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Spending any more hard earned money on this stock is pure folly. One would not be investing in the product but rather the miscreants who will be pocketing their money. Haven't enough good people on this site come and gone over the years and lost their shirt???? Many have sadly invested life savings and gone belly up. To some this is like crack.
I hadn't looked at this website for a very long time. I pulled all my money out in 2014 when Titan abruptly withdrew Sport prior to FDA review for potential approval. I had money in the company back when they developed Amadeus and pulled that for possible patent infringement from ISRG. Now it appears that they are going for another RS.
These people DO NOT care about you the investor. Their management team is abysmal and constantly changing and that is the best I can say. Consider self interest as they personally have no skin in the game. They may have shares but didn't have to pay for them. That is telling. With all the other BS going on in this country no one is going to investigate them for potential criminal activity. There are much bigger fish to fry and DOJ doesn't give a shit.
I truly wish all good luck because the promise of this product has blinded so many and bankrupted quite a few. My Best but do yourself a favor and cut your losses with whatever money you have left.
I haven't been on this board for a very long time for good reason. I'm not looking for an argument and it's just painful. If John's Hopkins is this far advanced I feel there is little hope for TMDI.
I was invested twice...Amadeus and SPORT. The SPORT product appeared worthy but the management and business model are either incompetent or criminal...maybe both. When J-H gets their robot through FDA approval they are already beyond the capability of TMDI.
ISRG is well engrained in the operative landscape and they are not going anywhere. Flush with Billions in cash, sales of robots, peripherals, service contracts, updated product, and the only game in town forever. They probably have autonomy up their sleeves as well. They won't disclose that until competition becomes apparent and they have to. That is a wise business decision. "DaVinci" is also not their only approved and working robot. They have the "Ion" for pulmonary procedures which is quite a machine.
I was lucky not to lose much on either Amadeus or SPORT as I was a believer and invested in both at one time. What became obvious to me is that for whatever reason their business model was a failure. So many friends were also invested and lost money they couldn't afford to lose. It was like an addiction.
I wish all good luck Unfortunately TDMI....Res Ipsa Loquitur. "The thing speaks for itself."
I agree with you about a dedicated room. That will happen as there are already specific rooms in hospitals where only the robotic surgeries occur. This is in it's infancy and growing. Surgical residents are being trained to do robotic surgery and the different types of procedures will increase as well. I think the IP is what other companies will seek.
As an occasional poster to this Board over the years I agree with your assessment. I think TITAN will be bought as other large medical device companies have the finances to take Columbia University's IP to the finish line. I personally doubt that the TITAN footprint in the OR is any more sensible than ISRG for the next generation of robotics. I think that the mechanisms for the control arms will be built into the table therefore increasing available room in the OR. Makes more sense.
There are at least 2 companies working on this. Wheeling a huge machine into the OR will be a thing of the past. I doubt that what has already been developed will be dead in the water. I do believe that another corporation will be sailing this ship.
https://www.google.com/search?q=surgery+robots+pictures&biw=1536&bih=760&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwi9rveYru_RAhXoxYMKHfJlCPEQsAQIGQ#imgrc=_R_06jPRxIb_oM:
I completely appreciate and understand your frustration. My sentiments exactly. Unfortunately some here look for molecules of hope as though a miracle is going to occur and that's just not going to happen at this time. I'm also done on here for now. What's the point?
I'm not getting into an argument with people like you who have spent NO time in an OR and who's only grasp of the issues and investment are what you read on this website. The FACTS are that this stock is $.27/share. NO ONE is buying this for good reason. My understanding of this issue is beyond anything you can appreciate. I am misinformed about nothing and I am also not trying to influence people to waste their hard earned dollars on the fantasy of a get rich quick scheme.
As long as this remains a public forum what I am invested in or not is my business. You're entitled to your opinion and as long as this remains public you're also entitled to mine. If you don't like my opinion then block me.
I wish you good luck because the way this company is run you're going to need it.
A Transenteric product using some feedback and 3D visualization. CE Mark approved and one unit sold in Italy.
I never mentioned Transenterix at anytime. I do not believe in their product. I also never said there's a lot of superior IP out there. What I wanted to convey is that TITAN will be left behind other players due to their business practices. You cannot simply come to a dead stand still in development, piss off the most important people you do business with/owe them money, and expect your competitors to be understanding and wait until you change your entire front office, business practices, and get adequate funding.
Re: Being misinformed about haptic feedback....How can the move be away from haptic feedback when there is presently none on the market? No one has ever used it. Advanced visualization and haptic feedback are not mutually exclusive and other companies are working on it. And in response to TITAN's haptic feedback patent that is not presently incorporated in their existing design. If they decided to initially roll that out (assuming they get funding) that would delay this system even further.
I'm not sure why it makes a difference what I am presently invested in or not.
I think with new systems available in the future and updated resident training that haptic feedback will be the standard of care.
It is upsetting to me to believe that there are hard working people here who have swallowed the positive hype on this board and lack of communication from TITAN and invested life savings in this company. Great technology does not necessarily override bad business and poor or absent PR. Witness the Tucker automobile.
Way ahead of it's time with water cooled aluminum block flat six engine, disc brakes, engine in the rear, fuel injection, independent suspension.
51 copies were built and they went bankrupt.
SPORT does not have haptic feedback. It has been discussed on this board and they still do not have a completely functional and working prototype with all appropriate software. Asking for adequate financing and competent leadership is the whole game.
IMHO these guys have poisoned the well for others who may have wanted a piece of this. As a rhetorical question.....Would I do business with these guys knowing the little I know as an outsider?? The answer is unequivocally NO. Imagine having insight into the entire shit storm that is most probably occurring behind the corporate walls.
SAGES does not represent all huge companies in development who choose to play their cards close to the vest until they have a finely tuned machine that may be ready to go. Many of these huge companies do not need financing because they are already huge. They don't need exposure until they're ready to pull the trigger.
Titan's major shareholder (I believe probably Reiza) would still be in charge and has been greatly responsible for the mess you have witnessed for so long. And as far as their IP being worth as much as some feel it is....Other companies have their own IP which is probably every bit as good. These guys are not the only new game in town and they are falling behind.
Would you do business with them knowing they would still run the show and knowing what you know? And as far as their snake arms going where others can't the only comparison that can be made is to Davinci because they are presently the only game in town. You have no idea what else is out there.
I would be interested to know what you're thinking. Unless specific laws have been broken you probably can't jail people for being terrible businessmen/women. I'm not convinced that these idiots blew money to line their pockets. If they did just imagine how much more they would have if they could ever make this financially viable. Bad business people vs stupid crooks??? I vote the former.
One very large problem with TITAN right now (aside from all the stupidity we are already aware of) is that they are already behind competitors in development. With the halt in development you can watch them disappear in your rear view mirror. If you refer to Flenderson's post earlier it is clear that The Harvard group has most likely already developed haptic sensory feedback which will be a huge app for any future robot. Right now these machines are not really robots. They are simply remotely controlled laparoscopic machines.
When they develop specific AI with numerous algorhitms for each surgery, sensory devices for independent diagnosis and treatment, internal GPS, wireless signal transmission to individual machines etc....then we will have true robots. It's on the way and will be here faster than you can imagine. With that said there is no way these guys will ever be in the forefront of development. They blew it big time.
Flenderson.....Very impressive post. They are not the only ones. The other companies in this sector have big money/partners that are apparently well managed. Having invested as far back as Amedeus my experience is that these guys are out to lunch without a sandwich. Such a promising robot at the hands of a completely dysfunctional group of people.
For those who feel that their loss is presently strictly on paper that isn't exactly accurate. If one has invested $100K for example over 4 years in a fund that pays 5% dividends (and there are plenty of them out there) they would have gained a 20% appreciation over that time of non-compounded simple interest. That doesn't take into consideration one's loss in TITXF NAV over 4 years which is very painful.
These guys DO NOT deserve the loyalty they have enjoyed by the board members here. If this ever gets to market it will be behind other companies who are already ahead of them in funding and development.
I think your line of questioning with Randall was rather straight forward and appropriate but one's time would be better spent banging your head against the wall than asking TITAN management to grade their own performance. IMHO one of the main reasons The Market won't buy into this is that too many shares are still owned by Management giving new investors no leverage on the direction of the company.
As a prospective investor would I want to waste good money butting heads with the present management trying to right this ship when they are still in charge? I think a total buy out is the only answer. New warrants will be as worthless as the old warrants. There is significant history to support that logic.
Our (everyone on this board) frustration is the history of this company vs the product. I have never heard anyone anywhere discuss SPORT in a negative light (for good reason) where on the other hand I have never heard anyone say this company is well run. I remain enthusiastic about this product but am also aware that it is just a matter of time before another company handily beats them to ECM/FDA approval and sales.
Regarding my support for the cynical side- This is not a one, two, or three time event of terrible news regarding TITAN management's incompetence on the business side. It has been happening for years and is ongoing. Although I definitely agree with CUIN about the need for a change at the top I would go much farther. The entire Board needs to be replaced before any change in this corporate culture of ineptitude is to be corrected. Until there's a sweeping change of management or a complete takeover this wonderful invention is dead in the water.
All the positive postings that people place here are related to the product itself not management for obvious reasons. For those who think a buy of 100k or 200k shares by some anonymous entity makes a difference, think again. The math doesn't support that anymore than comments on this board influence people at either TITAN or anywhere else.
I was a partner for about 14 years in a private practice who contracted with a private academic hospital associated with The major university in our city. It was not a small hospital or a small university. We ran a residency program and regularly trained medical students, CRNA students, Paramedic students etc...for the University. My partners and I all had academic appointments with the expectation that we were in fact on the medical staff at the university medical school.
CUIN.... I agree with your assessment. There has been so much chaos behind the scenes that we know nothing about. This has been ongoing for a very long time (at least since Nov 2014) and is now coming to a head. For those who think this will now be better managed by The SAB think again. They are ONLY an advisory board and have nothing to do with management of this company.
No clear plan to bring this to market, squandered money on at least past 2 PR firms (no salable product/they're still in development), Hargrove"s daughter's salary, continued stock dilution and shares given to management...and so on. If the Market doesn't move today it's probably because no one wants to buy it. You have to have a buyer to sell your shares and good folks here stand a chance of losing everything if they sell now anyway.
No need to lionize Fowler or demonize Hargrove. They are both company management and brought us to this point. I think the only hope is to get rid of everyone in management and bring people in who know how to run a business. This has been a dreadful journey with an incredible product. I think that's something most can agree on. Brings to mind the old saying that "one can be right but dead right."
I don't remember mentioning PPS in any of my posts and there is no "Science" vs "Business. They are 2 distinct issues with different outcomes. Our hope is that they would both be headed in the same direction. Just go back 5 years and show me a positive sign of well managed and well thought out business. it's not there. I can personally go back much further with the same result. That's what I'm looking at. To the best of knowledge there is no evidence anywhere that TITAN has been approached by anyone at any time other than pure speculation by some on this board. I respect your opinion but the existing evidence is painful to us all.
If you look at whatever good news there was or is it is on the science side. All the abysmal and dreadful news has been on the business side. That tells me what I really need to know.
Just to be clear TITAN does not own the IP to IREP. Columbia University does. Columbia and TITAN have a contractual agreement to the best of my knowledge to push this product through development (via Ximedica) to fruition as an ECM/FDA approved device. TITAN has not done well as we all know. There is probably so much going on behind the scenes that we have NO CLUE how bad things really are. I question how much longer Columbia is going to put up with management style? All the positive supposition here is just that.
I wish all the best and only hoped to see this thing succeed for my own financial objectives.....but as a long time investor these guys are FOS.
There is no need to agree with my opinion. Res Ipsa Loquitur. The facts speak for themselves. No one is lining up to either invest in or buy this company. If the business end was no big deal as has been proposed then why isn't it fixed....by other investors? Most of the people invested here don't sell because they either continue to believe in the science (which I do as well BTW) or the management (which I DO NOT or....if they sell now they lose everything they put in with the possibility that this ship may miraculously right itself someday in spite of the mess that exists.
Re: A buyout....If anyone here was a very successful businessman with money to invest and saw the opportunity to buy a company that was in utter chaos like TITAN would you buy it?? I would not. The IP is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and so far NO ONE has stepped up to the plate. This incredible device and it's future has been so mismanaged IMHO that no one wants to deal with the present management as it is.
Regarding what we don't know that is going on behind the scenes....when people show you who they are believe it. It is more than likely worse than the good folks on this board have any idea. which is why no one is stepping up. The science is very sound and the device is incredible as far as we know but digging through and restructuring management after a buyout will be more costly than we have any idea which will add to the cost of the buyout. Risk/benefit ratio for the near future is way too high.
You can't just fire the management without buying them out on top of what they would already have to pay. They have contracts too which would probably preclude them just getting canned. Despite the fact that SPORT has come this far it has a much longer way to go. The suppliers most likely fully believe in SPORT but most assuredly not management. Why would they when none of us do.
If little guys like us do not trust these people then why would big investors who manage money for a living?? They want confidence in management which very few have. These guys have not been transparent by any means and the only surprises we've gotten have been dreadful. Big investors don't buy penny stocks. They owe their clients stability and do their due diligence. One look at this corporation over time and no big money would buy it.
Believe in the science/technology but beware the management. Caveat Emptor.
If Columbia owns IREP then TITAN owns little. They have a contractual agreement which I would have to assume has raised some eyebrows by this time at Columbia U. IREP can be contracted to others if Columbia has some "out" clause or at the end of their time limited agreement. The bottom line is there remains a serious trust issue which has been there for years and getting more significant.
With all due respect you DO NOT know that. Who owns the patents?? Is it Columbia University or Titan? Titan is a business and they hold nothing if no one wants to buy.
They very well may have tried to get funding. I am sure they tried but those they do business with needed more than empty promises to provide their wares. This is business after all. Who in their right mind would supply them with goods knowing they can't pay for them?
As a former contributor to the board who has been in and out of TITAN since AMEDEUS I feel very sorry for all the good folks who believed in the technology (which is rock solid) but confused it with the business model of this company. These guys cannot be trusted. End of story.
A question I posed before is who really owns the patents?? Is it TITAN (the business/corporation) or is it leased to them by Columbia University? Who would buy a company like TITAN if they DO NOT OWN the patents? These guys will never bring this to market and if they do it will be too late. There will be other companies who have good products who will get there before TITAN.
The minute they dumped on their investors in November 2014 was all I needed to know. They are not straight forward and have burned through money needlessly (multiple PR agencies, Hargrove's daughter....blah blah). If they had run this company like the people who compiled their webpage on iHub they would have done much better. My best to all as this has been very costly to so many. Continued belief in these guys (the company not the technology) is similar in many ways to Stockholm Syndrome.
Having not contributed to the board since the crash of Novemkber 2014 I do check in occasionally to see what's going on. Your post is one of the most sensible posts I have read. This is the technology of the future with limitless possibities. I believe in Ximedica but still seriously question Titan as the business agent.
They have continued to regularly dilute out shares with new offerings and seem to have no coherent approach or business model. Who really owns the patents.....Is it Titan or Columbia University who has licensed Titan to develop SPORT?? If Columbia holds the patents they very well may tire of Titan's bipolar approach and find someone else to develop it. The Science is there already proven by ISRG who has been wildly successful in spite of those who have previously badmouthed them.
This is business and no one is going to sit around and wait for these guys to get out of the starting blocks. SPORT has incredible promise but questionably at the hands of those running TITAN.
Meralgia Paresthetica. Look it up on the net.
Suckitup.......That's an interesting question. I had thought during the Amadeus days that ISRG might strongly consider a buyout but of course that never materialized. One of the things that has stuck in my mind since this most recent abrupt disclosure regarding a change in direction is that TITAN's business sense is very poor.
They claim to have listened to a customer base regarding this most recent change but they have no customer base. They have no salable product. They have no finalized design. They have no institutional investors. Although SPORT appears very well designed I personally think they have no definitive business plan either. They knew long before their disclosure to retail investors that they planned to change direction and kept all good folks like investors on this board in the dark.
That cost them almost half PPS that same day and will cost them in trust of any future investors. Why would institutional investors who presently do not exist invest in a company who performs like this? Another thought is that The FDA never advised them to do anything. Their job re: SPORT is review what is presented to them and approve it based on efficacy and safety. They are not TITAN's business partners.
I find the present propaganda from TITAN difficult to digest and have concerns even for long term investment that this will be approved in the time frame they discuss.
Bristol19...I completely agree. I think the survey that Dak and our other surgical colleagues got was proactive on ISRG's part. They are certainly aware of SPORT and the potential it has from a surgical and business perspective. I would have to assume they are already downsizing a platform to compete with TITAN and plan to get that out on the market ASAP.
Ximedica's design is terrific by any measure of what already exists but that doesn't mean ISRG is down or out. Someone else previously posted they shouldn't be taken for granted and I subscribe to that. This is business and although the SPORT design is great they still have to get this EC Mark and FDA approved. Then they have to execute sales. Institutional money won't be forthcoming until this stock reaches a PPS that makes it elligible to move onto the NASDAQ (somewhere in the $4.00/share range). That's a lot of hoops to jump through.
Although I am enthusiastic about SPORT I am less than entusiastic about TITAN management. It is the business side that will move this robot not Ximedica who I believe to be doing a great job of design and execution. The business side of TITAN has fallen woefully short.
That's a great question. I am no engineer or expert in this field by any means. My assumption would be that if Ximedica can build SPORT and ISRG can build their latest device then anything is possible. I firmly believe in this sector of medicine as does everyone else on this board. This will develop well beyond what we are presently aware of.
I personally have no knowledge of Samsung's plans but have seen what is available on the internet. They are a huge corporation who is not only capable of anything but they make things happen. The quality in most of their endeavors is top notch. I have little doubt that if they took on a project of this nature that it would be well thought out and would be very competitive. Even APPLE couldn't beat them in litigation. My understanding is it was basically a stalemate.
Singer55-Thank you for that information. Greatly appreciated.
CUIN2- Your comments are also greatly appreciated by me.
Daktari-Our views on medicine and the medical world are more alike than you know. We are both Doctors first and foremost. I too would be put off if I realized I was used for medical marketing purposes as had happened with you. I only hope that for those left standing that Titan comes out guns blazing within their new time frame as they state and that others don't beat them to the punch.
I work in a teaching hospital that can and does run 2 Davinci rooms at the same time. Although I am in no way promoting any product over another I hardly consider this Kool-Aid. Do you really think ISRG is deaf to constructive criticism from good surgeons like yourself regarding the retraction issue you pointed out? They are a proven corporate behemoth who won't sit around waiting for TITAN's next move. This is big business.
I believe in SPORT and Ximedica but have doubts about TITAN management as I have said. They could have put SPORT out on the market as we were lead to believe and also meet their new timelines with subsequent add-ons necessary for different types of surgery. From a business perspective they now cannot afford another hiccup IMHO without additional significant investor scrutiny.
ISRG's business model is a fact not speculation on my part. What is also a fact to the best of my knowledge is that TITAN has no institutional money invested to date, no finalized product, or any market share. By their own account they are at least 2 years away with others both known and unknown looming on the horizon. One can only hope for under promising with subsequent early roll out of a significant product but considering TITAN's history that appears to be Kool-Aid until proven otherwise.
Single port surgery is already being done. The sophistication of using a SPORT like robotic device may not presently be available with ISRG but that too will happen. Some obviously disagree with the notion of having gotten SPORT out on the market while simultaneously and concurrently working on approval for other surgical indications. What we all agree on though is that numbers of procedures count for the purposes of investment.
http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2014/11/26/118602/memorials-chief-of-robotic-surgery-performs-areas-first-single-site-robotic-hysterectomy
Honey- I think regardless of what has been said about ISRG on this board they are and have been the only game in town. Their position in the surgical robotic world is undeniable. They're an $18+ Billion company. "THEY" are the ones with a proven business model. They will not rest on past accomplishments as they are keenly aware of upcoming competition.
I was looking forward to TITAN rolling out next year as part of that growing business sector. Unfortunately that won't happen and so my focus has changed to the overall environment and who else is on the map at this point. Big let down financially and psychologically for all our friends here on the board but one has to adjust with the times.
Robs911- LOL I saw your post the other day and got a chuckle out of it. I'm lucky in that I have a great relationship with my surgical colleagues who invade my space on a regular basis.
RE: LTG and his insistence that TRXC is the wave of the future- I wish him good luck. He'll need it. I reviewed the video he posted and feel that for a company with developing technology that is not yet commercially available they are already obsolete when compared to both ISRG and TITAN. I don't see this being a serious consideration by any of my surgical colleagues for all the reasons everyone else here has already addressed.
TITAN or a TITAN like product is inevitable. My only question is who will will be the first the get it to market and what will the competition landscape be like? Samsung and other companies around the world are working on their own products we know little about. Samsung's mechanics are different as their mechanicals/robotics appear to be invested under the OR table which seems interesting and space saving. They could conceivably be either multi or single port.
ISRG has recently made training modules available for residency programs which is a very successful way to embed a product. It's business and they are good at it. I believe in TITAN's product but have great concern for management's disregard for it's investors who are not institutional. I think they are a ways off from institutional money and think this will bite them at some point which it already has.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-medical-centers-awarded-da-133000010.html
http://www.google.com/patents/US20040243147
Check out other patents at the bottom of this article
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11050705/iKnife-A-Surgical-Revolution-sniffing-out-cancer.html
This product as well as NVDQ will eventually be incorporated into robotic surgery.
CUIN2...I agree with your concerns re: Point. That concern was expressed by El Guapo Roboto immediately after he miraculously reappeared after TITAN tanked. I shared the same concern with EGR at that time. Although I believe most folks on here to be honest and concerned investors there are those who have hidden agendas which will never be apparent to us.
Only time is the wisest counselor that will answer the questions we all want answered. I don't trust TITAN management to provide any reliable information to us because of their past behavior. I believe we were both misinformed and information was withheld from us prior to Friday 1.5 weeks ago. That change in direction was not abruptly decided upon. I also don't trust an unknown "magnanimous" personality to go to bat for us.
Re: the salary of Paige Hargrove- She is a corporate employee and as such her salary is completely open to discussion. If nepotism makes some uncomfortable then that should have been thought out before she was hired. This is "business" not "personal" and as such that question is indeed appropriate.