Mindstream

[Oldreefer44]

A whole lot of speculation with very few facts. If there are no assets left then there is nothing to recover. To prove intent would cost us taxpayers far more than it's worth. Unfortunately happens all the time with company's big and small.

 

[User1]

I may be out of the loop here but what is leading some to say the CEO jumped or they are having other issues outside manufacturing to meet demand? Just wondering if there was a post.

With regards to intent though that one is easy. They open orders at a conference. Once requests start flying with actual weight behind them to obtain documents it will not be difficult to prove. Especially in today's climate. But again I'm just wondering why all of a sudden it seems worse than before.

 

[Joe Rice]

I may be out of the loop here but what is leading some to say the CEO jumped or they are having other issues outside manufacturing to meet demand?

I think it's the total lack of communication the past two or three weeks combined with the scarcity of satisfied customers.

 

[bluprntguy]

A whole lot of speculation with very few facts. If there are no assets left then there is nothing to recover. To prove intent would cost us taxpayers far more than it's worth. Unfortunately happens all the time with company's big and small.

There are the patents that are left, which could be worth more than you might think.

I hate to point blame in situations like this, as none of us, with the exception of @robbyg truly knows what the internal factors are, that this company is facing. Having said that, the CEO should have done a much better job making sure his leadership team communicated better with his customers and the community.

If a company thinks their competitors are sabotaging them, it seems unlikely that they'd be confiding confidential information about future announcements and company operations with some random customer.

Their initial kickstarter failed when it received less than 200 full backers when they offered their monitor for $495. That's real information that we have from Kickstarter. Does anyone really believe they received thousands of orders in a day when this was offered years later for twice as much with an upfront payment?

There's quite a bit on this thread that seems like complete fantasy.

 

[Oldreefer44]

There are the patents that are left, which could be worth more than you might think.



If a company thinks their competitors are sabotaging them, it seems unlikely that they'd be confiding confidential information about future announcements and company operations with some random customer.

Their initial kickstarter failed when it received less than 200 full backers when they offered their monitor for $495. That's real information that we have from Kickstarter. Does anyone really believe they received thousands of orders in a day when this was offered years later for twice as much with an upfront payment?

There's quite a bit on this thread that seems like complete fantasy.

The patents for the technology appear to be held by an individual (James Clark) as opposed to the company. Again, the litigation costs would not be worth it. If it went to a bankruptcy court, which could take many months, money owed to vendors would be distributed first.

 

[RCeiver]

The patents for the technology appear to be held by an individual (James Clark) as opposed to the company. Again, the litigation costs would not be worth it. If it went to a bankruptcy court, which could take many months, money owed to vendors would be distributed first.

Shady business practices 101: Have an individual hold the patents and license them to the company so that when the company goes into bankruptcy the individuals keep the only assets worth anything and shafts all the vendors and investors. This is probably why they couldn’t get any investors and had to require that customers pay upfront for the product.

 

[Oldreefer44]

They had plenty of initial investors. IMO as an initial owner of one, the issue was that it did not work for enough people to make it viable in the long term.

 

[User1]

They had plenty of initial investors. IMO as an initial owner of one, the issue was that it did not work for enough people to make it viable in the long term.

You mentioned owner of one, or initial anyway. And then it did not work. What wasn't working or are you able to go into any more detail? This would be the first time I have read some feedback that it didn't work. The only other person I know who said they have one is Melvreef and he hasn't provided any info to date.

I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that there is a NDA still in play.

 

[fcmatt]

Has this product reached this level of speculation on such a busy forum and the company does not even come here and clear it up?

Not good. Now I wont even consider buying this. Period.

 

[Silver14SS]

Does anyone really believe they received thousands of orders in a day when this was offered years later for twice as much with an upfront payment?

There's quite a bit on this thread that seems like complete fantasy.

Some did believe it, along with the it’ll ship next week, next week...

It never sounded right that they had materials to ship 600 of them yet less than 10 or so people on the forum actually have them.

Or that they got thousands of orders on day one, were so overwhelmed, then did a 30% off MACNA sale to get even further behind.

 

[Oldreefer44]

Plenty of info on other threads

 

[Silver14SS]

You mentioned owner of one, or initial anyway. And then it did not work. What wasn't working or are you able to go into any more detail? This would be the first time I have read some feedback that it didn't work. The only other person I know who said they have one is Melvreef and he hasn't provided any info to date.

I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that there is a NDA still in play.

melev made one comparison post on FB, alk reading was wonky, rest was in the same general range. Carbonate alk that ms measures was above the total alk tests did, should be the opposite.

@TARHEEL78 has a detailed thread with their issues.

A few threads about monitors not connecting.

seems like the general issues are that the discs either were bad or can’t stay clean in an actual tank. Makes me wonder how they were tested if not in actual tank or sump conditions.

 

[User1]

melev made one comparison post on FB, alk reading was wonky, rest was in the same general range. Carbonate alk that ms measures was above the total alk tests did, should be the opposite.

@TARHEEL78 has a detailed thread with their issues.

A few threads about monitors not connecting.

seems like the general issues are that the discs either were bad or can’t stay clean in an actual tank. Makes me wonder how they were tested if not in actual tank or sump conditions.

Thanks.

 

[RCeiver]

Has this product reached this level of speculation on such a busy forum and the company does not even come here and clear it up?

Not good. Now I wont even consider buying this. Period.

Given the lack of communication from any of the beta testers on any board, I’d assume that they never released them from the NDA, which begs the question as to why.

The only person I’ve seen talk about this product was the infomercial that Melev put out on YouTube after the release.

 

[robbyg]

Shady business practices 101: Have an individual hold the patents and license them to the company so that when the company goes into bankruptcy the individuals keep the only assets worth anything and shafts all the vendors and investors. This is probably why they couldn’t get any investors and had to require that customers pay upfront for the product.

The owner of the patents is not James Clarke. He is listed as the Inventor and the Patent Assignee is listed as Step Ahead Innovations. Nobody would ever buy into a company that has it's patents held by an individual. Even if the individual started out as the owner of the patents they are always sold or transferred to the company before the company can go out and find investors. This is business practice 101 in the tech industry.

 

[robbyg]

Given the lack of communication from any of the beta testers on any board, I’d assume that they never released them from the NDA, which begs the question as to why.

The only person I’ve seen talk about this product was the infomercial that Melev put out on YouTube after the release.

Reef builders also did about four dedicated videos

 

[RCeiver]

The owner of the patents is not James Clarke. He is listed as the Inventor and the Patent Assignee is listed as Step Ahead Innovations. Nobody would ever buy into a company that has it's patents held by an individual. Even if the individual started out as the owner of the patents they are always sold or transferred to the company before the company can go out and find investors. This is business practice 101 in the tech industry.

I didn’t look at the patents, I just assumed that @OLDREEFER44 was correct when he said they were held by an individual.

 

[RCeiver]

Reef builders also did about four dedicated videos

We all know that reef builders will say almost anything for a buck.

 

[User1]

Reef builders also did about four dedicated videos

I saw the tear down a while back but nothing else. Not even really sure why they did that one to be honest.

 

[Silver14SS]

We all know that reef builders will say almost anything for a buck.

Their reviews are typically more like a product overview, lots of then come across as restating product marketing material instead of an actual, hands on opinion.

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