Driftin:
It seems we agree on the problem I guess I see it as more serious than you do. For all the talents I imagine and hope Tom O'Mara to have he is but a single Board member on a Board that meets quarterly. I think it is a lot to expect that he is going to single handedly infuse a sense of urgency along with the skills to get products to market. I have spent my entire career in the high tech industry and while my background is in software and computer hardware I can't help but see a great deal of similarities. I don't question for a moment that Mark and the Board want to get products to market and see revenue begin to flow. It's just that they want to do a lot of other things at the same time that represent the reward system in the climate that they came from: publishing of scientific papers, attendance and speaking at conferences, recognition by their scientific peers for the work they do, etc. Deadlines, contracts, revenue generation are all in the mix but they are not the focus. The Board is made up of retired scientists (all in their mid seventies and older). How do you think their priorities and urgency to get a revenue generating product to market compares to the 30 something shareholder on this board who has (perhaps somewhat foolishly) devoted fifty percent of his investment funds to this stock with the conviction it is going to fund his childerns education and make for a comfortable retirement? I believe the two are quite different.
Put another way (perhaps somewhat inperfectly) expecting a scientist to have the skill sets and focus of an experienced entrepreneurial MBA is a bit like asking a carpenter to install the plumbing in your house. It is likely going to get done but not with the efficiency or elegance, or cost savings that the experienced plumber would bring to the job.
