Probably the best attitude to TTT. What JL underlines is that it...

Probably the best attitude to TTT.

What JL underlines is that it is not a fast game they are playing in. Every move takes a lot of things to change the game-board. Its chess not snap!

I have spent most of my career selling big-ticket hi-tech scientific equipment to big pocket players like the markets TTT is addressing. In my field it was not at all unusual to spend 1-2 years finding and doing every piece of business with a new customer. That prospecting effort takes time and costs money.

After finding a serious prospect it was not unusual for it to take a year or more to get the customer to seriously plan and budget for such an acquisition. The more revolutionary the solution the more considerations had to be put into understanding what all of its impacts would be and how they would fit into and change established corporate plans. That was before the customer finally agrees even to request a system quotation.

Then likely another year convincing bean counters and technophiles that my product was actually the best, and best value, solution available. This usually required preparing custom solutions that fit the client best and presenting them to boards and decision makers. Million dollar sales expose a lot of people in the loop to exquisitely worrisome feelings of insecurity. "Is this a good strategic direction? What could go wrong? What will this mean for my neck?" Needless to say not every prospect comes through this process to become a serious buyer in this particular calendar year.

Only when we finally get the order do we get to drink the champagne. That could have been the culmination of 2-5 years effort (and expense) on my part.

But as with TTT, it takes months to produce the equipment (these things are not on a shelf out the back!) Then planning and doing the installation and commissioning, verifying performance to specification, and helping users to make the best use of their new toy.
Then follows the 3-6-12 months probationary period in which everything is stared at and nodded at until everyone is satisfied that it is doing what it was supposed to do.

Only then can the sale be properly invoiced. Then comes the wait while accounting teams process payment.

In my field, which is not unusual for any capital equipment vendor, it is not unusual for this process - initial prospect to cash in the bank - to be 5 years long. It is a long game. And that inevitably makes that company into a long term investment. We should not expect anything to be different for TTT.

As JL said, the order they just received for $25M is just such a massively significant event. I am still surprised that holders are not still drinking the champagne and expressing confidence in the company's future prospects.