Kim
Thanks for the note. I think most on this thread would agree with your description of investing in R&D companies. I also think most understand the volatility and don't want Naxos to rush to conclusion and agree thoroughness is need. The issue I have with your comments is you seem to be missing what I believe is the real issue. The real issue is not how quickly events will take place but rather are events taking place in the relative timeframes expected?
The question of timeframes and milestones has been asked many times in various forms. The standard response has been that a process such as this takes time since it is scientific by nature and a new process, therefore it can not be measured against plans and timeframes. While such a response may sound good, IMHO it is completely inaccurate. Let me explain me reasoning.
I work for one of the largest business management and technology consulting firms and focus most of my work in the product development arena with both large and small companies. Most of my clients face similar problems to that of Naxos. They design and build custom solutions (components, silicon chips, etc) for their clients and consistently have difficulty meeting their commitment dates because the companies believe they can not define and measure the progress of "creativity" or in Naxos' case "scientific development". While clients often believe this to be true, I have seen countless examples of these same clients gaining control of their development by laying out schedules, timeframes and contingency plans and then holding people accountable for executing and meeting the schedules. The KEY to their success is MANAGEMENT DEDICATION to project management and all that goes along with it (e.g., schedules, risk mitigation, contingency planning, etc). I am not trying to imply that Naxos management is not doing this, just that if they are they are not releasing any information on the KEY milestone dates. This lack of key milestone dates results in incorrect expectations and therefore concern over the progress.
In an effort to assist in any way that I can, I have put together a strawcase of milestones as an example. While these milestones and dates are not necessarily correct, I hope they can serve as an example of how easy it would be to set proper timeframe expectations.
1. First assays from the new labs ---> 2/15 - 2/28
2. Continuing assays from all the labs ---> Monthly
3. Platinum results ---> 3/15 - 3/31
4. Signing of the J/L agreement ---> 2/28
5. Resolution with ASC ---> 1st Quarter
6. Signing up a venture group ---> Mid 2nd Quarter
7. Listing of the stock on an exchange ---> End 2nd Quarter
8. Interim pilot plant ---> End of April
9. Full pilot plant ---> July
As always, thank you for your attention and response.
MD |
