I think it's probably negative that Nathan Harding isn't sticking around as a Board of Directors member after stepping down as CEO. Most of the time I believe it's a general sign of unhappiness from the rest of the board to see to it that someone is completely removed.
There are always exceptions and the reason he is leaving could possibly be to the company's advantage even if they had liked him and appreciated his previous work, but less likely.
I think Nathan was 100% smarter about the technical details and mechanics compared to Tom, but Tom's masters in business will let him navigate the investor world with more ease and put those mechanics to work. Definitely a trade off, but at this point the technology is already more advanced and the patents have been built up - so now it's time to leverage the IP into sales and media attention and Tom will have an advantage there.
I would have viewed Tom's replacing Nathan as a slight positive (fresh eyes, new angles, different friends and contacts, etc) if it were not for Nate departing from the Board. This negative is slightly counteracted by the nice severance package given to Nathan (although this could have been set up when he was hired, I'm not sure and will research into this issue more)
Regardless of who is CEO, it's a good thing to see the board get hungry for sales. Also, the stock doesn't seem to have been hurt by the change of leadership. I'm personally disappointed they didn't keep Nate longer, but sometimes interpersonal skills outweigh intelligence.
My hope is that Russdon (Russ) Angold is nominated as a replacement CEO. I really like his personality and he is technically skilled as well. There is also the added bonus of the fact that he co-founded the company, so it's his baby.
