Elio’s $4,484,755.50 Catch-up Payment

[3wheelin]

Stu is currently charging Elio Motors a 18% penalty for nonpayment, that makes him an opportunist in my books.

I’m sure all the investors and shareholders of Elio Motors stock would love to give Stu a “big high five”...or not!

Stu has certainly made a healthy contribution to the $100 million debt that Elio Motors is burden with.

Stu is on the Board of Directors of Elio Motors, and thus has a fiduciary responsibility to take care of the Elio shareholders.

He’s left the Elio shareholders out in the cold. Their investments are basically worthless!

I will commend Stu for taking very good care of Stu!

My own personal admiration is for businessman who get wealthy by using a strong code of ethics!

My sentiment exactly!

 

[3wheelin]

18% interest is certainly bending over backwards! LOL

 

[RSchneider]

Would you like it if last year Stu drove the company into bankruptcy and Elio Motors becomes a footnote in the history books? He could easily do that at any time. What do you want him to do?

 

[Rickb]

Would you want someone who's specialty is in real estate to be telling a car company what to do? All Stu cares about is getting his money and he will, no matter what. He gifted Paul the place to work out of and it was up to Paul to figure it out. Plus he's bent over backwards to keep Elio from going under. That's enough out of Stu because he does have other things to do and those involve his specialty (real estate).

Sorry, but a new startups Team Memers and BOD, regardless of the product, generally includes members with a variety of expertise including the product being developed and as or more importantly, business management and financial expertise to help insure the startups fund raising efforts, financial responsibility, and best chance for success. Sadly, if you look at the marketing/sales people Paul surrounded himself with.........most have zero proven vehicle R&D background, business management, and financial expertise. Paul was the only auto industry connected engineer on the Team and his Engineering Firm specialized in engineering car parts.......seat mechanisms. Sadly, EM didn’t need most of the high salaried marketing, retail operations, supply chain, and sales Team members expertise until AFTER the R&D was complete and the Elio was at the production starting line and/or had a product to sell. EM is a highly successful marketing startup, not a car company. I hope that would turn around if securing the needed funding.

 

[Rickb]

Would you like it if last year Stu drove the company into bankruptcy and Elio Motors becomes a footnote in the history books? He could easily do that at any time. What do you want him to do?

That’s all and fine, but doesn’t deserve high praise and a high five. Helping guide EM’s financials along the way would have. EM is still marketing and taking pre-order reservations. I’m hoping only refundable reservations at this point in time. Stu is looking out for Stu.

 

[3wheelin]

Would you like it if last year Stu drove the company into bankruptcy and Elio Motors becomes a footnote in the history books? He could easily do that at any time. What do you want him to do?

Hahaha He's already doing that! Go back to post #9 by TexasTesla!

 

[RSchneider]

Sorry, but a new startups Team Memers and BOD, regardless of the product, includes members with a variety of expertise including the product being developed and as or more importantly, business management and financial expertise to help insure the startups fund raising efforts, financial responsibility, and best chance for success. Sadly, if you look at the marketing/sales people Paul surrounded himself with.........most have zero proven vehicle R&D, business management, and financial expertise. Paul was the only auto industry connected engineer on the Team and his Engineering Firm specialized in engineering car parts.......seat mechanisms. Sadly, EM didn’t need most of the high salaried marketing, retail operations, supply chain, and sales Team members expertise until AFTER the R&D was complete and the Elio was at the production starting line and/or had a product to sell. EM was a highly successful marketing startup.
View attachment 23408

He did need them. It's window dressing. The pharm and bio med startups do this all of the time. They need a team and a BoD. When you are getting interest from investors, they want to see that. It gives clout and shows legitimacy.

How that works out in the real world is debatable. I find that it's not the best way to go and it's better to build the business first. There are many companies that are huge and run by one person and then a limited team. Typically, they were not in the business of courting the general public investors. When you need those general public investors, they never go to your facility and see what you do, they read the PR sheet and if it's stock, or big investors, they want to see the financials.

Yes, Elio had a team and a BoD but in general it was more on the marketing as opposed to the technical. Thus weak on the technical makes it hard for the marketing people to do a proper job. Seeing how the BoD were not getting paid, it was more or less a thing like this. Stu had the goods (building and equipment) and Elio could supply the stock in a move that if it took off, Stu made lots of money. Stu being smart, made sure that he was covered in case that it all went belly up. That's called good business. Plus, how many people would have given Elio Motors a non refundable deposit if the company didn't have a plant or any equipment? That had to weigh in a bit when it came to your decision making process. Maybe not you personally but I bet lots of them, it was. Elio did start the reservations after they got the plant and heavily marketed it.

There's not a single person that want's Stu to pull the trigger and run Elio Motors into bankruptcy. It doesn't help anyone at all. So, he needs to be commended for not doing that and having 58K irritated because their dream has been crushed. If Elio needs more time, let's hope Stu allows it. If he does, he's someone that everyone will appreciate when they are having fun in their Elio.

 

[TexasTesla]

Sorry, but a new startups Team Memers and BOD, regardless of the product, includes members with a variety of expertise including the product being developed and as or more importantly, business management and financial expertise to help insure the startups fund raising efforts, financial responsibility, and best chance for success. Sadly, if you look at the marketing/sales people Paul surrounded himself with.........most have zero proven vehicle R&D, business management, and financial expertise. Paul was the only auto industry connected engineer on the Team and his Engineering Firm specialized in engineering car parts.......seat mechanisms. Sadly, EM didn’t need most of the high salaried marketing, retail operations, supply chain, and sales Team members expertise until AFTER the R&D was complete and the Elio was at the production starting line and/or had a product to sell. EM was a highly successful marketing startup.
View attachment 23408

Thanks for the very articulate posting!

All of your comments are spot-on!

Everyone had their hands in Paul’s cookie jar, and most had limited real world expertise.

The last several years, Paul seems to be chasing his tail. Just no focus that will allow all his promises to become reality.

 

[3wheelin]

He did need them. It's window dressing. The pharm and bio med startups do this all of the time. They need a team and a BoD. When you are getting interest from investors, they want to see that. It gives clout and shows legitimacy.

How that works out in the real world is debatable. I find that it's not the best way to go and it's better to build the business first. There are many companies that are huge and run by one person and then a limited team. Typically, they were not in the business of courting the general public investors. When you need those general public investors, they never go to your facility and see what you do, they read the PR sheet and if it's stock, or big investors, they want to see the financials.

Yes, Elio had a team and a BoD but in general it was more on the marketing as opposed to the technical. Thus weak on the technical makes it hard for the marketing people to do a proper job. Seeing how the BoD were not getting paid, it was more or less a thing like this. Stu had the goods (building and equipment) and Elio could supply the stock in a move that if it took off, Stu made lots of money. Stu being smart, made sure that he was covered in case that it all went belly up. That's called good business. Plus, how many people would have given Elio Motors a non refundable deposit if the company didn't have a plant or any equipment? That had to weigh in a bit when it came to your decision making process. Maybe not you personally but I bet lots of them, it was. Elio did start the reservations after they got the plant and heavily marketed it.

There's not a single person that want's Stu to pull the trigger and run Elio Motors into bankruptcy. It doesn't help anyone at all. So, he needs to be commended for not doing that and having 58K irritated because their dream has been crushed. If Elio needs more time, let's hope Stu allows it. If he does, he's someone that everyone will appreciate when they are having fun in their Elio.

Hahaha So the bottom line is, what have you learned from all this? That marketing alone does not equate to success! Having a plant and spending limited funds to "heavily market it"....does not equate to success! Millions that they originally allotted to complete R & D didn't happen so no pre-production ELIO, no engine, no funding, no sale! You said "When you need those general public investors, they never go to your facility and see what you do, they read the PR sheet and if it's stock, or big investors, they want to see the financials." Are you sure about that??? Smart investors does not rely on financial statements alone (it can be doctored), they need to see what you're trying to sell!!!

 

[TexasTesla]

Nicely stated 3wheelin!

Your post concisely sums up why Paul has had limited success finding investors.

It’s been a decade, and there’s still not even a single completed specification validated Elio prototype.

And everyday, Elio Motors continues to pay for an idle factory. Their debt just keeps stacking up!

Why would a big investor want to get in the middle of this mess?