OK Folks. As I write this I am half in the bag so you will have to excuse the extra dose of ignorance and "farmer bliss" that I normally lay on you all in the following string of words which are meant to come to carry meaning and which are supposed to arrive at a conclusion. So with your kind forgiveness, here goes:
1) Guess what? Pesticide companies produce chemicals - OF ALL KINDS! Ask Dow or Dupont!
2) If you, as a founder, wanted to walk away with as much of the company as you could, the Traditional Bank -> VC -> VC -> VC -> Investment Banker will get you LESS THAN 10% of the company by the time you are anointed by the NYSE. If you want more, you need to be creative. Gates and Allen were lucky, they had DEEP pockets and a legally deep father in Gate's dad. They got 24%.
3) The blueprint for the development and future and VC interest in this technology is presented in the Seattle newspaper article I posted (3X's) READ IT! It is exactly what JR is doing sans the VC link. (Thus far). IT IS REAL and... the USSE product is superior! And the marketplace is HUNGRY to provide capital.
4) How is the pathway: SHELL-> MM (Wholesaler) -> SHARE PRICE ADVANCE -> COMPANY RECEIVES CAPITAL -> WHOLESALER LENDS MONEY - any different than: IPO -> MERRILL, BEAR STERNS, MORGAN STANLEY, JP MORGAN, GOLDMAN SACHS (Who taKe 10% of the deal for "arranging it" + commissions) -> COMPANY RECEIVES CAPITAL -> INVESTMENT BANKS line up to provide fixed income financing (read LEND) later on?
IT IS THE SAME DAM* GAME fer crissakes!
5) At least one Wall Street firm suggested today that the price of OIL will reach $80 again by Q3 of 2007. Many of the smartest businessmen you talk to will agree that dependence on traditional hydrocarbon - petroleum products is not in the long-term interest of the US. Further, the political will - on both sides of the aisle - is clearly in favor of favorable tax treatment and direct contribution for bio-fuels. I liken it to the government push to favor home buying just after WWII. It is a freight train which is just gaining critical mass and momentum.
The bottom line is whether the company, after creating a capital structure, has a solid business plan, a good product, and a bit of luck! This is what investors are betting on. And that is the case irrespective of the way you get there.
Remember, Gates built Microsoft by buying an existing operating system down the street from his office for $40,000! There is a whole lot more in place behind USSE.
Catch USse if you can!
Deefecate or get off the pot fer' crissakes!
JL
