Hi Chris,
Six months has passed since you replied to me with the following.
Since then we have had a SPP at a 15 percent discount intended to reward shareholders at 3.3 cents. In response to your request for more funds, I put in $25,000. In just three months the Share Price has been as low as 1.3 cents.
You now want a further Capital Raise, without shareholder participation, at a 20 percent discount, which may well be at a price less than a cent the way things are going, will cause massive dilution and destruction of shareholder wealth. I put my life savings into your company as I am sure your technology is a winner, but I am 70 per cent down.
I note that salaries remain the same, high cash burn rate and no revenue, share price manipulation caused the share price to drop and the second CR has been the final straw.
Whilst Mr Lekkas may well have taken you public, the Convertible Note has been a complete disaster, and the Share Price has fallen from 6.2 cents when he was appointed to its current level of 1.4/1.5 cents today.
Even Claudio Ranieri lost his job months after winning the English Premiership with Leicester City.
Leicester were faciing relegation when they replaced Ranieri, and they turned the ship around very dramatically.
Many of the long term shareholders have sold at a loss. Most remaining are solidly in the red. Almost everyone is of the agreement that the Convertible Note, advertised as being at a premium, has been a complete disaster.
Further, almost everyone is in agreement that the share price would get a bounce simply by asking Mr Lekkas to leave. He has become a liability.
Most people wonder why we need a CEO AND an MD for a start up company with an astronomical wage bill.
On behalf of the readers of HotCopper, I ask you whether Mr Lekkas still enjoys the unwavering backing you gave to him six months ago?
I also ask for permission to post your reply on Hot Copper..
Yours sincerely
Arthur Galletly
Hello Arthur,
Thank you for your communication.
The current business plan involves making strategic acquisitions that are a good fit for Xped’s IoT ambitions, have good growth potential and bring early revenue also to engage with strategic partners such as Telink, Intel, Microsoft and others and use their sales forces to drive our BD. This strategy is designed to bring early revenue, keep costs down and give Xped the time to finalize its product developments and get some deals in the bag.
The issue of incentives for executives is a tricky one.
In the case of Athan as the CEO, his job is to deliver on finding the right people, the right strategic and funding partners, the right acquisitions and putting in place the money required to make it possible. So far he has delivered on this in spades. As you know he was responsible the JCT acquisition, secured a collaboration agreement with Telink, attracted Dr. Wenjun Sheng (Chairman and CEO of Telink Semi-conductor), executed a licensing agreement with Telink, set up all of the JVs with Complex Semiconductor. Athan also jointly managed and ensured our relationship with Intel flourished, he convinced Marty to leave a secure highly payed job at Intel, raising roughly $12m and the list goes on. Athan is a core to the current and future success of Xped. He deserves to be incentivised for what he has achieved so far and to keep him running at this pace.
I have read some of the posts on Hot Copper, the negativity towards Athan is misguided and in my opinion a disgrace. There appears to be a small group deliberately fuelling negativity and we have a strong indication of who they are. Social media is not an appropriate avenue for commenting on these matters and shareholders who do have a strong opinion should write directly to the board to voice their concerns. I have a very low opinion of those individuals involved in trashing Athan’s reputation in the social media; they don’t even have the guts to say who they are. However your approach is to be commended.
Athan has created an enormous amount of value for the company and it is critical that we retain his services. Please also note, that Athan is not receiving USA based living costs, accommodation, vehicle and living expenses, as mentioned above it seems to be the same group of people that are deliberately creating negativity.
In the case of Marty Despain, as I mentioned before, he left a secure highly paid job at Intel where he had been employed for over 10 years to join a risky start up. His experience in sales and marketing of high tech products is impeccable. His contacts in the USA and Asia are extensive and current and give Xped a hot start. He needs to be incentivised to perform on the business development side and to keep him bound in with Xped. Together with Athan and the rest of the Board, we have forged a high performance plan to deliver exceptional value to our shareholders, please refer to the investor presentation.
The topic of executive remuneration has been raised directly to me by several shareholders, it is important that we incentivise the right people in our organisation. There board plans to meet over the next week or so to discuss this and other matters.
Best regards,
Chris Wood
Co-founder and CTO
Xped Limited
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