Open letter to Kevin Moriarty,
Sir I met you at pre listing info night in Sydney. I went in optimistic and walked out still optimistic but also now very aware of a very real weakness facing 1414 experiencing ‘quick’ success. I also walked out leaning towards investing after listing as I now saw the strong potential for a drop in SP. Regardless I supported with a substantial IPO investment. When the initial IPO was undersubscribed my initial concerns were verified and i strongly considered pulling out but decided to stay in and support the company rather than being over opportunistic plus I had additional cash to invest incase of the very real chance of a drop below listing price. Well we all now how it went and with mixed feelings I also picked up a decent chunk at 23c plus of course the Op's
I would like to say: Kevin you are clearly a highly intelligent man and capable leader. You have amazing foresight and a skill set from years in the mining industry. You are rock solid and provide stable and highly valuable leadership. I congratulate you on getting the company and this comparatively fledgling tech this far. With you at the head my investment dollars feel safe…..kinda like depositing money in a bank account…but here in-lies the problem. I want my investment dollars buzzing with this amazing technology and worldwide potential we have in our hands and which you foresaw before most of us.
This leads me to the weakness I (and others) saw in the pre listing presentation and which just keeps getting re-iterated in interviews like the one with Alan Kohler on the ‘Constant Investor’ (i will include the link below). Don’t get me wrong you are not bad at 'spruiking the wares' you are just not great at it. And this is one area we need truely great! 1414 needs a real salesman/spokesperson but an authentic one as we have an authentic product. Even in the Kohler interview he was confused many times as you did not succinctly make your points and he’s a smart guy. Your attempt in the interview to compare 1414 with Lithium was one example - where you end with “you would have to say a battery (lithium) was the thing of choice” not only is it not the way to end an argument that 1414 was optimal it also wasn’t even true from many perspectives! (And i have substantial investments in the resource side of lithium batteries') Kevin I find you often getting lost in your train of thought again diverting from point to point. You really need to smash home your points with singularity and clarity because 1414 has so many amazing benefits. Selling 1414 should be a no brainer. We need a spokesperson who is more singular and succinct in their delivery. Kevin I really feel you and I can see you are considering too many options at once when answering a question. Consequently it mostly reads as unsure, confused and potentially risky to people (new investors) who don't know you and all your great quality’s and are evaluating (often done in a quick fashion) the company.
Kevin I respect you so much and really hope you lead the company to its eventual world wide potential - you have done an amazing job to get the company this far - but please realise that time is against us (especially when it comes to leveraging world wide potential) we need to move fast as even though there are no ‘real’ direct competitors right now …we all know the old adage ’the only constant is change’. Yes the development of the test units etc all takes time (and I love this stable, safe path you ensure 1414 treads in this area) but the POTENTIAL of 1414 needs to be communicated much further into the future to raise more funds, get more industry interest at a faster more dominant pace.
You can’t be good at everything and with this insight I believe we need to hire and spend the money on a spokesperson for the company… no i’m not expecting a Steve Jobs (though wow imagine if we found someone with the confidence and spoken word skills!) But we need to find someone and soon or we will keep missing opportunities. Maybe one of the initial investors, pre listing, who get the the company and tech might be up for the gig…there has to be someone!
I will send this letter to the company as well as put it on Hotcopper. I invite all responses. Maybe i’m way off the mark? However with many many successful years in the advertising industry in all areas (production and brand strategy) development for products tells me i’m on point . I just ask, for ALL our benefit, you consider my observation and suggestion.
Yours sincerelyAdrian Brown
https://omny.fm/shows/the-constant-investor/dr-kevin-moriarty-1414degrees?fbclid=IwAR1QxaoimbdBK6j5Ph9fZVrk9ZLplDsxcBTWFIWWB5ljNPuJ0FWTXtUTpIs
