request that the Board of Directors initiate a viable search (if not already under way) for a candidate with a track record of successful medical device launches and experience raising capital for pre-market development programs. We are also requesting periodic status updates, preferably every two weeks, posted on the Titan Medical web site under the Investor relations menu. This would represent a stark contrast to the minimalist approach Titan has historically used for investor communications, and these sparse communications are among our primary concerns.
To accompany the distrust much the management team has fostered among investors, their actions on some issues and inactivity on other issues have called into question some basic competencies we would expect of personnel in their positions. As noted above, competencies should include the ability raise and manage adequate funding for program goals, communicating objectives, schedules, and expenditures with shareholders, and ensuring the continued viability of the program. None of these activities have been performed well. Amongst the shareholder group, we have various areas of expertise including surgical experience, finance and investment people, and medical device development experience. We understand the amount of work which routinely goes into such a development program, and we understand that the revised FDA guidelines pertaining to Human Factors Engineering may have required moderate redesign of a few human interface components. The required redesign effort should not have thrown the program into a metaphorical tailspin, but this appears to have happened. We have no indication from the company that costs are under control or that the suspension of development work will be lifted at any specific time. Given that Mr. Laviolette is on the Ximedica Board of Directors and is also the Chairman of the Board for Titan’s competitor TransEnterix, it could be questioned as to whether the disruption of work at Ximedica was truly warranted. Titan chose them for development work before this apparent conflict of interest developed, but without evidence to the contrary we can suspect it may take more than a reasonable effort from Titan before Ximedica resumes work on our program. We have not been informed as to whether or not Mr. Laviolette has recused himself from all decisions pertaining to Titan Medical. Nearly every day, the question arises on the InvestorsHub message board as to whether legal action should be taken due to the way our investments appear to have been mismanaged. In all cases thus far, it has been determined by other message board contributors that such legal action would be detrimental to both the future of the company and to our investments. Based on these and other factors, we feel that the aforementioned Chairman of the Board should also be prepared to lead potential searches for replacements for Mr. Hargrove and Dr. Rayman. If Mr. Randall’s M&A experience is not projected to come into play in Titan’s near-term future, he could also be considered expendable and replaceable, given the financial woes the company continues to face under his tenure as CFO. Frankly, we find the recent option awards to be an insult to the entire existing investor base. If replacement of any of these key individuals is not determined to be in the best interest of the company, we would like the reasons for their retention to be communicated and performance criteria for their positions to also be made known, and they should be held to these standards.
In a similar theme, the investor community frequently expresses disdain for the apparent inactivity of EVC. As with the personnel mentioned above, we see almost no evidence that EVC is fulfilling any contractual obligation to provide services to Titan Medical. We have been told that someone at EVC does monitor the InvestorsHub message board daily to gauge the overall sentiment, but we feel that makes it even more inexcusable to remain so inactive, when they are specifically mentioned so frequently on the message board. We feel that EVC should be given one opportunity of limited scope and duration to showcase their abilities and properly represent Titan Medical, not only to existing investors, but more importantly, to new investors to attract the needed capital to continue the program on a reasonable schedule. If they cannot prove their value, they should be replaced with minimal delay.
To initiate a policy of more open communications, we request that the company publicize the answers to the following shareholder questions:
Did the recent offering raise sufficient funds to cover the six month advance for Ximedica and Plexus to resume the SPORT development efforts?
If not, what is the financing plan moving forward?
What is the status of the search for a new Chairman of the Board and what is the anticipated completion?
Has the SPORT timeline changed substantially due to the recent events, and if so, what is the new proposed timeline?
Even if the answers are not generally favorable, Titan’s investors deserve to know these aspects of how our investments are being handled. We truly hope the organization has the courage to provide open and honest answers, and to continue to provide updates on major issues.
In summary, we, as Titan Medical shareholders, have grave concerns over the future of our investments with Titan, and we feel that the aforementioned issues should be addressed in an attempt to improve the outlook of the program, the technology, and our investments. We are truly pleased with reports we have heard from those who were fortunate enough to observe the SPORT system in action, and we believe the instrument is too valuable to the marketplace (including surgeons, hospital budgets, and most importantly patient outcomes) to allow it to flounder. We find an absolute need for improvement in communications at all levels with us, with potential investors, and with potential future customers who should be informed that something better is forthcoming for their robotic surgery expenditures. We would like to see evidence of reasonable performance by key management personnel and contracted organizations to fulfill publicized goals. A plan should be made known for raising the appropriate funds, hopefully without excessive dilution to current shareholders, by which adequate capital can be raised to resume development work with contractors such as Ximedica and Plexus. We would also like to know why the funding deals from the Asian market were ultimately not completed.
A device as capable as the SPORT system deserves a fighting chance to reach the market. Sparse communication at all levels has been a key component to bring the program to stagnation, and we feel that it is not too late to turn it around, but this will require some difficult decisions and changes to be made.
We appreciate your time and consideration.
Name:
Shares held as of 23 September 2016:
The following is being added before the concluding paragraph:
To initiate a policy of more open communications, we request that the company publicize the answers to the following shareholder questions:
Did the recent offering raise sufficient funds to cover the six month advance for Ximedica and Plexus to resume the SPORT development efforts?
If not, what is the financing plan moving forward?
What is the status of the search for a new Chairman of the Board and what is the anticipated completion?
Has the SPORT timeline changed substantially due to the recent events, and if so, what is the new proposed timeline?
Even if the answers are not generally favorable, Titan’s investors deserve to know these aspects of how our investments are being handled. We truly hope the organization has the courage to provide open and honest answers, and to continue to provide updates on major issues.
Sorry about the delay... I was off line last night and just got to my desk; did a quick catch up on messages. I want to add CUIN2's questions (will do that as soon as I get first coffee in hand) and send it out. I believe it will be complete and ready to go at that time.
10AM sounds perfect! Understandable if others trickle in afterwards; West coasters may still be driving to work (or not even doing that yet). Thanks again to all who helped pull this together, which is just about everyone! Great team effort... Hope Titan can learn about team efforts!
The plan is to put the final cut out in a new posting early tomorrow morning for cutting and pasting into your email utility, and the complete list of recipient email addresses should also be available then to paste into the address field. I'll also toss in a quick reminder that the end of the letter includes fields for name and number of shares.
Barring any glaring discrepancies, I will consider this the final draft (below). Please review and of course, provide feedback as you see fit. I would suggest we finalize the distribution list and post it in a format for easy "cut and paste" into each of our email utilities. It is dated for distribution tomorrow so we can be reasonably well coordinated in this effort. I know some folks might not have access to this until they get home from work so I want to ensure everyone gets a chance to see it before it is "locked in" and sent by all. If EVC monitors this message board as they claim to, it may be less of a surprise to some eventual recipients, but it is still a show of unity (if not desperation) on our part.
Subject (for email subject line): Titan Medical Shareholder Letter
Date: September 23, 2016
To Titan Medical Inc. Board of Directors and Management:
As we are sure that all of you are aware, the current state of the company and its future are uncertain. This petition is being sent individually by each member of a collection of owners of Titan Medical stock to express concerns regarding how our investments have been managed to date and what the future may hold for our investments and for the company, and to suggest reforms which we feel may improve the outlook for all involved. We hope these will be taken to heart and strongly considered for action.
Fundraising to date has been much less effective than the program requires, putting not only the schedule, but the entire program and company in jeopardy along with all the funds invested by numerous private investors such as ourselves. As investors, dilution of the stock is becoming a major concern, exacerbated by the continued drop in Price Per Share. Issuing shares and warrants continues dilution of our investments, and due to the low share price, is much less effective. In addition, the issuing of warrants has historically provided no additional value to warrant holders, thus furthering the need for better strategies for fundraising. We were never told of a backup plan for the “Jugu deal” as it was known colloquially, so we must question if there ever was one.
As a collective group of investors, we have been exceedingly disappointed with the level of communication by Titan management with us and with the general public. We agree from the limited public exposure the SPORT system has had to date that Titan has a viable product, capable of entering the marketplace with a substantial impact to patient outcomes as well as investor outcomes. We constantly seek out information to validate this theory, but the general public does not. They remain completely uninformed about SPORT and its potential, and therefore they do not seek to contribute supportive investment dollars which could raise the Price Per Share.
We feel that Titan Medical has an obligation to greatly enhance the public exposure of the SPORT system. The SAGES conference initiated some good exposure and conversation on the internet about SPORT’s capabilities, but that has diminished over time. The AORN presence did much less; it would have benefitted greatly from an instrument on site showing its capabilities, and given the audience at AORN consisting largely or OR support personnel, more focus on ease of setup and use, simpler case turnover processes, and reduction of expense versus the competition. The WRGC presence was surely beneficial but was not as widely publicized as we would have anticipated. Further enhancing the exposure of SPORT to the general public should include a more professional web presence on the corporate web site, the posting of more videos displaying the capability of the instrument, a more active marketing presence in applicable trade journals (paper and digital) and conferences, and press releases to spread good news about the system and the company. Lately we have needed to scan SEDAR filings for status updates, and most of these have not portrayed the organization in a positive light. We believe that substantially increasing and enhancing the company’s image and highlighting SPORT’s capabilities will vastly improve the ability to entice larger investments. An improvement in Price Per Share is a cornerstone of this strategy, both to minimize further dilution and to give adequate confidence to potential investors that their investments will become profitable. Potential investors and potential customers must be able to learn about SPORT and the benefits it could provide to patients and hospitals, and without the necessary exposure, we believe this will not happen.
The sales and marketing team appears to be relying on the fact that some of them once participated in the Intuitive Surgical success story. This bit of resumé trivia will not sell systems if SPORT reaches the marketplace, nor is it going to improve our Price Per Share or attract new investment dollars. We feel that in order to improve the situation, the Board of Directors should mandate that the current marketing team be given 30 days to put forth a viable, coherent marketing plan to achieve the objectives stated above, and an additional 60 days thereafter to begin executing the plan and show the effectiveness thereof. Evidence of effectiveness should include an increase in Price Per Share and a marked increase in inquiries from surgeons and hospitals (e.g. through the company web site) about the SPORT system. Failure to achieve success on both of these goals should be considered grounds for termination of key marketing personnel, as we believe these goals are inherently the purpose of their positions in the company. We also believe that reaching these goals will enable successful fundraising in the future to keep the program moving without interruption while minimizing future dilution.
The current management team is no longer trusted by the investor base. At the AGM in 2015, it was clearly stated that the program was funded to the completion of FDA submission. This has proven to be far from the truth. At the AGM in 2016, we were told that management has “Never been so confident in the future of Titan.” Two months later, Dr. Fowler tendered his resignation. Given the importance of this man to the program, we would have expected notification more than one or two days in advance, and we would expect to be informed as to why he resigned and what specific plans are in place to fill the roles he vacated within the organization. This did not happen. Earlier, it was announced that Dr. Hargrove was no longer Chairman of the Board. Several months later, there is still no replacement for this position and no indication that there is an honest effort to find one. We believe it is reasonable to request that the Board of Directors initiate a viable search (if not already under way) for a candidate with a track record of successful medical device launches and experience raising capital for pre-market development programs. We are also requesting periodic status updates, preferably every two weeks, posted on the Titan Medical web site under the Investor relations menu. This would represent a stark contrast to the minimalist approach Titan has historically used for investor communications, and these sparse communications are among our primary concerns.
To accompany the distrust much the management team has fostered among investors, their actions on some issues and inactivity on other issues have called into question some basic competencies we would expect of personnel in their positions. As noted above, competencies should include the ability raise and manage adequate funding for program goals, communicating objectives, schedules, and expenditures with shareholders, and ensuring the continued viability of the program. None of these activities have been performed well. Amongst the shareholder group, we have various areas of expertise including surgical experience, finance and investment people, and medical device development experience. We understand the amount of work which routinely goes into such a development program, and we understand that the revised FDA guidelines pertaining to Human Factors Engineering may have required moderate redesign of a few human interface components. The required redesign effort should not have thrown the program into a metaphorical tailspin, but this appears to have happened. We have no indication from the company that costs are under control or that the suspension of development work will be lifted at any specific time. Given that Mr. Laviolette is on the Ximedica Board of Directors and is also the Chairman of the Board for Titan’s competitor TransEnterix, it could be questioned as to whether the disruption of work at Ximedica was truly warranted. Titan chose them for development work before this apparent conflict of interest developed, but without evidence to the contrary we can suspect it may take more than a reasonable effort from Titan before Ximedica resumes work on our program. We have not been informed as to whether or not Mr. Laviolette has recused himself from all decisions pertaining to Titan Medical. Nearly every day, the question arises on the InvestorsHub message board as to whether legal action should be taken due to the way our investments appear to have been mismanaged. In all cases thus far, it has been determined by other message board contributors that such legal action would be detrimental to both the future of the company and to our investments. Based on these and other factors, we feel that the aforementioned Chairman of the Board should also be prepared to lead potential searches for replacements for Mr. Hargrove and Dr. Rayman. If Mr. Randall’s M&A experience is not projected to come into play in Titan’s near-term future, he could also be considered expendable and replaceable, given the financial woes the company continues to face under his tenure as CFO. Frankly, we find the recent option awards to be an insult to the entire existing investor base. If replacement of any of these key individuals is not determined to be in the best interest of the company, we would like the reasons for their retention to be communicated and performance criteria for their positions to also be made known, and they should be held to these standards.
In a similar theme, the investor community frequently expresses disdain for the apparent inactivity of EVC. As with the personnel mentioned above, we see almost no evidence that EVC is fulfilling any contractual obligation to provide services to Titan Medical. We have been told that someone at EVC does monitor the InvestorsHub message board daily to gauge the overall sentiment, but we feel that makes it even more inexcusable to remain so inactive, when they are specifically mentioned so frequently on the message board. We feel that EVC should be given one opportunity of limited scope and duration to showcase their abilities and properly represent Titan Medical, not only to existing investors, but more importantly, to new investors to attract the needed capital to continue the program on a reasonable schedule. If they cannot prove their value, they should be replaced with minimal delay.
In summary, we, as Titan Medical shareholders, have grave concerns over the future of our investments with Titan, and we feel that the aforementioned issues should be addressed in an attempt to improve the outlook of the program, the technology, and our investments. We are truly pleased with reports we have heard from those who were fortunate enough to observe the SPORT system in action, and we believe the instrument is too valuable to the marketplace (including surgeons, hospital budgets, and most importantly patient outcomes) to allow it to flounder. We find an absolute need for improvement in communications at all levels with us, with potential investors, and with potential future customers who should be informed that something better is forthcoming for their robotic surgery expenditures. We would like to see evidence of reasonable performance by key management personnel and contracted organizations to fulfill publicized goals. A plan should be made known for raising the appropriate funds, hopefully without excessive dilution to current shareholders, by which adequate capital can be raised to resume development work with contractors such as Ximedica and Plexus. We would also like to know why the funding deals from the Asian market were ultimately not completed.
A device as capable as the SPORT system deserves a fighting chance to reach the market. Sparse communication at all levels has been a key component to bring the program to stagnation, and we feel that it is not too late to turn it around, but this will require some difficult decisions and changes to be made.
We appreciate your time and consideration.
Name:
Shares held as of 23 September 2016:
Current draft includes the following:
We have no indication from the company that costs are under control or that the suspension of development work will be lifted at any specific time. Given that Mr. Laviolette is on the Ximedica Board of Directors and is also the Chairman of the Board for Titan’s competitor TransEnterix, it could be questioned as to whether the disruption of work at Ximedica was truly warranted. Titan chose them for development work despite this apparent conflict of interest, and we can suspect it may take more than a reasonable effort from Titan before Ximedica resumes work on our program.
That sounds perfect to me.
Please review and comment. This is hopefully close to complete:
To Titan Medical Inc. Board of Directors and Management:
As we are sure that all of you are aware, the current state of the company and its future are uncertain. This petition is being sent individually by each member of a collection of owners of Titan Medical stock to express concerns regarding how our investments have been managed to date and what the future may hold for our investments and the company, and to suggest reforms which we feel may improve the outlook for all involved. We hope these will be taken to heart and strongly considered for action.
Fundraising to date has been much less effective than the program requires, putting not only the schedule, but the entire program and company in jeopardy along with all the funds invested by numerous private investors such as ourselves. As investors, dilution of the stock is becoming a major concern, exacerbated by the continued drop in Price Per Share. Issuing shares and warrants continues dilution of our investments, and due to the low share price, is much less effective. In addition, the issuing of warrants has historically provided no additional value to warrant holders, thus furthering the need for better strategies for fundraising.
As a collective group of investors, we have been exceedingly disappointed with the level of communication by Titan management with us and with the general public. We agree from the limited public exposure the SPORT system has had to date that Titan has a viable product, capable of entering the marketplace with a substantial impact to patient outcomes as well as investor outcomes. We seek out information constantly to validate this theory, but the general public does not. They remain completely uninformed about SPORT and its potential, and therefore they do not seek to contribute supportive investment dollars which could raise the Price Per Share.
We feel that Titan Medical has an obligation to greatly enhance the public exposure of the SPORT system. The SAGES conference initiated some good exposure and conversation on the internet about SPORT’s capabilities, but that has diminished over time. The AORN presence did much less; it would have benefitted greatly from an instrument on site showing its capabilities, and given the audience at AORN consisting largely or OR support personnel, more focus on ease of setup and use, simpler case turnover processes, and reduction of expense versus the competition. The WRGC presence was surely beneficial but was not as widely publicized as we would have anticipated. Further enhancing the exposure of SPORT to the general public should include a more professional web presence on the corporate web site, the posting of more videos displaying the capability of the instrument, a more active marketing presence in applicable trade journals (paper and digital) and conferences, and press releases to spread good news about the system and the company. Lately we have needed to scan SEDAR filings for status updates, and most of these have not portrayed the organization in a positive light. We believe that substantially increasing and enhancing the company’s image and highlighting SPORT’s capabilities will vastly improve the ability to entice larger investments. An improvement in Price Per Share is a cornerstone of this strategy, both the minimize further dilution and to give adequate confidence to potential investors that their investments will become profitable. Potential investors and potential customers must be able to learn about SPORT and the benefits it could provide to patients and hospitals, and without the necessary exposure, we believe this will not happen.
The sales and marketing team appears to be relying on the fact that some of them once participated in the Intuitive Surgical success story. This bit of resume trivia will not sell systems if SPORT reaches the marketplace, nor is it going to improve our Price Per Share or attract new investment dollars. We feel that in order to improve the situation, the Board of Directors should mandate that the current marketing team be given 30 days to put forth a viable, coherent marketing plan to achieve the objectives stated above, and an additional 60 days thereafter to begin executing the plan and show the effectiveness thereof. Evidence of effectiveness should include an increase in Price Per Share and a marked increase in inquiries from surgeons and hospitals (e.g. through the company web site) about the SPORT system. Failure to achieve success on both of these goals should be considered grounds for termination of key marketing personnel, as we believe these goals are inherently the purpose of their positions in the company. We also believe that reaching these goals will enable successful fundraising in the future to keep the program moving without interruption while minimizing future dilution.
The current management team no longer trusted by the investor base. At the AGM in 2015, it was clearly stated that the program was funded to the completion of FDA submission. This has proven to be far from the truth. At the AGM in 2016, we were told that management has “Never been so confident in the future of Titan.” Two months later, Dr. Fowler tendered his resignation. Given the importance of this man to the program, we would have expected notification more than one or two days in advance, and we would expect to be informed as to why he resigned and what specific plans are in place to fill the roles he vacated within the organization. This did not happen. Earlier, it was announced that Dr. Hargrove was no longer Chairman of the Board. Several months later, there is still no replacement for this position and no indication that there is an honest effort to find one. We believe it is reasonable to request that the Board of Directors initiate a viable search (if not already under way) for a candidate with a track record of successful medical device launches, and experience raising capital for pre-market development programs. We are also requesting periodic status updates, preferably every two weeks, posted on the Titan Medical web site under the Investor relations menu. This would represent a stark contrast to the minimalist approach Titan has historically used for investor communications, and the sparse communications are among our primary concerns.
To accompany the distrust much the management team has fostered among investors, their actions on some issues and inactivity on other issues have called into question some basic competencies we would expect of personnel in their positions. As noted above, competencies should include the ability raise and manage adequate funding for program goals, communicating objectives, schedules and expenditures with shareholders, and ensuring the continued viability of the program. None of these activities have been performed well. Amongst the shareholder group, we have various areas of expertise including surgical experience, finance and investment people, and medical device development experience. We understand the amount of work which routinely goes into such a development program, and we understand that the revised FDA guidelines pertaining to Human Factors Engineering may have required moderate redesign of a few human interface components. The required redesign effort should not have thrown the program into a metaphorical tailspin, but this appears to have happened. We have no indication from the company that costs are under control or that the suspension of development work will be lifted at any specific time. Nearly every day, the question arises on the InvestorsHub message board as to whether legal action should be taken due to the way our investments appear to have been mismanaged. In all cases thus far, it has been determined by other message board contributors that such legal action would be detrimental to both the future of the company and to our investments. Based on these among other factors, we feel that the aforementioned Chairman of the Board should also be prepared to lead potential searches for replacements for Dr. Hargrove and Dr. Rayman. If Mr. Randall’s M&A experience is not projected to come into play in Titan’s near-term future, he could also be considered expendable and replaceable, given the financial woes the company continues to face under his tenure as CFO. Frankly, we find the recent option awards to be an insult to the entire existing investor base. If replacement of any of these key individuals is not determined to be in the best interest of the company, we would like the reasons for their retention to be communicated and performance criteria for their positions to also be made known, and they should be held to these standards.
In a similar theme, the investor community frequently expresses disdain for the apparent inactivity of EVC. As with the personnel mentioned above, we see almost no evidence that EVC is fulfilling any contractual obligation to provide services to Titan Medical. We have been told that someone at EVC does monitor the InvestorsHub message board daily to gauge the overall sentiment, but we feel that makes it even more inexcusable to remain so inactive, when they are specifically mentioned so frequently on the message board. We feel that EVC should be given one opportunity of limited scope and duration to showcase their abilities and properly represent Titan Medical, not only to existing investors, but more importantly, to new investors to attract the needed capital to continue the program on a reasonable schedule. If they cannot prove their value, they should be replaced with minimal delay.
In summary, we, as Titan Medical shareholders, have grave concerns over the future of our investments with Titan, and feel that the aforementioned issues should be addressed in an attempt to improve the outlook of the program, the technology, and our investments. We are truly pleased with reports we have heard from those who were fortunate enough to observe the SPORT system in action, and we believe the instrument is too valuable to the marketplace (including surgeons, hospital budgets, and most importantly patient outcomes) to allow it to flounder. We find an absolute need for improvement in communications at all levels with us, with potential investors, and with potential future customers who should be informed that something better is forthcoming for their robotic surgery expenditures. We would like to see evidence of reasonable performance by key management personnel and contracted organizations to fulfill publicized goals. A plan should be made known for raising the appropriate funds, hopefully without excessive dilution to current shareholders, by which adequate capital can be raised to resume development work with contractors such as Ximedica and Plexus. We would also like to know why the funding deals from the Asian market were ultimately not completed.
A device as capable as the SPORT system deserves a fighting chance to reach the market. Sparse communication at all levels has been a key component to bring the program to stagnation, and we feel that it is not too late to turn it around, but this will require some difficult decisions and changes to be made.
We appreciate your time and consideration.
Name:
Shares held as of 22 September 2016:
You most certainly are!
My initial plan was to post the content here, and hopefully someone will spearhead the distribution list separately and post that as well. I do need to look into that petition website before that; maybe I can create the petition on line with the distribution list. I want everyone who reads this message board to be able to send it if they want.
I hope the petition site allows a quick personalized note from each sender with each copy. If it sends just one copy with everyone's names, it won't have nearly the same impact as a dozen or two separate copies of the same document. The number of copies they receive will be a big contributor to how much attention it will receive by the recipients.
I'm (obviously) in... at 132K shares. Small by their standards but a lot for a working guy. I worked hard to get here and even with a small voice, it is worth speaking, especially as part of a group which might get their attention.
Ideally I would like to make the petition available to everyone to send to a specified list of recipients which we can determine in advance. It should be the same document sent by everyone with the except of our personal contact info and number of shares held. If people make individual changes to the one they send, the changes will most likely be overlooked anyway; each recipient will presumably read the first one they get, then at most scan through the subsequent copies and not notice changes. I hope to get a few updates in based on recent messages and send it out here for final review by the group. Meanwhile, if someone wants to start posting a list of contacts (email addresses with names) and we can build that list as a group (please cut and paste the old list and add to it so there will be one complete list instead of having to scan through dozens of messages to re-compile the list).
I'll try to send the final draft this afternoon, and hopefully by tomorrow we can all send out something for them to think about over the weekend.
Thanks to all who contributed, especially Hypocrates, ST, No-emo, JMAC... well, pretty much everyone. We all seem to share the same sentiments even though we often express them very differently.
I was just being facetious... Does anyone here think Titan could get a $900M buyout right now? It's just a dream and nothing more... like the money I spent on all those shares!
If they'd buy Titan for $900 Million we'd get $5 a share!
A couple quick outlines of possible concerns to include in a petition. Paraphrasing is for these outlines only. Please feel free to contribute to the refinement of each:
Low PPS/Marketing not doing their job to boost image and PPS so fundraising is feeble. Details set forth in example in post #45275.
Current management team not trusted by investor base. AGM 2015, stated "Funded to completion of FDA submission." AGM 2016, “Never been so confident in the future of Titan.” Two months later, Dr. Fowler leaves. Several months later, still no replacement for COB and no indication that there is an honest effort to find one. Request BOD initiate a viable search (if not already under way) for a candidate with a track record of successful medical device launch and experience raising capital (maybe even one with existing contacts in investment world). Request periodic (maybe bi-weekly) status updates, possibly posted on Titan web site. COB should also be prepared to lead subsequent searches for replacements for Dr. Hargrove and possibly also Dr. Rayman. If Mr. Randall’s M&A experience is not projected to come into play in Titan’s near-term future, he could also be considered expendable and replaceable, given the financial woes the company continues to face under his tenure as CFO.
Sparse communications throughout all phases of development to date. TRXC communicated good news and bad, and drove their PPS up over $14 per share until the FDA rejection caused a valid crash in price. Despite their gross failure to achieve market success for the product they were touting, they proved that communications were valuable, necessary tools to keep a program funded through completion (regardless of ultimate success). Request bi-weekly investor updates to be posted to the web site with overview for prioritizing and managing expenses. Request follow-ups on presentations and press releases; for example, have heard no feedback on the ERUS presentation in Milan by Dr. Sanchez-Salas.
Do we other specific gripes we can present with ideas for rectification thereof? Please opine!
Can anyone loosely account for how this round of financing is likely to be spent? If $5.3M is for software development and we owe $2M back to China, that leaves $300K to finish EV5 and get to the design freeze. Obviously not adequate. Their financial needs far exceed this monetary infusion. I don't know how they plan to stretch this cash to the end of the year unless most development remains paused.
Does anyone know what their actual plans are for this?
We just diluted our outstanding volume by another 12%. PPS hasn't fallen 12% today. Could be worse.
Petition
There appeared to be some support for the idea of creating a petition to the BOD and management to attempt to initiate some changes we deem to be positive. In order to do so, we need to put forth a list of specific grievances and proposed solutions. We also need to have a majority in agreement with these ideas in order to put forth a viable, cogent petition for these changes. For purposes of this effort, I ask that anyone contributing to this effort place the word "Petition" at the top of your posting so I will know you want your content to be considered for inclusion. The preface will describe ourselves as a group of private (non-institutional) investors who routinely utilize the InvestorsHub Titan Medical message board to share information, concerns, and ideas regarding the status of our investments and how we feel they are being handled. It will likely take a few days to get everyone in agreement with the messages we would present, so we should use this time to refine the message as a team and attempt to be as influential as we can.
Please avoid rants, name-calling, and insulting or detrimental language. Also, please put forth your reasons we believe a specific action is required, a recommendation for how they should achieve it, and what the desired end result should be. I will start with an example and suggest that we build these into a reasonable, respectable document which captures our intent. For example…
Investor Concern 1:
Fundraising to date has been much less effective than the program requires, placing not only the schedule, but the entire program and company in jeopardy along with all the funds invested by numerous private investors such as ourselves. As investors, dilution of the stock is becoming a major concern, exacerbated by the continued drop in Price Per Share. Issuing shares and warrants continues dilution of our investments, and due to the low share price, is much less effective. In addition, the issuing of warrants has historically provided no additional value to warrant holders, thus furthering the need for better strategies for fundraising.
As a collective group of investors, we have been exceedingly disappointed with the level of communication by Titan management with us and with the general public. We agree from the limited public exposure the SPORT system has had to date that Titan has a viable product, capable of entering the marketplace with a substantial impact to patient outcomes as well as investor outcomes. We seek out information constantly to validate this theory, but the general public does not. They remain completely uninformed about SPORT and its potential, and therefore they do not seek to contribute supportive investment dollars which could raise the Price Per Share and enhance fundraising capabilities.
We feel that Titan Medical has an obligation to greatly enhance the public exposure of the SPORT system. The SAGES conference initiated some good exposure and conversations on the internet about SPORT’s capabilities, but that has diminished over time. The AORN presence did much less; it would have benefited greatly from an instrument on site actively showing its capabilities, and given the audience at AORN consisted largely of OR and support personnel, more focus on ease of setup and use, simpler case turnover processes, and reduction of expense versus the competition. Further enhancing the exposure of SPORT to the general public should include a more professional presence on the corporate web site, the posting of more videos displaying the capability of the instrument, a more active marketing presence in applicable trade journals (paper and digital) and conferences, and press releases to spread good news about the system and the company. Lately we have needed to scan SEDAR filings for status updates, and most of these have not portrayed the organization in a positive light. We believe that substantially increasing and enhancing the company’s image and highlighting SPORT’s capabilities will vastly improve the ability to entice larger investments. An improvement in Price Per Share is a cornerstone of this strategy, both to minimize further dilution and to give adequate confidence to potential investors that their investments will become profitable. Potential investors and potential customers must be able to learn about SPORT and the benefits it could provide to patients and hospitals, and without the necessary exposure, we believe this will not happen.
The sales and marketing team appears to be relying on the fact that some of them once participated in the Intuitive Surgical success story. This bit of resume trivia will not sell systems if SPORT reaches the marketplace, nor is it going to improve our Price Per Share or attract new investment dollars. We feel that in order to improve the situation, the Board of Directors should mandate that the current marketing team be given 30 days to put forth a viable marketing plan to achieve the objectives stated above, and an additional 60 days thereafter to begin executing the plan and show the effectiveness thereof. Evidence of effectiveness should include an increase in Price Per Share and a marked increase in inquiries from surgeons and hospitals (e.g. through the company web site) about the SPORT system. Failure to achieve success on both of these goals should be considered grounds for termination of key marketing personnel, as we believe these goals are inherently the purpose of their positions in the company. We also believe that reaching these goals will enable successful fundraising in the future to keep the program moving without interruption while minimizing future dilution. <END>
Can we put together a couple more such concerns? I would be happy to write them up if given the appropriate ideas. I think our major concerns are funding (addressed in Concern 1), possible removal of the top two, and improved overall communication (touched upon above but easily broken out into a separate concern if it requires further attention). I have a Word document with Concern 1 written up, and can add to it as you see fit to contribute. Maybe we can actually make a difference.
I'm heading into our blood lab for the afternoon so I can't take the lead on this, and given the limited response so far, I suspect it won't have any chance at all. But I thought it was worth a try.
Can we shareholders on this board possibly put together a petition for management change? If we could agree to the content (probably the toughest part) someone can post it somewhere that we can all download it, sign, scan, and send on an agreed-upon date. I don't know if we would need to indicate on the form the number of shares we hold with our names, addresses, signature and date. Someone here surely knows more about it than I do. But if we are all in agreement that such a change is needed, maybe a coordinated, professional-looking effort would get their attention. We could include a list of recipients to ensure that everyone who signs and sends will reach all the same audience, and all applicable folk at Titan will receive their own copies. It would at a minimum inspire them to talk a bit more about our concerns. If they take it to heart, maybe it can drive the changes desired by what appears to be a majority of the contributors to this forum.
That being said, we also want to do this in a way that we are not shooting ourselves in the proverbial foot. If we are willing to use this forum in advance to discuss and vote amongst ourselves on what content the petition should have, who we think should go with specific reasons for each, I think we are capable of putting forth a sound rationale for the changes we would like to see. And such a coordinated effort would certainly be more useful than whining about the situation ad nauseum here.
Thoughts? Anyone want to start the list of specific grievances?
so...
Fowler = Chesley Sullenberger. JH = Forrest Gump. Reiza = Guy Smiley. Randall = Ryan Lochte.
Looks like we need Tom Hanks as COB... He portrayed the first two on the list!
Apologies. The bases have 2 fans per base, so eight total. Maybe an octet can provide better harmonies? Plus, we all know how effective it is to stir up as much dust as possible by blowing air in random directions around the periphery of a surgical site. Anyone saying "what dust?" has never opened a piece of medical equipment which is over 12 weeks old. Airflow over electronics accumulates dust. HEPA filters? Maybe, but it takes a lot more pressure to move air through HEPAs, so the fans make even MORE noise.
And all that surface area! The cleaning supplies alone will add to the OR budget. Turn-around time from one case to the next requires time for all those surfaces to be wiped down. And watch the draping lest you occlude those giant fans!
So how far along in development is Senhance? Buy it today at the low low price of just $999,999.99! But wait! Buy one single incision robotic arm console and get three more for free (plus shipping and handling).
http://www.enhancedonlinenews.com/portal/site/eon/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20160907005188&newsLang=en&permalinkExtra=TransEnterix-Unveils-Brand-Identity-Robotic-Surgical-System
From this link, click on the picture to the left and choose the full size view. Zoom in on the hand controls (of which there are two). Note the machining marks on the top surfaces of the hand controllers. Probably Delrin, I'm guessing, but not typically a cost-friendly material for production in an application which doesn't require substantial wear and abrasion resistance. But great for prototyping. Is this a picture of a production system? Just curious.
Then tell me how a user is supposed to access the keyboard while the controllers are in the way. Any wonder why Human Factors Engineering is important? Looks like this is the poster child for why HFE is important.
I noticed also that each of those four bases has a big (maybe 6") fan, to make extra noise during the procedure. Visibility across the room is already destroyed, so why not completely eliminate the chance of cross-suite communication ("Did you say 'Quick, go grab the defibrillator' or 'Breakfast is in the refrigerator'?).
And it leaves the patient with more holes than a Tom Brady football.
The levity is appreciated!
Just catching up this morning... Wanted to say Thanks for posting that conversation.
Best of luck to you also... and feel free to jump back in if we get any good news! Your input has been appreciated.
You are probably right. I must be delusional to think some contributors to this board could think a positive thought. Like I said, Haters gonna hate.
So Irregardless means Regardless much like Inflammable means Flammable? Tomato, tomato... Wait, that only works when you say it, not so much in writing...
Anyway, does anyone here think that the tone set on this message board has potentially influenced some potential investors? Do we think people should plunk down thousands or tens of thousands of their hard earned dollars without doing a little due diligence, including reading this message board? I think they should and probably have.
Well, Haters gonna hate, and I've been hated before, and I'm tempting that fate again, but I feel a need to point out that the constant barrage of negativity on this board has likely suppressed our PPS, helping keep warrants out of the money, and cutting off a major source of funding. To those of you who think there has been a benefit to repeating the same hatred so many times a day, thank YOU for putting us in this situation. Yes, we can be very influential because we are part of the public face of the company. Spewing the same crap every day - fire them all, they're incompetent, don't trust the overseas investors, blah blah... every day. What newcomer could possibly want to invest in this heap of bad news?
Of course we are all surprised at the recent turn of events, but those of us who insist on the incessant negativity are in part to blame. The haters on this board may have actually put us and the company in this dire-looking situation. You helped dig our grave. Let's hope somebody, maybe even those in management who have been crucified daily, can come up with a way to fill in the hole YOU have helped dig and get this program rolling again.
Please realize your impact. Several contributors here offer ideas on how this could get better, and I thank each of you. You have a wide range of experience to draw from, certainly much more than I, and ideas which provide a glimmer of hope are not only welcomed, but maybe even considered by Titan management. Somebody at Titan must also be reading this on occasion.
I'm staying in, even if the haters out there insist on shooting ourselves in the other foot. I would love to see the tone on this board improve, more real ideas offered, and maybe make it an inviting place for new investors and their hard earned money.
I'm just curious now who the first person will be to bash me for trying to be positive.
Ideally, I would not. What are the odds, assuming Titan succeeds in hitting the market without being bought out, that TITXF yields us a PPS of $4.50? Pretty good, I would guess. That would make it a ten-bagger, probably in the next two years or so. $9 makes it a 20-bagger - in maybe three years? At least feasible? Maybe much larger score than that, fingers crossed.
How about ISRG? Who here is willing to bet that it will be $6800 per share in two years? $13,600 per share in 3 years?
I bought ISRG at $11.65 per share, and yes, I'm quite glad I did at that time. I have not bought one additional share of it since, and I'm not trading my TITXF for a few more shares of ISRG today, nor tomorrow. But if you truly prefer ISRG to Titan, you can sell here and buy there at your leisure. I'm just saying that I prefer another big score, and I think ISRG is fairly steady now overall but I don't think it will ever repeat the multiples I've gotten from it. Titan offers me hope of that one last big score.
If ISRG was to buy Titan, we'd be getting a 1500:1 reverse split! I like the idea of staying independent to the extent possible and reaping the larger rewards - being a piece of a giant like JnJ would be the ultimate in dilution. How much could a little startup impact the bottom line of a company which has $30B in cash on hand? Getting into something small for maximum reward was a big part of the initial allure of Titan stock for me 5+ years ago.
As far as 1.0 vs. 2.0, I'm not sure there is a difference except with the regulatory filings. Most of the hardware should be in place in 1.0. I was under the impression that the ongoing development was mostly to meet the new Human Factors guidelines, otherwise we would have been filing NLT Q4 2016 (which starts in 6 weeks). But because of the new HF guidelines, the development requires completion. Can someone who works in surgery provide ideas on how different the hardware would need to be in order to be used for multiple additional indications? (Not my area of expertise.) In other words, how much additional development might be needed to transition from a 1.0 to a 2.0 system? The hardware I've seen in videos looked capable of doing a lot of different things.
Even if it required some hardware mods for additional procedures, that could be a freebie thrown in with purchase of the 1.0 system. Worth it to get these in the field and initiate revenue flow, IMO.
To CUIN2: Awesome slogan!
To Skiywaver: Thank you for your service! And keep the faith... I'm largely in the same situation, 2 kids in college, 5 years into this. I believe in the product so whether it's foolish optimism, blind faith, or divine intervention keeping me in, I'm staying in based on what I know at the moment. I know most of those might be bad reasons in the investing world, so hopefully CUIN2's slogan proves itself for us!