Hi all,
we are still travelling and I don't seem to be getting time to settle and put my thoughts together in a meaningful way atm - but, I thought I would post at least a bit of an update on our meeting with Robb Read and Josh Swinnerton recently.
First up - both men attended our meeting as previously arranged and didn't need any prompting or reminding.
Believe me - this is a tick for management in our opinion - not all companies are good at this sharing with shareholders and interested parties.
We met where the business is run from and we could see several staff working in an open space - whilst we met in a meeting room off that space. We were attended to by a couple of staff at first - treated with courtesy and respect and waited only a short time before Robb appeared with Josh following a while later.
Both Robb and Josh seemed very open to our queries and explained their positions in detail on each area of the discussion.
I will say at this point - that, although I have thought for many weeks that this product is good - albeit with a few questions about how will it work - my/our main concerns and queries were towards - the people who are charged with making the 'idea' work - because - you can have the best widget in the world - but, if the people who are in the company can't cut the mustard - then, nothing is going anywhere.
It takes a very special group of people to make any company work - in the early stages - and at any stage at all - to work well.
Let's be frank here - what is trying to be achieved here is new - no one has got a system like this to work so far - there have been several try - and several are out there now - but, no one so far has cracked the nut.
Can MDR? -------------- Don't know. In the end, I think we both feel that MDR as it is, has probably the best chance of doing so.
Robb and Josh - we believe actually work together very well - they are both honest in that they are well aware that all is in uncharted waters - and they are fully aware that they will try many things - some will work and some will not.
There was a basic honesty there that I didn't expect - and, a basic willingness to come up with ideas - throw them around - have the guts to have a go at them - and, most importantly - if they failed - to get over it and get on with the next best idea.
That's pretty good in my book.
We also explored areas from past management and business experiences of both men - where they (hopefully) had learnt lessons to try things in future in a different way when things didn't go as well as they could have -------- ie. when things went pearshaped - what did they learn from those experiences.
First up - there was nothing hidden that we could see. Realisation that things were done that could have been done better - AND, personal accountability was expressed. To both of us - that is a very big plus.
Everyone makes mistakes - but, not all learn from the experience - and the worst possible - is that some just won't admit to being part of the problem.
Not so here. Both men realise that they can learn along the way and that they have in their past done things in ways that they will do quite differently in future.
As to the business itself -- well, I had hoped that medicare would be a part of the picture - and perhaps part of the picture in the near future -
well, - it's not - it's that simple. Too hard, too much effort with too little chance of reward. Again - I was impressed with the way Robb answered my question on medicare ------------ no stuffing around, no excuses - just told us the story - right up front.
As to GP link - Josh spoke of some anecdotal evidence that suggested that the takeup of GP link AND the GP's actually using the service - sounds very very positive.
I was concerned with what Krusty commented on a few weeks back with GP's needing to have a consultation with their patient every 6 months - and, that would possibly hamper the usage of the system of GP's providing new scripts by using the $20 dollar service - with 15 bucks going to the doctor and 5 bucks coming to MDR ------------------- indeed, I thought the concerns were quite legitimate.
However - it seems that about 2/3rds of GPs say they will be happy to use the service for about 20% of their patients who are long term users of medications that the only reason those patients appear in the waiting rooms and surgeries is to get new scripts.
So, regardless of whether we think it is the right thing to do or not ------------- the GP's are saying that they are happy to do it - and, as investors and owners of the business - that is all that counts.
The speed of the rollout will, of course be crucial - and, we are happy to sit back (my partner and I) and see what happens here - I guess we shall know by the end of the year.
My feeling is that once the GP takeup gets some traction - and more pharmacies come on line - the growth of the pace of the land grab will increase - probably sharply -- but, really, only a crystal ball will tell - at least for a while.
One thing that did come up was the commitment of people within the company - and Robb said that some of the staff were with MDR because they can see that is going to make things a lot better for a lot of people - ie. they hope to forge a better world.
My personal take on both Robb and Josh is that I believe Robb loves the company and thinks the idea is great - but, Josh - the love is the product - it is his baby, he of course has the business in his heart - but, the passion is the baby. Both of them think that the service will make lives better and the product will make things simpler for people.
I could personally add there that IMO - using MDR not only makes life simpler - but, I also believe 'safer' - much safer.
If Robb can manage to take the staff on a quest (which is the way I would do it) - take them to battle - to make a far better world for people - in other words - get ALL of the staff on board passionately - then, IMO - a small dedicated group of passionate people - can make huge changes - basically, anything is possible.
We all agreed that what MDR is attempting to do here ------------------- WILL be done. If MDR doesn't do it -------- someone else will - that it will be done is not up for grabs.
To me - from what else I see around - I believe MDR is the best horse in the race atm.
In this space - this type of product - the only protection you have is to - do it - do it well, probably roll it out fast and keep the goal of looking after each stakeholder in the equation at the front of your mind - ie. never lose sight of who should benefit from this service.
That's a big ask - particularly for heading into uncharted waters - but, the rewards will be pretty solid if MDR can pull it off - and, if they can even halfway pull it off - it makes it very difficult for others to attack as a competitor.
As to expansion ----------- again, I like their thinking - they have no pie in the sky ideas of conquering the whole world - they have a well grounded thinking process of the sort of market that this product can work in - and they don't fantasise that they can easily go outside of those bounds.
This positions the company for a very solid future - but, not an unrealistic - the sky is the limit style of thinking.
Both my partner and I did see some holes that will require work - and, I won't delve into them here - but, Parsifal (my partner) is recognised as being well versed in many of these fields and will write some feedback for Robb in the future when we get time to fully digest all of this.
At this stage though - we are both quite happy with how things are going for this very early stage investment.
this is about all I have time for atm
have a great day all
Pinto
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