Ann: CEO's Open Letter to Shareholders, page-9

I Agree - I think based on everything 2020 is the year!!

I find it interesting in watching thisforum over the last few years how much animosity seems to be directedto this one guy.
It seems to me that budge for all his technicalability has fallen into the same trap that a lot of entrepreneurshave including Musk and Jobs. That is one of over optimism. It seemsthat this is a very common problem for entrepreneurs. I guess theywould not be able to do what they can without being optimistic. Sowhile in my view things seem to be on track the train is behindschedule. Which while it is not ideal is not the worst problem in theworld because it doesn't seem things are too far behind schedule int he grand scheme of things.
2020 is looking to be an interesting year

There were a few nuggets in recentannouncements that piqued my interest.
The first one is the open day – whichI am absolutely going to - but also should allow all the nay sayers who have been harping on and on and on about the technology 'notexisting' to finally be silenced. Puting aside for the moment thatthere already seem to be quite a few people who have seen thetechnology (including a fellow shareholder I know) not to mention themulti billion dollar engineering giant that signed a deal with thembut I think this section also speaks to that.“submitted proposals to US specialistmanufacturing company and a Large japanese multinational company”

“investigating third party leasingarrangements” - I think this is important as it will make the salesprocess easier for the company as companies will be able to look atthe sale as an op/ex rather than a cap/ex. Xerox was built of themodel of not owning the machine. Critically Aurora is paid the fullsale price upfront.

“allowing us to move more quicklyinto pre-sales mode with customers”This is interesting as it seems to besaying that they are able to cut their sales cycle time down whichshould translate into more sales more quickly.

'99.5% density' – not a metallurgistbut this seems pretty good. I know a lot of industrial castings run at90% density.

'machine manufacturer with capacity toproduce 10-100 units per year'I think this is great because it meansthe company doesn't have to spend money on Cap/ex for increasingproduction capacity when sales start increasing.

“Approximately 10 purchase order havebeen placed with additive now”I would like to know the size and scalebut also get it's under NDA but seems like a good start to afledgling JV. Looking at worley I expect the customers are notminnows.

“A full review of board compositionwill be undertaken in the new year”This is an interesting one –particularly given the previous paragraph where they clearly statethey are recruiting additional board members. I will be interested tosee the outcomes.

I hope everyone has a good Christmasand new year.

Grok