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AZEqualizer
08-28-2008, 12:02 AM
Steve Parry from NGEN Partners had this to say today:

Hello. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you interested in Venture Vehicles. My name is Steve Parry and I’m a Managing Member of NGEN Partners (www.ngenpartners.com) the principal investor in Venture Vehicles. Our firm has provided the financial and management expertise to set a solid foundation for this company over the past year. NGEN is a pioneering “cleantech” investor. Simply put, we seek out, and invest in a focused set of companies and services that can leave a positive mark on our environment.
Today, we are delighted to be a part of the Venture team and the dedicated people that developed the vision and concept. It’s a tremendously passionate, knowledgeable and capable group.
We have also been gratified to see the early enthusiasm for the concept that Venture has given birth to. Like you, we fervently believe it’s the right vehicle at the right time.
We live in a world where future population growth is going to be centered in the world’s largest urban markets. It’s important, however, that we protect the precious freedom of mobility in these urban centers – to continue to stimulate and develop economies, to provide needed goods and services that enhance the quality of life. At the same time, we need to find new solutions to escalating energy costs and the environmental challenges that can arise from sustaining mobility.
Therefore, it’s completely understandable that our work at Venture is attracting interest. I also accept we live and work in a “show me environment” that rewards actions not words. And to this end, perhaps there are a few things I can say in these early days of our work.
First, this is a program we have on an aggressive fast track. We have a long-term plan to produce this vehicle as quickly as possible. This is the reason we are active helping the team grow the company.
Second, we also know we are developing an entirely new vehicle while launching a company. This is a challenging task. Read any newspaper and you see we live in an environment of great change, particularly in the transportation business. It’s fast moving, with continually changing demands, and a highly competitive environment. To succeed, the team must remain flexible and aggressively manage the complexities of this business.
All of us on the team have been gratified and touched by everyone’s early and meaningful voices of support. It’s a great validation of our initial instincts about this vehicle. Now, as we continue to progress we will regularly communicate the milestones on the way to eventual production and sales. You have my personal word on this. Quite candidly, however, this is not going to be an everyday exercise because we simply must stay connected to, and focused on the multitude of daily details needed to successfully get our vehicle into the homes and driveways of our future customers as quickly as possible. We need to make sure management has 100% focus on this very intense process.
Thanks for your ongoing interest and enthusiasm. You have our entire team’s full effort to design, develop, produce and sell a vehicle that will uphold all the enthusiasm you have shown. And, we look forward to continuing to here from all of you!-Steve Posted: 2008-08-27 20:57:34 FTR.com (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/topic.php?id=892&replies=6)

Mark Tomlinson
08-28-2008, 01:01 AM
So, it wasn't the lawyers who told Ian to censor himself. It was the VC firm. Well, okay. I'm good with that.

MVRacing
08-28-2008, 01:42 AM
Humm, interesting. I guess what they say about following the money holds true, in this case at least.

On the one hand, this sounds more like the type of release I would expect from a company ... which is good. Flip side ... I'll miss Ian's posts with photos that included his finger, shadow, or foot=y:

AKP23
08-28-2008, 01:59 AM
It appears someone else is paying attention to our posts, and has shown a bit of interest in many of the concerns that has been stated by the members.

I hope this eases some members concerns of the shape ofthe VV enterprise.

I'm a wait-n-see kind of guy, and I'm still waitin' to see this project come to life. I'm sure this will be an intersting journey, as well as very worth while.

waboom
08-28-2008, 07:14 AM
I'm "wait-and-see" as well, but it is good they took the time to write this and (hopefully) lay to rest some of the rumors and fears expressed by some people.

According to the press release (http://www.ngenpartners.com/Files/Press%20Releases/Vv_PR_082107.pdf) issued last year about the Series A financing, Steve Perry and Robert Koch (also from NGEN) joined Howard and Ian on the VV board after the initial VC startup. So these guys are the ones from NGEN with their fingers firmly on the pulse of VV.

beeson
08-28-2008, 09:19 AM
My Grandparents came from Missouri. The genetics of that must have been passed down.

That said, I'm glad we got some "official" word. Even if it doesn't seem to have a single piece of hard info in it. Heck, that just lets me know it WAS written by some corp. official.

Git-r -dun. I want one of these vehicles.

MikeB
08-28-2008, 01:14 PM
I worked at an Internet Incubator for about half a year, during the dot-com boom. The idea was for my company to provide a whole host of services to the companies that we were financing.

Many small companies fail for very mundane reasons, and an experienced management team can help get past those basic problems. My employer went further than most, providing a web development team (my group), HR and payroll support, and even office space. But I think basic management advice was probably their biggest contribution (other than the cold hard cash, of course).

I expect Steve is trying to provide a similar type of support to VV, in addition to keeping an eye on his money. Let's all hope he's good.

rogwild
08-28-2008, 01:25 PM
I wonder (only wonder, not ASKING) how much of that initial 'Series A' $6 mil funding remains to get the ALPHA 'RUNNING'? Getting all the 'niceties' for the BETA, (AC, instruments, lighting, power windows, glass, final software, body panels, wiring, etc.) will be an even BIGGER and expensive project. Then comes locating, equipping, manning, and running a PRODUCTION facility. So MUCH to be done, so little TIME.

Git 'er DONE! Please, please, just show us SOME progress toward that goal!!!!

Charles
08-28-2008, 02:26 PM
I just wish that I could stop browsing the official and the club sites looking for news that never comes and just waiting until the beginning of the X-prize race next September. This is when we will see if the V1 has any chance of making it to market. It will be such a large shop window that anyone who hopes to go into production will have to be there to try and prove their design to be the best. Not only that, but the results of the various tests will tell us if the V1 is our dream vehicle or just a lemon. Only another year guys, we've waited so long the last bit should be easy2thumb:up.