X-Message-Number: 6470 Date: 08 Jul 96 02:34:38 EDT From: Carlos Mondragon <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS:Prometheus Project The enhusiasm for this idea is heartening. Given the parameters set forth by Paul Wakfer, I will pledge, at a minimum $1,000 per year for ten years, and I will give serious consideration to increasing that commitment. What is needed for success is not only the idea and the money, but also a reasonable plan and the ability to competently execute that plan. I look forward to seeing Paul's draft of the business and scientific plans. Here are some of the issues which need to be addressed: One megabuck per year is a substantial burn rate by any standard. I am uncertain of the origin of this projected cost. In any case, the business plan should include rough yearly estimates of expeditures in at least four categories: payroll, capital equipment, expendable supplies, and overhead (rent & administration). That budget along with pro-forma P&L and Balance Sheets for all ten years when reviewed in tandem with the scientific plan will tell us if the assumed burn rate is realisitic. The most critical part of the scientific plan is recruitment of personnel. R&D companies usually *begin* with the commitment of people who will be doing the work (ours is a unique situation in that the eventual customers want the product badly enough to attempt a reversal of the usual process). Though this isn't my area of expertise, I would assume that at a minimum, we need a cryobiologist and a biochemist, very probably under the direction of a physiologist. Since most of the investors in this project will not be experts in these fields, it seems essential that the people recruited have strong verifyable credentials; and it would be prudent to have a couple of cryonicists whose scientific judgment we all trust on the board of the company. There will also be a need for a business manager who can also act as a financial comptroller. The availability of key personnel will also affect location and costs. Though the parameters which Paul set for accepting pledges were quite reasonable as a baseline, it would seem prudent to accept both front-end and back-end loaded pledges. This is because the burn rate may be greater initally, and as time passes, some pledges may default before the full ten years. It may seem like a difficult task to keep track of this, but any spread sheet program can make the job manageable. And although there may be, under some circumstances, legal restrictions on the number of investors, it seems these limits will be inevitably surpassed given the structure of Paul's pledge requests v. the total goal. The representations made by Paul on the net should be incorporated into the offering memorandum, in particular those pertaining to equal availability to all potential customers to the fruits of the research. And the charter should also preclude the acceptance of dubious receivables and/or the purchase of stock. As the Prometheus idea develops into a plausible plan, I will also add to my own financial commitment by urging investment by freinds more affluent than myself. Regards, Carlos Mondragon (speaking for myself only, and not as a Director of Alcor, Inc.) Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6470