{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "docSlug": "5fadb686cc03", "documentTitle": "Twist Bioscience (TWST)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2022-11-15 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.2941177, "pageNumber": 13, "pageCount": 236, "prevPage": 12, "nextPage": 14, "slideType": "executive_summary", "function": "summarize", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "This slide functions as a 'villain critique' or 'expose' of the target company's operational failures.", "elementsJson": [ "headline_text", "paragraph", "numbered_list" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/13", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-13", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "Twist has no value proposition beyond price and is a bottom-tier vendor with a poor reputation, viewed as inferior to even Chinese vendors.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0931-74b9-a338-c4cf3e52248f", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.45, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.48 }, "kind": "list", "text": "1. Ex-employees, customers, and competitors indicate that Twist has no value proposition beyond price, and describe them as a bottom-tier commodity vendor with a poor reputation - inferior to even cheap Chinese players like Genscript - due to severe lead time and quality control problems, as well as numerous product limitations around sequence length and type. A major pharma customer bluntly stated that “they don’t offer anything innovative” and was dismissive of their future, stating Twist may “go bankrupt or collapse” because of its insane pricing. An industry executive friendly with the CEO stated it’s “well known” that Twist’s product is inferior and its quality struggles are a “fairly known problem.” An ex-Twist director-level employee indicated that Twist has “no advantage” or differentiation.\n\n2. Customers indicate Twist is far slower vs. competitors at delivering DNA sequences, a sharp contrast to its claim of a “high throughput silicon platform.” Novartis, a large and frustrated customer, summarized a recurring theme: “they ask for a really long time”; “always been slower than competitors” who deliver in 2-4 weeks vs. Twist at 8-10; can’t meet timelines, and now only give them simple orders which even then take 2 months. An ex-Twist employee, a customer via his new employer, is “rarely using Twist now” after delays and quality problems, stating they’ve shifted to two Chinese vendors that are cheaper and “significantly faster” – delivering orders in 3-4 weeks vs. 2-3 months at Twist: “Definitely we were frustrated, so we just walked away.”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "numbered", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "edd46438-556f-4167-aa1b-1dfb316d22bd", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.35, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.12 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Part IV: Twist has no value proposition beyond price and is a bottom-tier vendor with a poor reputation, viewed as inferior to even Chinese vendors, due a) delays and lead-time problems in delivering sequences, which customer indicate are rapidly deteriorating, consistent with color suggesting an operational meltdown; b) major product limitations vs. competitors, regarding sequence length and complexity; c) a lack of sample purity and quality control; d) inability to manufacture larger, consistent lot sizes required by real customers like pharma; e) an inability to deliver at higher-quality GMP standards. As a result, Twist is essentially shut out of larger customers like big pharma and anything that is mission-critical and FDA-related, relegated to smaller academic labs and biotech startups - the “emperor has no clothes” and “scares the living heck out of anyone in the clinical space” who would be “scared to death” of being “censured by the FDA” for using an “inconsistent panel.”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "ef1ffdde-ec32-497f-a46e-000df27947b8", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“they don’t offer anything innovative” — Major pharma customer; “go bankrupt or collapse” — Major pharma customer; “fairly known problem” — Industry executive; “no advantage” — Ex-Twist director-level employee; “they ask for a really long time” — Novartis; “always been slower than competitors” — Novartis; “rarely using Twist now” — Ex-Twist employee; “Definitely we were frustrated, so we just walked away.” — Ex-Twist employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0931-74b9-a338-c8d42c6c340c", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.25, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.05 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Executive Summary", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "692b10b7-71c5-4bab-8153-06a18e88020a", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [ { "name": "Executive summary", "slug": "executive-summary", "agent": null, "layer": "slide", "matchId": "0499e7f0-92d7-4060-aeef-70167428c1f5", "evidence": "The slide is titled 'Executive Summary' and contains a summary of the key points.", "confidence": 0.9 } ], "frameworks": [], "arcBeats": [ { "to": 20, "from": 6, "beatId": "8f2eca0e-8434-4468-bc6b-5d434d1e6d1e", "arcName": "Overcoming the Monster", "arcSlug": "overcoming-monster", "beatName": "Exposing contradictions in Twist's narrative", "beatSlug": null, "evidence": "Detailed criticisms of Twist's business practices and financials", "position": 1, "confidence": 0.8, "parentBeatName": null, "parentBeatSlug": null } ], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }