is…out the door and not looking back…
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Respectfully, could know and understand the tech and/or contractual terms, but it's all subject to their interpretation and them deciding what's what. All the banter and hypotheticals and analysis means nothing until they decide on how they are going to execute and create value.
There are a LOT of open-ended issues here, but one would hope Lugee's bottom line is to make money on LQMT stock and does he have a lock-up period? I would have to re-examine that. I think he's worth so much already, that he's going to want pretty large numbers to sell, particularly when his min/max basis is .25.
One of the key things with any stock is that you end up with more knowledgeable investors. I know that can be somewhat difficult with a penny stock, but if further calls can avoid moronic exchanges like this from callers, we'll ALL be the better for it:
Unidentified Analyst
Hi, Tom. This is Tony Viselli [ph].
Tom Steipp
Hi, Tony.
Unidentified Analyst
Can you hear me? (No, he can't, that's why he just said, "Hi Tony")
Tom Steipp
Yes, I can.
Unidentified Analyst
I just wanted to say thank you all. I’ve done a lot of research over the past couple of years on the company and it looks like you guys are making great headway. As far as your salary, I’d give you a raise. Most of my questions were answered. I just had one question I don’t even know if you can answer it. But has Apple had to sign off on the deal with – or give approval of the deal with EONTEC? ("Great headway"? "I just had one question I don't even know if you can answer it?" Was this caller DRUNK or DRUGGED???
Tom Steipp
Our relationships with Apple are clearly defined in the contractual agreements that are in place and this agreement that we put in place does not affect the relationships we had with them before, Tony.
Unidentified Analyst
Okay, all right. I appreciate it. That’s all. Thank you, Tom. (Umm, that means I either don't understand the contract - with all my "lot of research" or I don't want to bother).
---Analysis? We ALL hope callers like this don't get tempted to pick up the phone and just leave the question and time to those who aren't drunk or on drugs.
Where do these nincompoop callers, like this one, come from???
I have to re-read the Agreement, but thanks Josh, great info!
Hang in there.
Very, very interesting. That may be where this goes.
How did you know the Eon model number? I had not seen that anywhere, but I probably just missed it. Wouldn't be the first time.
Query - are you suggesting Engel will be pushed out?
Apple had to have provided the sign off on the Lugee deal and, if they wanted to, even on the territorial provision because of CIP and the assignment of rights in those patents because of the cross-license.
Not being contrite, but you're bringing up some really great points. I'm sure the parties have thought of all of them, but one other thing is that with the lock-up of stock sales by insiders in China, as regulated by the Chinese govt, which is critical to the analysis that Lugee invested in LQMT stock to make money off it, if he was really only in it to make money in Asia through Eon's access to the patents, both his stock appreciation in Eon as well as his geographic market is limited because of the territorial provisions.
That "special" call can't come soon enough.
Agreed.
I agree, Lugee/Eon does not have to use Engel, and that's a bit of a concern as it relates to Asia, but he hasn't made the moves he's made merely to grab access to licensing rights, when he can only use them for Asian customers. That's a limited market - Europe and N.A. customers are no small markets. Plus, I think Lugee is trying to take advantage of U.S. equity markets.
It will be interesting to see how that plays out with Engel.
Bottom line - Lugee is one shrewd guy and I get the feeling he has some very astute advisors as well. I am hopeful that if/when they have that call that Bresnick and/or Lugee are in on it and they aren't "hiding" behind a cloak of secrecy and opaqueness.
That's true and that video posted confirms it's not as "one-step" a process as previously communicated.
Yes, but as the deal is now, LQMT can only use Engel machines.
Leader has a history in Germany and Austria, though, with that medical device acquisition. I wonder what machines are used for that. In other words, I wonder if Lugee has pre-existing relationships with Engel.
Interesting point, but I have never seen that they do. Where are you going with that thought?
On second thought, I see your point as the "exclusivity" has no value if they have no tie in to CIP or the Liquidmetal brand, but then you're in a bit of a stalemate unless Engel decides to play ball with Lugee or Lugee pays them out to get rid of them. Engel is in a weaker position, though, as they are 3+ years in of not really selling any of these machines.
There is either room for both technologies, if truly complementary, but hard to say if Lugee sees it that way. Great question.
Great point. To me, Engel has always been the wild card in all of this. They have the exclusive on the machine contract-
"With Liquidmetal, ENGEL opens the door to completely new classes of material and product characteristics; metal alloys can now be efficiently injection moulded. As the exclusive machine manufacturing partner of Liquidmetal Technologies from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, USA, ENGEL is the only provider worldwide to offer system solutions for the injection moulding of Liquidmetal materials."
https://www.engelglobal.com/en/at/news-press/news-press-releases/detail/news/show/News/engel-exclusive-machine-partner-of-liquidmetal-technologies.html
Now, we've been told that the technologies do not really overlap; Eon machines are diecast and for larger, less intricate, parts and Engel machines are IM and for smaller, more intricate, parts. Regardless, Engel has invested a large amount of time and a good amount of money in this and exclusive means "exclusive," so how can Eon machines be used for revenues generated by LQMT? Engel's potential customers were introduced to Steipp and Hauck, but they were unable to close even just ONE deal, so far (this is making the presumption they truly had "deals in the works and ready to close), so I wonder how those previous introductions go when the top face, the CEO, is gone from the continuity of those "Leads" intros?
The other issue is the territoriality provision, which I HATE. Eon essentially has all of Asia and LQMT has all of Europe and N.A. So, LQMT could lose all BMG revenues in Asia to Eon. If Lugee is truly interested in bringing up the stock price of LQMT, he'll want as much of a revenue stream as possible into LQMT and closing out Asia to LQMT will negatively impact that revenue stream, while Eon has projected a 33% to 50% drop in business in their core businesses, but if that is the "protection" provision to Engel that Engel machines are to be for LQMT's territories in Europe and N.A., then Asia is closed out to LQMT, potentially because of Engel, and that sucks.
The above is all contractual, and agreed, Engel could potentially affect that Board appointment, but I still see Lugee getting his own guy on Board (you'd think he'd need the consent of the Board members that were there to jettison Steipp, if he was forced out, which it appears he was, otherwise why not ride out his full 12 months?) and I'm thinking Lugee as CEO with Bresnick in place as Lugee's right hand. In other words, if he got the other Board members consent on Steipp, the Board has a lot of shares. They're just wanting money, too, and if they believe in Lugee's plan, and already consented on moving out the CEO of 6 years, who got THEM Board seats and loads of shares for doing squat, I don't see them giving Lugee much resistance in who Lugee wants on Board.
I do wonder about Lily Yao of Leader coming over to LQMT as CFO in that scenario, but I think she'll stay at Leader, for now, anyway.
I think this most had to be made, but geez, we truly are in a state of pretty large flux, but better to be positively fluxed than negatively fluxed!
Who will be the new CEO?
a) Lugee Li
b) Isaac Bresnick
c) Tony Chung (I know, ain't happening, but gotta throw it out there)
d) Other
e) Cima "Super Due Diligence" 7
I'm going with Lugee with Cima signed on to close out the Applied Medical deal as the first customer. Bresnick to be the right hand guy as LQMT is Lugee's new baby with both of them to be going back and forth to Shenzhen.
Interesting, thanks Rige.
If there is some way Apple is in play for this year, there is no way anyone currently at LQMT could oversee that production effort. Lugee and his people would have had to have been in place. I doubt it, but many have doubted a lot of what has happened lately that has come to fruition and none of it bad lately.
I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on the private possibility. I think he jumped in here for the stock valuation and he doesn't move slow. He's got Leader in 35 countries in just 4 years. If he can get someone to buy in just the U.S. alone - or in China, for that matter - with his already solid customer base, money will be made.
I think Lugee will either devote his efforts here or it will be Bresnick's show to run. Bresnick is from Connecticut, so as much as it will be a large undertaking if he has to move his family from the Netherlands, Lugee lists him as a co-founder of Leaderbiomed.
Interesting times ahead.
Hard to say, but yesterday might be related to this:
http://macdailynews.com/2016/11/23/ming-chi-kuo-apples-next-gen-iphone-to-feature-all-glass-case-for-wireless-charging/
Regardless, the stock wasn't moving anywhere, Lugee has 3 seats already, with a pending 4th, and Bresnick has apparently been around LQMT Offices quite a bit and not in the Netherlands running LeaderBiomed, which was just formed in 2012 and their global footprint is already pretty impressive.
http://www.leaderbiomedical.com/about-us/history-leader-biomedical/
And he's added, at least, Russia and South America to the list, while also having an Office established in Chicago.
Look at the Sales Manager position requirements in the USA. I don't see how Hauck survives this now.
There are great salespeople from 3M that generate many millions in sales and are entrepreneurial and Hauck is from "Kinetics" and "Hennepin Technical College." Leaderbiomed wants a person from a top 20 med device company and wants their Sales Manager, not even an Executive, like Hauck is positioned as, to have an MBA. The really disappointing thing is if it's true that Hauck blames lack of sales on Bromage then either a) he should have vetted more before he came on if the opportunities were "lost" because of Bromage or b) and even worse, he blames someone else for his own failings:
Sales Manager USA
Function
Sales
Closing date
Region
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Level of experience
Full-time/Part-time
Full-time
Contract type
Leader Biomedical USA and its affiliates world-wide are looking for an entrepreneurial and vibrant Sales Manager to build up and grow our biomedical business across the North American continent. It is a significant hands-on role, which includes building the business across North America, from the ground up. Taking ownership, a solid network and a strong business acumen are key.
Primary responsibilities
Maximise market opportunities across USA following a strategic direction
Deliver on agreed sales targets and action plans via distributors and B2B
Develop impactful and coordinated actions aimed at increasing customer engagement
Build relationships with top customers in order to increase sales volumes
Collaborate with internal business partners on actively leveraging the product portfolio and drive sales
Monitor the market and gather competitive intelligence on new strategies, industry tactics, and opportunities for business growth
Key requirements from the candidate
Regional champion having lead a small sales team in the past
Subject matter expert- strong understanding of Orthopaedics and knowledgeable adjacent fields of spine, trauma, etc
Leadership qualities- knows when to act himself/herself and when to delegate to maximise results,
Entrepreneurial – self motivated to build the business from scratch
Cross functional understanding- good understanding of Marketing, health economics
The Sales Manager reports directly to the Board of Directors of Leader Biomedical Group and will work out of our USA office with expected to travel up to 50%-60%. Close collaboration with internal business partners like Product Management, Marketing & Communications, Customer Service over the different entities is encouraged. This position in based on a fulltime equivalent.
Qualifications and experience
Min. bachelor’s degree in a science based study. MBA is a plus
Proven track record in sales and commercial in the orthopaedic space with at least 8 to 10 years of experience with a top 20 medical device company
Familiarity with network of hospitals and distributors in primary joints replacements and orthobiologics along with key opinions leaders
Entrepreneurial spirit with the readiness to travel up to 50-60%
Strong communicator, both verbal and written
Personal profile:
Commercial focus, vibrant, dynamic, hands-on, self-starter, initiative taker, solid business acumen and negotiation skills, driven to learn and continuously improve.
Company profile
Leader Biomedical USA is a subsidiary of Leader Biomedical Limited. In the USA Leader Biomedical will be a company starting from ground up, supported from its operational HQ in Europe (Amsterdam) until such time it becomes self-standing. Leader Biomedical will focus on commercial distribution of its own and 3rd party product lines from Europe in the NA continent starting with USA. Amsterdam is the corporate sales and marketing division of Leader Biomedical Limited, based out of Hong Kong. Under its group companies, is a Netherlands based contract manufacturing site – EMCM BV & sales and marketing sites in India, Brazil, and China. In addition, Leader Biomedical is the management arm of aap Joints GmbH, its affiliate. The group markets its products and services to 35+ countries in addition to Europe and the USA.
The Leader group of companies is active in the medical devices business, embarking on its corporate vision “to be a leading provider of innovative healthcare solutions” and is in the process of further strategic expansion in products, services and technologies to new markets. The Amsterdam office is the seat of operational and strategic decision making for the group, with an overall strength of approximately 100 FTE.
http://www.leaderbiomedical.com/vacancy/sales-manager-orthopaedicsbiomedical/
http://www.leaderbiomedical.com/careers/careers/
P.S. He owns 100% of Leader. No need to take this public. Why give up control? LQMT is his stock play IMO.
P.P.S. Signature not meant for you.
I know that Applied Medical contract is on its way!!! Oh, the irony in the Einstein reference, lol - CLASSIC!!!
Just sayin'.
Might want to stick to "real estate" over "stock prognosticating," but that's some fine DD (doo-doo) on LQMT with those "sleuthing" investigative skills on Applied Medical.
This is too easy. Next...
Oh, boo hoo hoo, now my feelings are hurt SO MUCH!!!
Well, I think things could always be worse...
GL, Skippy!
Hmmm, let me think about that. OK, I'm done, see below for further reference. Deal with it, Skippy!
This is a little old, but it said there are 7 seats. Right now, it appears 6 are filled.
"Liquidmetal® Technologies, Inc. (LTI) (OTCQB: LQMT), the leading developer of amorphous alloys and composites, has appointed high-tech industry veteran and noted business success author, Richard Sevcik, to its board of directors, increasing the number of independent directors to four out of seven serving in total."
Don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong, but as I recall, Steipp was a board member. He's now out. If my assertion is correct, Lugee gets to appoint another board member.
He gets another Board seat, too...
I think he was very well aware this could happen. I think he also has a lot of faith Lugee can get it all done. And the "Why?" of it is because I'm sure Visser could have come up with the dollars for the 63 mill, but Steipp didn't trust Visser's ability to execute, along with he didn't trust Visser to give up ANY, let alone 3, Board seats that would have pushed Steipp out, as this did.
I don't think he wanted to leave, but I also highly doubt he's surprised. Now he can sit back and watch his share value grow as Lugee does all the heavy lifting to turn Lugee's 63 mill into a ridiculous number, as Steipp is now resigned to just being another shareholder along for the ride.
What happened to all the corks-a-poppin' and virtual high-5's at Steipp's demise? Interesting.
Haha, cruel, but probably not far from the truth...