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We are all so anxious because most of us have lost so much. We are all angry about the company not sharing info with us... but really none of us want to face the fact that there may really be nothing to tell.
General surgeon. I love Titan, although I sound critical. I attended 2016 AGM. I have lost 80% of my investment (on paper anyway). I am long Titan, I won't tell you how many shares I own, but suffice to say it takes 2 commas to write it. ; )
They are a world class facility and have contractually agreed to let us use a small part or their facility, nothing more. Dr Patel more closely approximates what this board thinks he is, a thought leader willing to endorse Titan, or it seemed that way
I have taken 2 courses at Nicholson. One ethicon, one applied medical. They have multiple "ballrooms" and training labs and can run multiple training conferences at the same time...for a fee. They do not pass judgement or endorse any product ( it would destroy their business model). They are polite and accommodating to their clients (the device manufacturer). They are also discrete and do not allow surgeons to wander around or see what else is on site.
Makes you feel a little less special, huh? I guess there are not enough surgical robots for the Nicholson to be too picky.
I get that speculating isn't necessarily helpful, but I just put myself on that conference call to see if I can get to that result. "Hey guys, this is McNally. I know our distribution deal is gone and we owe you $2,000,000, but if we have to come up with this money, no one wins. Our last offering didn't fill, and this represents 30% of all cash we have. If we can swap for shares with warrants, this makes you the biggest shareholder. " "david son, we are not bad people, but we could have bought those on the open market had we desired to do so. We need some control over how this thing goes...throw in ???? (a board seat maybe and reinstitute the distribution rights) and we will consider this a done deal. " that's what I would have said to mr mcnally
Wonder why we didn't just give the money back months ago? I mean the press release leaves no ambiguity, the distribution deal was over. Long tai is a Canadian subsidiary, if they wanted shares and warrants, they could have just bought them during this offering. What concessions did McNally give to convince them to let us release the 2 million in escrow in exchange for shares? Not trying to be negative, Just doesn't quite add up
China accepts US FDA approval. We won't have to "run the Chinese gauntlet " once approved here. It would seem unlikely to try approval there before here. Long tai is a share holder, but not a distributor. Hargrove then McNally abandoned the deal because the Chinese wanted 6 prototypes up front and wanted to build Asian sports in their manufacturing affiliate. We would have had no quality control and reverse engineering with production of their own "Chinese Sport" was a real concern. We had already signed with plexus who has Asian production facilities. This was a personal communication with executives at the 2016 AGM
At the very least when j&j/verb do announce, all those questions by Titan shareholders will be answered
What if Verb is not ready to go to market anyway. What if Verb had your back all along and said "we need your FDA approved machine by 2019, play with the mechanisms, and get the patents, all we need now is the prototype to start working the bugs out of our software". It doesn't matter how many outstanding shares there are or even what price they trade at, we don't care. We just don't want a direct line drawn to us, at any cost. We will sort it all out in the back side with our infinite technical, financial, and business resources.
Agreed. We can only hope that the uncertainty we have endured will be handsomely rewarded. Otherwise, we're just being dicked around.
This not a different than any other of the significant connections Titan has. For whatever reason, the powers that be don't want we investors to be able to draw straight lines. My personal belief is that there are significant corporate synergies occurring, but I have only blank spaces that make no sense instead of direct evidence. It has (correctly) led to volumes of speculation in this board. I take Mr McNally at his word. Dr Patel is "involved".
Bankruptcy is court ordered protection from debt...I don't know how many times we have pointed out, Titan has NO debt. Zero, nada, zilch. So why would we seek protection in bankruptcy court again? Now we could go to zero : )
Nice find!
Don't worry, they aren't scaring me
End of the year. It is tongue in cheek, of course. But I can envision this mythological type machine with 17 snake arms writhing wildly in seemingly random movements and 15 minutes later, out of a trochar pops a gallbladder
Verb must have asked for more snake arms on its new version of the Titan robot "The Medusa"
Design freeze is the next significant milestone. It's signifies completion of usability studies. Based on previous timelines that could be as early as FDA -6 months. I'll take design freeze 6-8 months
Thank you
Wonder how many shares Dr Fowler has purchased
we don't all know what it is, so...what is it?
for me at 55, the potential i see makes it worth the risk of adding 3-5 years to my working life. but everyone must make that determination for themselves. if you have a long horizon (greater than 10 years) and have the earning potential to replace what you lose if it goes to zero, i would say 10-20% of your portfolio (provided other holdings are not as speculative SPY etc...) could be in Titan. 30% is as much as i would risk. although we believe it to be vastly superior, execution is almost, if not more, important as the product.
wish i could. he was so convinced and convincing at the AGM, i would have followed him to bagdad after talking to him. why would i leave?
1) done all i can do, need more expertise for the next stage of development
2) done with this non-sense. get me the money to finish or i'm gone
3) i have stage 4 colon cancer on my colonoscopy, i love you guys, but don't bother calling me
4) totally disagree with the direction you fools are going
5) i have ignored the potential of my own company to help you guys, so wish me well
i wish i knew more, my fellow company owners. i posted all i knew to be factual (or at least what i was told by our executives) back then. i have speculated in the past based on what i would do if i were running the company. that has not served me well as my expectations far exceeded what i saw happening.
25 million to get through the next 6 mos, that should be no problem given where we are in development... but it seems to be a problem. are we still developing? have we been halted? if i were boss and i announced to the world we were shutting down 8/31/2016, i would be CROWING to anyone who would listen that i had secured funds and we were still a going concern. so...???
a hand shake must be done... how else can you explain the relative indifference administration has toward the market and investors. if that is so, now would be the time for them to step forward, i would say we are a bargain basement deal right now. so...???
i have owned several disparate businesses (not all successful) but i can't for the life of me reconcile all i see with Titan.
i anticipated making 5-10 times my initial investment when the company was sold. i also intended to hold on to the 0.1 shares/share of titan in the new company i received in the transaction. tidy, eh? so...???
a completed, turn-key, true next generation, surgical robot with patents, moving any acquirer to the front of the line. that should be worth 1 billion?, 2 billion? so...???
now hoping its all worth 375 million so those of you at 2.50/share are at least made whole.
i am discouraged...and still hopeful...and intend to hold on. if i lose all i have in Titan i will have to work until 68-70 instead of 65. sorry i don't know more
i was told at the AGM by senior executives that long tai asked for 6 units as a stipulation to their investment. Titan refused for fear of reverse engineering (yes, long tai is not only a distributor, but also has manufacturing plants). i have been "locked out" on information since then, so i don't know the status of that negotiation. don't know if that has anything to do with that "deal" being delayed. just thought you may be interested to know. by the way, i read you guys every day, and still own all of my shares. my initial exuberance has been replaced by more realistic expectations. yes, we do have a superior machine (for what that is worth)
the real update we need now is "where will the roughly 58 million dollars it takes to get finished in 18-24 months come from?"
i agree.
dr fowler spoke of this at the AGM and said thats why they chose Plexus. i didn't grasp exactly what he meant (not a computer guy) when he stated "Plexus was the only manufacturing partner capable of fully automating these processes" the ones you speak of. it's a huge time and money saving deal to be able to run these checks and cross checks without human error/interference.
those are all plexus people who are taking over (per AGM). thats where the $58,000,000 is going.
makes me feel better to hear you say that (whether true or not) i have always felt that this was an "engineered" project. the pieces just needed to be put in place at the appropriate times by management. that would explain managements actions/inactions up to this point. never thought they were incompetent or dishonest. any new speculation on who "shook our hand"? won't hold you to it, just curious to hear your thoughts.
agreed. press releases are "free press coverage" why wouldn't you seek all the exposure you could get?
1)ashamed of what you are doing
2)it's illegal
3)assume that everyone who needs to know, already knows all about you.
4)the deal is already done...you are not interested in any more suitors
if we are going it alone, 18 mos before FDA submission is not too soon to start buzz with media blitzes. what other reasons are there for not seeking the spotlight if you really feel you have the superior product?
it's definitely "the kool-aid" but that does not necessarily mean it's wrong. i am clearly a believer. nice find, and thanks
fidelity magellan had an annualized average return of over 20% for the decades of the 70's and 80's. however, 60% of people who held during that time period lost, yes lost, money (source peter lynch). how? bought on the way up. what could go wrong... blood in the streets... sold for a loss. of the 10 best companies to have owned during that past 2 decades, 80% lost 50% of their value at least 10 times, and 40% lost 75% of their value at least 4 times (source morgan hounsel). Titan $2.50 down 75% to .64. are we geniuses? are we grabbing at a falling knife? i wish i were smart enough to turn over money like you suggested, i am not.
agreed. should be shared. i just wanted to clarify what i was told vs what i think. i don't want to mislead anyone with my comments
i don't know that they turned down a formal offer (they did not share any company specifically with me). Mr Hargrove said there were several companies who have expressed "real interest". i don't know if that means "wow, i wish we had your machine and patents" or due diligence for a true buyout. comments from company execs and board members it seems to be somewhere between the two. i choose to believe them, although many of you don't.
here is what i think, sources cited:
1. We need roughly $58,000,000 USD to get to market.
2. Plexus is under contract with Titan to complete the engineering of market ready SPORTs and set up the manufacturing assembly line (source Fowler). I don't think they are "pitching in" any money. i think this contract is most of the $58,000,000 needed to be market ready (source me, no one has mentioned cash infusion from Plexus. Why would they? they are a fee for service contract provider of engineering and manufacturing services, why would they pay to manufacture our machine?).
3. The company making the disposable instrument tips is a US based firm, not ethicon (source Mr Hargrove). they also will not be "pitching in" but are a fee for service provider who we have contracted with (source me, again, why would they pay us to manufacture our parts?)
4. We have assembled a sales force replete with ISRG sales personnel (source AGM, web site). i do not know why Titan is gathering these people as i do not believe Titan ever intended to market SPORT themselves (either i am wrong, possible, or they are creating a turn-key operation to be sold to the highest bidder)
5. Long Tai is not only a distributor, but also has manufacturing plants in China and wishes to fabricate SPORTs in their own facility without our quality control oversight. Plexus, who we have contracted with, also has manufacturing plants in the orient and are exceedingly strict in their manufacturing standards and quality controls (source Mr Hargrove and Dr Fowler).
6. China's FDA accepts our FDA rulings. We will likely not release in China until after US FDA approval (source Mr Hargrove) Unless you change Titans directors enough that the "new crew" agrees to this.
7. CE mark is a separate process for the European Union. you can actually "self-approve" but most companies with complex products (us) hire a contractor to help get through the process (source my due diligence from the CE mark website). we are using a UK based application. how does brexit affect us...i don't know.
8. FDA submission is a big deal because it is usually the final step and suggests a company has a completed, marketable product. we MAY see a bump in share price at that point (maybe a double), but not a huge uptick i suspect.
9. Mr Hargrove and Dr. Fowler will both retire upon FDA approval and sale of Titan. Both will be 70 in 2 years (source Mr Hargrove and Dr Fowler) their goal was to get SPORT to that point. i don't think you have to worry about whether they will "botch" the marketing. the next owner of SPORT will be the one responsible for that phase.
10. unless a company agrees to buy Titan outright now, assume the financial burden to complete the project, and then market SPORT, we will be diluted to raise $58,000,000 cash needed to finish the pre-market phase (an additional 89,230,769 shares at .65/share USD, source me)
11. So will share price drop? as long as we are completing the pre-market phase alone, i think it will. unless our marketing firm convinces mr. market or some private venture money that we are the next best thing (or at least a "viable thing" source me).
12. honestly, i consider my investment dead money until FDA approval and the company is sold in 18-24 months (source me "hopeful, but i think realistic")
i looked at the web site to see if we had anything there. we were not a sponsor, did not seem to have a booth, but i noticed dr fowler is on the advisory committee
i don't think you have to worry about that. they never intended for titan to take this to market. it will be handed off and mr hargrove and dr fowler will then re-retire
i do know that there has been an offer to purchase pre-FDA approved machines. mr hargrove's objection was that the machines would be reverse engineered, subsequently mass produced to a lower and cheaper standard (cutting us out) and sold in less regulated markets. ultimately leading to loss of these markets to our future sales and the presence of an inferior SPORT clone dragging our reputation down.