I’ve been thinking a bit lately about the power of communities/ grassroots movements and how technology has changed things in recent years.
It has been interesting to see how this area is changing investing and business. A couple of prominent examples are Tesla and Gamestop. It was hard to imagine before Tesla that a new car company could ever gain traction – people wanted a reliable brand, a household name that had been around for years. I don’t know much about the rise of Tesla, but I am willing to bet that having the internet, and passionate fans contributed just as much to the success as their awesome car-making abilities. Also, gamestop showed the power of the masses (even if the old structures protect those in power). Correct me if I am wrong, but there is still definitely a wider trend of people connecting on the internet and achieving things that were previously impossible a few decades ago.
There are a few things about RAC that make it seem a good fit for ‘something like this’. Firstly, a quality product. I know I am getting waaaay ahead of myself here and RAC is nowhere near this stage but most of you probably think (like me) that we are heading that way. I don’t want to count chickens, but this whole post is sort of assuming that the trials work out and prove that Zantrene is effective (either cardio protection, FTO inhibition, both or something else).
Let’s just assume that happens for fun. If it does, RAC will also feel like a bit of a David and Goliath situation with a small Aussie biotech trying to take on the big guys. Not to mention the large number of retail investors who make up a pretty passionate fanbase. This might be something that could be tapped into, and I’d love to get a discussion going on what the average investor can do to help.
I was reminded of a line I read about how an artist only needs 1000 real fans. Those ‘fans’ will share your new album, drag friends to concerts, write reviews, wear your -t-shirt etc. The idea is if you can get yourself those first 1000 real fans then they will do the rest for you. I’ve seen that proven true time and time again.
As the results and exciting announcements start coming in this year, what can we do? It’d be good to throw some ideas around. Maybe we can help with patient recruitment, or strategically share with other retail investors? Would regular catchups in major cities some help to grow investor numbers (I doubt it but want to explore simple solutions too).
There was a thing called Thunderclap, and people could plan to tweet or post about a topic/ cause at a specific date and time. It was a good way to get your cause trending on social media. I think that particular platform might have been banned, but ideas like this are welcome.
My biggest suggestion would be that there needs to be something quick that a potential new investor can watch/ read to get their head around the basics quickly. I did post about this before and Dr T’s reply was that the company can’t do that, which is understandable. I still see no reason why a group of investors couldn’t do this though.
I think this area may have been neglected because RAC were more focused on getting instos. That would be nice, but in the meanwhile it would be worth trying to get small retails investors interested. I think a quick overview video would go a long way. Or a quarterly AMA. Maybe the RAC community could also focus on educating existing investors to avoid a low-ball offer further down the track.
The company already has a good reputation for respecting and communicating with its shareholders. Surely this can be built on?
Anyone got ideas?
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