Funding Refused By Paul Elio

[JEBar]

"Paul Elio is a smart engineer. He is a smart business manager. Now it looks like he is a smart finance officer. He may be able to pull this off. But then again, maybe not."

Is he? Do you remember Elio Engineering and their seat company? Elio refused to partner with Bostrom Seats and went Bankrupt.
Do you recognize the tune? Do you see a parallel?


"Decision Time
 Is in Feb. 1999, four months past
 The NC design had developed substantially
 The Bostrom alliance agreementfor the truck market
had been concluded.
 The questions about Elio’s strategy for entery into
automotive still remained. Paul& hari realized that they
needed answers to these questions in the coming days.
 Should Elio joint venture with Bostrom?
 Should it partner with a tier-one or tier two automotive
supplier?
 Was Elio’s technology strategy aligned with the
requirements for a successful entry into the automotive
market?
Case I-1 Elio Engineering Inc."


CPET 575 Management of Technology Technological Innovation
www.etcs.ipfw.edu/.../2011F/1-Lectures/CASE-I-1-ElioEnrg-LIN-B&W.pdf1 1 CPET 575 Management of Technology Technological Innovation Case I-1 Elio Engineering, Inc Lecture Note & Summary by Professor Paul I-Hai Lin Pages 13-31 of

For all the information on this blunder, search "Professor Paul Elio" otherwise the Elio motors hits bury the search.

interesting, the most recent info in the link is dated 1999 and in a report that goes on for over 40 pages, the last page titled "Conclusion" is blank .... while every word in the report may or may not be true, I can't see any relevance to Elio Motors .... I suspect that most of us who were alive back then have made mistakes and hopefully we have learned from them and moved on

 

[WilliamH]

interesting, the most recent info in the link is dated 1999 and in a report that goes on for over 40 pages, the last page titled "Conclusion" is blank .... while every word in the report may or may not be true, I can't see any relevance to Elio Motors .... I suspect that most of us who were alive back then have made mistakes and hopefully we have learned from them and moved on

It looks like a text book work book written by a professor who has never done anything in his life except to critique others who have actually attempted to do something. So if others hadn't at least tried, he would be out of business.

 

[Smitty901]

The world has changed sense the days of Henry ford and the Harley start ups. In most cases a smart creative person like PE comes up with and Idea.
At some point his dream gets noticed it is then produced by others with the capital behind them and the real experts on how to get it done.
With so many regulation and hurtles to jump over , a start up is fighting a lost cause on it's own. PE does not have the forces it takes to get this done on his own and he surely can not afford to hire them. Investors of 10k here and there will not do it he needs backing from investors that can write the check and keep them coming until ELIO is profitable.
PE has been forced to take the ELIO a long ways in order to get noticed. getting big investors sold on a start up car company , one with a three wheeled close cab is not easy. It is not like the ELIO high performance sports car/bike like a Canam Spider. Also Canam was not built around the spider , the Spider was an addition to. Canam had the cash to build it market it and wait for sales to start paying the bills. ELIO does not have that option.
PE AKA Elio needs out side money and outside ideas. Before you go nuts remember I jumped on board. I want to see the ELIO built ,sold and running all over town.

 

[Ekh]

The Ship has been taking on water for some time . The only thing keeping it above water now is hope. Small investors will have nothing to say about what happens. Big investors will in any case at any company. If you do not understand that you know nothing about how it works. Any investment group that comes in will want to protect that investment.
Wake up call those evil investors are the ones that make things happen. Without them the dreamers just BS themselves and keep living in a dream world .
As a product Elio has a chance. but it takes someone in charge that knows how to more the product forward in the market place and not in the dream world. PE has done a great job in creating the dream , he seems to be unable to do any more.
If all of this about control is true witch I have doubts about the Ego that is killing ELIO is not investors but PE.

You may be right, but I hope you are wrong. Elio is a highly principled man, and part of his commitment is to American parts and labor on this vehicle. Any controlling interest investor is unlikely to share that commitment -- they'll drive for lower cost and higher selling price, as compared to Paul's much more balanced approach.

Don't forget those carbon credits -- they are the key to profitability for years to come.

 

[Ekh]

I don't know Paul Elio . I have no feelings about him one way or another . He designed a good vehicle and for that I think he should be well compensated if it succeeds. But if production can move forward without him , I would cast him aside like Bruce Jenner's boxer shorts. If a Shark tank style deal can go down , I am all for it .

like the metaphor, don't like the idea. Elio has not been looking for shark-style investors. They are what he does NOT want. (This I have on good authority, not making it up).

 

[Smitty901]

You may be right, but I hope you are wrong. Elio is a highly principled man, and part of his commitment is to American parts and labor on this vehicle. Any controlling interest investor is unlikely to share that commitment -- they'll drive for lower cost and higher selling price, as compared to Paul's much more balanced approach.

Don't forget those carbon credits -- they are the key to profitability for years to come.

Unlikely ELIO will get any carbon credits.
PE is a principled man no argument there. However that does not mean his business model is a good one. We share a strong desire to se the ELIO produced and on the road. That is why I hit the send key on $1000 knowing full well it was a long shot. ELIO is long sense past the dream stage it needs a person leading that can carry it to the delivery stage. PE current team is not likely able to do so.
Give me something to bank on and I would pay in advance for my first ELIO.

 

[Elio Amazed]

Besides If you can't afford Ik just to dream then you simply don't belong on this site.

Woah! Dude!
You want a few moments to think about that statement?

Sooooo...
You're saying you want to kick him and a whole lot of other members, many with your same views, off of the site?
Cause they're not into the soup for a grand?
Oooookaaaay...

 

[Elio Amazed]

interesting, the most recent info in the link is dated 1999 and in a report that goes on for over 40 pages, the last page titled "Conclusion" is blank .... while every word in the report may or may not be true, I can't see any relevance to Elio Motors .... I suspect that most of us who were alive back then have made mistakes and hopefully we have learned from them and moved on

It looks like a text book work book written by a professor who has never done anything in his life except to critique others who have actually attempted to do something. So if others hadn't at least tried, he would be out of business.

OK, you two are starting to scare me again with those defensive postures and all that assumption.

 

[WilliamH]

OK, you two are starting to scare me again with those defensive postures and all that assumption.

I took a few minutes and found that it was a slide presentation at some college.
Before I retired, half of my staff were PhDs and another 1/4 PhD candidates.
They work on the old "Publish or Perish" paradigm.
PhD = Piled Higher & Deeper
Open op the link CPET 575 Management of Technology Technological Innovation
and you will find it is a group of slides for a course presentation.
It is always worth while to research the source for material presented in someones arguments.
And, incidentally, it is not a report.

 

[AriLea]

You may be right, but I hope you are wrong. Elio is a highly principled man, and part of his commitment is to American parts and labor on this vehicle. Any controlling interest investor is unlikely to share that commitment -- they'll drive for lower cost and higher selling price, as compared to Paul's much more balanced approach.

Don't forget those carbon credits -- they are the key to profitability for years to come.

Just a note on that.. from this other posting..(click the up arrow and go look)

Here is Paul Elio's Math regarding CAFE Credits and his plan to qualify the Elio by the end of 2014, copied from the May 2014 Caddo Parrish Commission Meeting Minutes. I had know idea EM was working to change the Elio's vehicle classification to a car and didn't think that was even possible with a motorcycle vin number although perhaps that changes with the car reclassification.
View attachment 5058

In that statement from Paul I found something interesting to me. He says the carbon credits are worth $600mil a year to entities chaffing at the bit for them. I could certainly see that if the Elio becomes believed to be inevitable by these entities, those credits could be sold in advance, even if at at a discount. If they sold half of one year for a 50% discount, there's your full investment right there. If the level of believability is high enough EM could get full price. --- it's just a thought on all the 'creative financing' Paul has talked about.