X-Message-Number: 6527
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 00:25:38 -0400
From: Ken Stone <>
Subject: Prometheus concerns

While responding to my earlier letter, Paul Wakfer asked me about
where my pledge to Prometheus was.

Well, it's up in the air, Paul.  It's a big decision for me to
gamble (a minimum of) $10,000 in after-tax, after-living expenses 
money.  Specific things that are bothering me:

1) I don't how likely it is that Prometheus will succeed.  No one
   really does.  If it was obvious that it would work, the decision
   to make this kind of a sacrifice would be a lot easier.
  
2) I'm worried that I may be pledging myself to getting ripped off.
   In particular, I feel that Saul Kent is somewhere in the spectrum 
   between saint and swindler-- I know how much of a driving force 
   he's been behind several organizations in the cryonics movement,
   and I know that he's played the role of organizational savior on
   a number of occasions as well.  

   But I also know that he's made a bundle in the rather lucrative 
   alternative medicines/life-extension markets, and I know that he 
   and the FDA have a history of not getting along very well at all.  
   Likewise, I know that the FDA has a history of not getting along 
   with the LEF or CERI, two organizations which seem to be making a 
   lot of money through their questionable promotion of what I 
   consider to be some very dubious drugs (e.g. deprenyl).  I'd be
   curious to know what, if anything, Mr. Kent has to do with those
   organizations.

   Exactly *how* Mr. Kent has made so much money in that trade is a 
   subject of great interest to me, and I'd also like to know about 
   any lawsuits or legal proceedings that he, his associates, and
   any other major 'players' behind Prometheus may have been a 
   subject to through the years. (I'm not interested in those that
   involved only the disposition of his mother, Dora.  I *am* 
   interested in knowing company names, histories, and what products 
   have been involved.)

   Mr. Kent, please don't take my concerns as an insult.  I consider 
   you too much of a major force behind everything not to want to know 
   a whole lot more about you before offering up a major portion of
   my earnings for the next 10 years.  I don't even know that you'll 
   have an 'official' role in Prometheus, but I'd have to be blind to
   believe that you won't be helping to make any more important 
   decisions affecting that company.  I assume you'd have at least 
   as much caution were the situation reversed.

3) It is *not* at all clear to me how Prometheus will ever earn any money
   for its shareholders, because Everybody who is Anybody seems to be 
   advocating a strategy of holding out a big carrot to the various 
   cryonics-providing companies in one hand while holding a big stick 
   in the other, saying: "Get on board with some major money and you'll 
   get all the goodies cheap.  Otherwise, you can expect to be treated 
   like dirt when That Glorious Day arrives."  Ugh.  Not only does that 
   kind of coercion really annoy me, but this strategy even goes so far
   as to pre-announce that Prometheus will be shafting its individual 
   investors EVEN IF it manages to hit pay dirt.  Gee, thanks.

   I don't buy the idea that individual investors will be compensated 
   eventually-- once everybody else in the world sees the technology 
   work.  What if it doesn't quite work, but the information gleaned
   is still valuable to the existing cryonics community?  And how long 
   would any patents last, anyway?  What's wrong with simply rewarding 
   everybody in proportion to their stock holdings???  Can't you trust
   the market?   DON'T DO THIS!!!  

   Consider:
     If you can't reward your best researchers with stock or options 
     that will be worth something when they succeed, why do you expect 
     they will want to stick with Prometheus if they see the light at the 
     other end of the tunnel?
 
     How do you expect to ever attract any 'outsider' venture capital 
     when your product(s) won't necessarily have a market who will BUY them?
     I suspect that even with major contributions by both Alcor and
     CryoCare, you will *still* need to attract a few million dollars
     worth of VC.  That road will be tough enough to travel even without
     pre-neutering your stock's value.

     Is it *ethical* to lure big money from Alcor/CryoCare/CI/ACS or 
     anybody else with plans that implicitly ignore the contributions 
     made by individuals?
 
   Telling me that I'm not big enough to warrant the same deal as a larger
   investor is NOT a great way to earn my trust OR respect OR my money. 

In summary, if I have to worry too much about getting ripped off, I'd 
rather just take my few marbles and go invest in my future through a 
respectable biotech mutual fund.  

If/when you address my concerns, I'll be willing to make at least the
minimum pledge of $1000/year.  Assuming that Prometheus works, I'll
also certainly make it a point to get signed up with an organization 
that had the foresight to invest in it's own future.  Considerations 
like that -- along with the wishes of its existing members -- should 
be all of the 'extra' incentive that any competitive cryonics organization 
should need to make a decision as to whether or not to invest in a
venture like Prometheus.

Ken Stone


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