sonycowboy
Member
Kevin Bachus has got to be ready to commit suicide for jumping ship. What a freaking train wreck.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7044341/
Infinium CEO addresses Phantom foes
By Aja Whitaker-Moore
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2005
SARASOTA -- Games are the foundation of Infinium Labs Inc., but so far business hasn't been much fun.
The company is developing the Phantom video game console, designed to offer games over the Internet for a monthly subscription fee. But Phantom has yet to launch commercially, following publicly announced plans to do so at least twice.
Running cash-strapped Infinium while trying to fend off lawsuits and counter skepticism about its product and leadership hasn't been easy, CEO Tim Roberts said.
Infinium (OTC: IFLB) has dealt with allegations of pushing Phantom as vaporware, using fax schemes to pump stock prices and a host of lawsuits, all while trying to land more than $20 million in financing needed to roll out Phantom and keep the company afloat.
However, Roberts does own up to breaking one business rule: never sign a personal guarantee and never use your own money.
Roberts says he has committed more than $2 million in personal funds, in addition to $3 million to $4 million in collateral, because he believes in the company and wants it to succeed.
While CEOs of large public companies rarely use their own money to fund operations, the practice is far more commonplace for small public entities.
Small public companies really have the same debt and private equity financing choices as a private company, in addition to access to the public markets, said Steve Vazquez, a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP's transactional and securities practice group.
"But if you have lost the benefit of the public markets you have to go back to get financing the way a private company would," Vazquez said.
Negative strategy
Some of the negativity surrounding Infinium's public persona results from disgruntled former employees, and from certain members of the online community using "yellow journalism" to drive Web traffic to their sites, Roberts said.
"But for every naysayer we have there are 10 positive supporters," he said. "The problem is they aren't going to spend their days making positive Internet postings about us all day."
Infinium stock prices have dropped dramatically in recent months. Roberts attributes the decline in part to short sellers using negative investor relations to drive down prices in order to purchase shares at a lower rate and cash in if the company gets back on its feet.
"Some people make a lot of money when stocks go down," he said. "And when stocks go down it is hard for a pre-revenue company to combat momentum."
Infinium reported a net loss of $7.67 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2004, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2004.
Roberts seems to be taking the challenges in stride, having seen most of it before.
He has been at the helm of three companies prior to starting Infinium in October 2002, two of which went on to be successful and the third closed its doors in highly publicized liquidation.
Latest lawsuit brings challenge
Roberts' latest legal woes involve defending Infinium, and himself, against a former investment-banking firm.
California-based SBI-USA LLC filed a lawsuit in November accusing Roberts and Infinium of committing fraud and for breach of contract.
In January a U.S. District Court Judge in Los Angeles entered a default notice against the company and Roberts when they failed to answer the suit in time. Infinium recently filed a response to set aside the defaults and continue the litigation.
Both sides stipulate they entered into an investment banking agreement in 2004.
However, SBI contends Infinium violated the agreement by obtaining a $50-million equity line of credit from a competitor instead of using the $44 million in commitments secured by SBI, a deal that would have generated 7 percent of the gross funds for SBI, court filings show.
The investment firm also claims it was to be paid 2 percent of all financing Infinium landed for 12 months, which amounted to more than $30 million, the lawsuit states.
Roberts disagrees about the terms of the agreement. He claims it did not provide SBI with any exclusivity and it authorized either party the right to terminate the relationship at any time.
When Infinium found capital without SBI they simply "had their ego upset," he said. "They never made one introduction that we raised capital or raised one penny from."
Phantom: reality or fantasy?
While Infinium is busy defending lawsuits, the company also must defend Phantom.
The product is very much a reality, with the potential to change the $20-billion gaming industry, Roberts said.
Phantom targets a niche of older gamers, a market Roberts said is currently too small for gaming giants such as Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft.
"They want someone to prove the risk, and then there will be a bidding war," he said. "Gamers are aging, but the largest consumers are still ages 18 to 22."
Inquiring minds want to know when the console and service will reach consumers.
The company reports 15 million unique visitors to its Web site each month.
Infinium claims 25 Phantom consoles are in existence, with plans to develop a new batch of 1,500.
But Infinium refuses to reveal a firm launch date to avoid a guessing game and the pitfalls of its previous missed deadlines.
"When we missed our first deadline it created a lot of skepticism," Roberts said. "People were really angry. They wanted this product to come out. And we are dealing with an audience of a younger gaming community without much business sense." :lol
He projects Phantom will hit shelves before the end of 2005, provided a potential cash infusion comes to fruition.
Infinium needs to get $6 million to the contract manufacturer to initially produce 10,000 units, and it estimates an additional $6 million is needed for marketing.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7044341/
Infinium CEO addresses Phantom foes
By Aja Whitaker-Moore
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2005
SARASOTA -- Games are the foundation of Infinium Labs Inc., but so far business hasn't been much fun.
The company is developing the Phantom video game console, designed to offer games over the Internet for a monthly subscription fee. But Phantom has yet to launch commercially, following publicly announced plans to do so at least twice.
Running cash-strapped Infinium while trying to fend off lawsuits and counter skepticism about its product and leadership hasn't been easy, CEO Tim Roberts said.
Infinium (OTC: IFLB) has dealt with allegations of pushing Phantom as vaporware, using fax schemes to pump stock prices and a host of lawsuits, all while trying to land more than $20 million in financing needed to roll out Phantom and keep the company afloat.
However, Roberts does own up to breaking one business rule: never sign a personal guarantee and never use your own money.
Roberts says he has committed more than $2 million in personal funds, in addition to $3 million to $4 million in collateral, because he believes in the company and wants it to succeed.
While CEOs of large public companies rarely use their own money to fund operations, the practice is far more commonplace for small public entities.
Small public companies really have the same debt and private equity financing choices as a private company, in addition to access to the public markets, said Steve Vazquez, a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP's transactional and securities practice group.
"But if you have lost the benefit of the public markets you have to go back to get financing the way a private company would," Vazquez said.
Negative strategy
Some of the negativity surrounding Infinium's public persona results from disgruntled former employees, and from certain members of the online community using "yellow journalism" to drive Web traffic to their sites, Roberts said.
"But for every naysayer we have there are 10 positive supporters," he said. "The problem is they aren't going to spend their days making positive Internet postings about us all day."
Infinium stock prices have dropped dramatically in recent months. Roberts attributes the decline in part to short sellers using negative investor relations to drive down prices in order to purchase shares at a lower rate and cash in if the company gets back on its feet.
"Some people make a lot of money when stocks go down," he said. "And when stocks go down it is hard for a pre-revenue company to combat momentum."
Infinium reported a net loss of $7.67 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2004, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2004.
Roberts seems to be taking the challenges in stride, having seen most of it before.
He has been at the helm of three companies prior to starting Infinium in October 2002, two of which went on to be successful and the third closed its doors in highly publicized liquidation.
Latest lawsuit brings challenge
Roberts' latest legal woes involve defending Infinium, and himself, against a former investment-banking firm.
California-based SBI-USA LLC filed a lawsuit in November accusing Roberts and Infinium of committing fraud and for breach of contract.
In January a U.S. District Court Judge in Los Angeles entered a default notice against the company and Roberts when they failed to answer the suit in time. Infinium recently filed a response to set aside the defaults and continue the litigation.
Both sides stipulate they entered into an investment banking agreement in 2004.
However, SBI contends Infinium violated the agreement by obtaining a $50-million equity line of credit from a competitor instead of using the $44 million in commitments secured by SBI, a deal that would have generated 7 percent of the gross funds for SBI, court filings show.
The investment firm also claims it was to be paid 2 percent of all financing Infinium landed for 12 months, which amounted to more than $30 million, the lawsuit states.
Roberts disagrees about the terms of the agreement. He claims it did not provide SBI with any exclusivity and it authorized either party the right to terminate the relationship at any time.
When Infinium found capital without SBI they simply "had their ego upset," he said. "They never made one introduction that we raised capital or raised one penny from."
Phantom: reality or fantasy?
While Infinium is busy defending lawsuits, the company also must defend Phantom.
The product is very much a reality, with the potential to change the $20-billion gaming industry, Roberts said.
Phantom targets a niche of older gamers, a market Roberts said is currently too small for gaming giants such as Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft.
"They want someone to prove the risk, and then there will be a bidding war," he said. "Gamers are aging, but the largest consumers are still ages 18 to 22."
Inquiring minds want to know when the console and service will reach consumers.
The company reports 15 million unique visitors to its Web site each month.
Infinium claims 25 Phantom consoles are in existence, with plans to develop a new batch of 1,500.
But Infinium refuses to reveal a firm launch date to avoid a guessing game and the pitfalls of its previous missed deadlines.
"When we missed our first deadline it created a lot of skepticism," Roberts said. "People were really angry. They wanted this product to come out. And we are dealing with an audience of a younger gaming community without much business sense." :lol
He projects Phantom will hit shelves before the end of 2005, provided a potential cash infusion comes to fruition.
Infinium needs to get $6 million to the contract manufacturer to initially produce 10,000 units, and it estimates an additional $6 million is needed for marketing.
