From the Los Alamos Monitor, Sunday May 30, 1999:
Marvin Maslow's Manhattan Scientifics Inc, helps entrepreneurs
In 1997, local entrepreneur Robert Hockaday searched for an investor who would offer him $1 so that he could convince his wife that someone is interested in investing in his micro-fuel cell invention.
After 31 presentations, the man who finally handed him that dollar offered an additional $999,999. Marvin Maslow, a transplanted New York merchant banker, who now spends equal time between Manhattan and his adopted home of Santa Fe, knew a good opportunity when he saw it. Hockaday's vision, to design an alcohol-powered, refillable, long-lasting and clean micro-fuel cell was precisely the venture opportunity that Maslow hoped for.
Robert Hockaday works on his micro-fuel cell invention. The Los Alamos inventor's work has been made possible through Manhattan Scientifics, Inc. founded by Marvin Maslow. MSI helps provide money for technological innovations.
Following a process of investigation and due diligence, Maslow formed Manhattan Scientifics Inc. to provide Hockaday with $1 million and one year to develop “proof of principle prototypes.” This summer, Hockaday's company, Energy Related Devices, and MSI will unveil the first of those prototypes to an anxiously awaiting audience. To date, nearly every major manufacturer of portable communication devices has contacted the company with interest in a technology that could revolutionize their industries.
The pace of company investment and development has been swift. Within four months, Maslow had a public company, funded with the first $1 million in investment capital. The initial employees were already occupying their new laboratory facility at East Gate Park in Los Alamos, and the company's stock was being traded on Nasdaq's OTC Bulletin Board marketplace under the trading symbol MHTX. With demonstrated interest in Manhattan's shares on Wall Street, Maslow was able to effectively raise an additional $1 million in working capital reserves.
Maslow was able to coordinate this rapid movement through a process he calls "guerrilla financing." Because of the rapid development of technology, Maslow believes that the traditional model of venture funding to be too cumbersome and slow.
“Today, technology is moving so quickly that these young scientists don't have the time for (the regular process of) venture financing,” said Maslow. “The greatest fear is that someone else out there is simultaneously inventing the same thing.”
Maslow feels he can reduce that risk by accelerating the capital financing process. Feeling that most young entrepreneurs are independent-minded and prefer control of their own corporations, Maslow decided to create MSI as a technology incubator.
“Our goal is to enrich the opportunity of the inventor through royalties and personal enrichment,” said Maslow. Providing Hockaday's company as an example, Maslow said, “Manhattan Scientifics (OTC: BB: MHTX) trades at 250% over its original issue price last year.”
Maslow has started, financed or merged more than 20 enterprises. He began his career in New York City with a company that manufactured embroidered logos. In 1982, after starting several successful companies in various industries, Maslow initiated his relationship with high technology when he partnered with a family member of one of the very large oil-wire-logging technology companies. Since that partnership, Maslow has steadily built his technology portfolio.
“Discovering” New Mexico 11 years ago while on vacation with his wife, Marlene, Maslow was quick to fall under its spell and bought a home in Santa Fe. Maslow's relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory had its origins during early morning walks with his Santa Fe neighbor and former LANL Materials Science Division leader, Donald Sandstrom.
Sandstrom and Maslow developed a friendship that resulted in Maslow meeting several other high level LANL employees, including former lab director Sigfried Hecker. At the time, LANL leadership was concerned about accelerating the pace of private technology transfer in order to develop a source of income independent of government funding.
Soon, Maslow was invited by the laboratory's tech transfer group to be introduced to a number of entrepreneurial opportunities. It was during one of these hearings in November 1997 that Maslow was introduced to Hockaday. By January 1998, Maslow had created Manhattan Scientific Inc. (named after the Los Alamos-based Manhattan Project) to serve as an incubator for technologies with commercial promise. MSI achieves this through what their literature describes as a “a cooperative effort of skilled scientific expertise, resourceful management and aggressive capitalization.”
In layman's terms, MSI coordinates resources to assist the entrepreneur and ensure that the new company has the best shot at succeeding. Maslow describes his existing contacts and resources as a “quiver full of arrows” that he can use to help a burgeoning business. Some of those “arrows” include experts in the fields that are needed to bring the developed technology into the marketplace.
One such expert, recently brought in by Maslow to help in Hockaday's micro fuel cell development, was industrial designer Jeff Smith. Smith and his company Lunar Designs in Palo Alto, Calif., were recently featured on the cover of Inc. magazine for a story titled, “How to Grow Rich in America.” Smith's specialty is developing industrial designs that are consumer friendly, something that will play a significant role in the success of Hockaday's invention.
Along with coordinating experts in their respective fields, Maslow has assembled an impressive gathering of professionals to serve as MSI's science advisory board: Donald Sandstrom, Santa Fe Institute and Los Alamos National Bank founder George A. Cowan; former publisher of Venture magazine Arthur Lipper; and the former chief of research and development at Motorola, Marty Cooper. Day to day activities will be managed by Jack Harrod, a 32 year veteran technologist from Texas Instruments and Manhattan's chief operating officer.
In addition to company's fuel cells, Manhattan Scientifics is currently involved in developing a holographic storage technology called HoloStor. Originally developed at the Microelectronic Computer Company's research consortium in Austin, Texas, HoloStor will allow for the storage of holographic data for use with high-speed data storage devices. Maslow acquired the technology for Manhattan Scientifics and moved the development activity to Los Alamos for completion in close cooperation with LANL through a cooperative research and development agreement. Manhattan holds an extensive patent portfolio covering a wide range of concepts from optical design to media chemistry.
In addition, Maslow is constantly on the lookout for entrepreneurs and new technology with commercial potential. Maslow plans to advertise in the near future in search of Internet entrepreneurs in the community. In investigating a new technology or company, Maslow feels that among the most important things to review are the people involved. Does the entrepreneur have the drive and perseverance to successfully bring the product to market? Vision, creativity and fortitude of the individual entrepreneurs are all traits that Maslow will consider when evaluating a company.
Most recently, MSI has been negotiating with the lab on a highly developed and potentially revolutionary filter technology. If the company is awarded the exclusive rights to the consumer applications of this technology, Maslow will then partner with an industry leader and expert in that technical field to bring the developed products to market.
Maslow does not envision MSI having large production factories scattered around the state to produce the new products they develop. Rather, MSI would maintain research labs and small production facilities in northern New Mexico that would produce the key components of the technologies.
Much of these technologies, Maslow hopes, will be cooperatively developed with the technology transfer office of LANL and the local intellectual capital that is prevalent in Los Alamos. Once a technology has been demonstrated as commercially feasable, Manhattan Scientifics will emphasize cooperative manufacture, marketing and product distribution with strategic partners.
The son of Russian immigrants, Maslow believes he is “living the American Dream.” With his company, he hopes to help other local entrepreneurs do the same.
|
