Transcript of Interview with Jeffrey A Muller on CEOcast.com
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Save the World Air, Inc. (ZERO )
SAVE THE WORLD AIR, INC.
INTERVIEW DATE: 8/12/00
CEO: There has been a great deal of interest in the Zero Emission Euel Saving Device. Could you begin by giving an overview of the Company, and then we will get into the history of this unique device and the marketing strategy?
ZERO: Save the World Air originated from an existing shell. We haven’t done any secondary offerings as yet. We changed the name from the original company, which was Mandalay Capital Corp. to Save The World Air, Inc. in December of 1998, and then the symbol was changed to ZERO. We did a reasonably good job of getting the invention out to the public as far as trying to sell licenses for $5,000 each to 25,000 licensees to zip codes throughout the world, and also to sell major offerings for up to $10 million to different countries throughout the world.
CEO: How does the Zero Emission Fuel Saving Device work and how does it reduce toxic carbon monoxide levels?
ZERO: It works by breaking down the size of a droplet of fuel out of a microscope. The fuel measures approximately 760 microns. Our device gets it down to as low as 3 microns. The best fuel injection system in the world at the moment is one owned by BMW. It can only get it down to possibly 140 microns. So that’s why they have less emission, better torque, and much better fuel economy. We can get it down to as low as 3 microns, which is absolutely incredible. It creates more oxygen and much better burn, therefore less pollution, and better fuel economy and more torque.
CEO: The device was originally invented by Pro Hart. How did you acquire it, and what changes have you made since then?
ZERO: Quite a few years ago, Pro invented a device which reduced the molecule in the fuel and he sold it to me in 1997 from memory I believe that it was one of the most incredible inventions that I had ever seen. The only thing that was wrong with it was that it was not commercially viable because of the size of the actual unit itself. The original drawing for the first one was about as big as a set of bagpipes and then we got it down to about a shoe box, which was unfortunately too big to fit under the body of any motorcar and also it didn’t involve fuel injection, center port, a dual port, or multiport which we have now repatented. Our new company, Save The World Air, Inc., has a patent that covers all that, and it’s just been taken out a few months ago.
CEO: Is the patent pending or is it a firm patent?
ZERO: It’s a patent pending which gives international coverage for a minimum of 12 months up to 18 months, as a safety factor before anybody else could copy it. This will give us time to sell the rest of the licenses for the new invention to all the different countries in the world, hopefully, or as many as we possibly can in that time frame. We can have it out and sold before anybody can copy us.
CEO: How did Save The World Air, Inc. acquire the rights to this device from you?
ZERO: They issued me shares for the device, which was a simple transaction. It is on our website as far as the filings are concerned, in case anyone wants to take a look.
CEO: As the Company goes through the commercialization phase, what’s the strategy to license this?
ZERO: What we plan to do is to sell zip codes for a minimum of $5,000 each. If you have any listeners who have a mechanic in their area who would like to be a fitter of air device, we will give them one for free for suggesting their mechanic become a license holder.
CEO: How much does this device sell for?
ZERO: From as low as $195 to $495 for the bigger engines.
CEO: How long does it take to install?
ZERO: It takes about 3.5 minutes, but we say half-hour, to allow time for the mechanics and the engineers that are fitting it.
CEO: What kinds of results have you seen so far from the performance tests that have been done?
ZERO: We have tested this in most major continents around the world on several occasions. We tested it in Australia, Asia, America, England, and Europe. We have achieved the same results virtually every single time. We have reduced carbon monoxide levels from as high as 9.2 down to as low as 0.1. We tested a VW recently (which is used as a taxicab in many countries like Mexico and there is a new VW coming out which will be sold to Third World countries with VW carburated engines) and we got it down from 5.5 to 0.04 in carbon monoxide, which is absolutely incredible.
CEO: What were the results when you did a recent test in New York?
ZERO: We did several tests in New York. We did one for Fox Television to a potential audience of over 100 million people live in New York City on a main street. We did a Ford Mustang, which is a very big polluter, but still a very popular car in the States and throughout the world. It was about 5.3 or 5.5 to begin, and we got it down to about 0.15 in front of the entire audience live. This is available on our website. To take the risk to test the device live in front of up to 100 million people, you must know it works, and this definitely does work. We wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
CEO: What types of vehicles have this been tested on, and is it applicable to all types?
ZERO: It is applicable to all types. We tested it on Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, VW’s, and brand new Honda motorcycles. We had a 37% reduction on a brand new Honda motorcycle in New York City in front of the New York City police at the largest dealer in New York City, Motor Sport Honda. We don’t worry about which vehicle it is or what brand of vehicle it is. We treat the fuel, not the actual engine. So any engine that runs normal fuel, that is gasoline, can have the same results in reducing pollution and increasing fuel economy, and actually having more torque, too.
CEO: At what point is the fuel treated?
ZERO: Before it enters the engine. Once you have created carbon monoxide, you can’t get rid of it. This is why they have been on the wrong track in Japan and America for many, many years. They have been trying to reduce pollution with the exhaust. That should have been on the other end of the engine, stopping it from being created in the first place. That’s what we have done and what should have been done many, many years ago. Then, we wouldn’t have this trouble in New York, Mexico, Los Angeles, or any other major polluting countries in the world for that matter.
CEO: The Company was recently moved from the Bulletin Board to the Pink Sheets. What was the reason behind that, and what steps are you taking to get back on the Bulletin Board?
ZERO: Somebody wrote a very bad article on us for one of the biggest newspaper services in the world. We told the reporter that we had a patent pending worldwide and we did not need a patent in the United States. He put down that we did not have a patent in the United States and forgot to mention the other part. Also, the fact that he mentioned Ford was another factor. I told him that we had a tape from Ford who had contacted us. He reported exactly what I put on their press release. He didn't state that we had a tape and the fact that we had a fax from them asking us to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to doing any tests. They would not be doing that if they did not contact us.
CEO: What steps are you taking to get back on the Bulletin Board?
ZERO: That’s a major concern. We only need one market maker to put us back on. We would like to find a market maker that is, hopefully, not in a short position, which is a major concern. Then we will be rocking and rolling back to where we were before.
CEO: What kinds of challenges are presented by a small Company like yours, marketing a product like this with such potential global impact?
ZERO: It is a very, very big project to try to take on world marketing in one hit as you and your audience realize. We have started that now by putting on a good sales team in the United States, starting with San Diego. We also have one in Australia. Next week, I will be visiting several different countries in the Asian region to where I have been invited to discuss making this device compulsory. That would be a great help if we could pull it off.
CEO: When do you anticipate the first licensing agreement being signed and what would be the strategy beyond that?
ZERO: We have already signed one license here in Australia and we have several more that we are talking about making announcements for, once they are signed. We don’t want to say we are going to be signing licenses. We would rather sign the licenses and then make the announcements.
CEO: You mentioned that you had a license already signed in Australia. Who is that with, and how big an agreement is that?
ZERO: That’s only for one state, the biggest state in Australia, where the Olympic Games will be held. This is why we concentrated on that, so that we, hopefully, can make some rather big announcements coinciding with the Olympic Games concerning pollution. Since a lot of people will be visiting and watching the Olympic Games, we might be able to get a little bit of publicity from that being Australian and having the first license sold to the state where the Olympic Games are being held. That’s a good marketing strategy, I believe.
CEO: How big a contract is that?
ZERO: It was Australian $2.5 million, which runs about $1.5 million U.S.
CEO: You have traded as high as $14 but since then the share price has retreated. Why would you tell investors that this is an opportunity for them?
ZERO: The only reason I believe we went down is because we went up so fast. SCC had a look at us to make sure our claims were correct--deservedly so, we traded over 2 million shares two days in a row. That’s absolutely incredible for a Bulletin Board Company to have that much volume. So they had to have a look at us. Unfortunately, that scared a lot of people, especially those who were listening to a press journalist instead of coming to us and asking us for the proof first. Unfortunately, they suspended us first, and had a look later, which I think was unfortunate. In a way it’s going to be very beneficial. They have done a good job in checking into us and we have given them all the help and support by flying an engineer from Australia to have a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They also brought in about six engineers from the EPA to grill our engineer for over five hours. They would not allow us to trade until we proved our claims were correct and we are back trading, so that’s all we can say about that at the moment. At the price $2.50-3.00, I would like to be able to buy some shares myself if it was possible. |