{
  "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": 65,
  "pageCount": 236,
  "prevPage": 64,
  "nextPage": 66,
  "slideType": "villain_critique",
  "function": "name_villain",
  "density": "overcrowded",
  "nDataPoints": 0,
  "notes": "The slide uses aggressive metaphors ('suicide bombing contest') and expert quotes to frame the company's strategy as self-destructive.",
  "elementsJson": [
    "paragraph",
    "quote_block",
    "footnote"
  ],
  "metadataConfidence": 0.95,
  "imagePath": null,
  "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/65",
  "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785",
  "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json",
  "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-65",
  "components": [
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.05,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.63
      },
      "kind": "callout",
      "text": "“Race to the bottom”; Twist and Asian competitors are in a price war; Twist is just a commodity supplier to synthetic biology players, not a key player itself",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "primary",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "1c827ae0-2975-4742-88bc-1e417e2e1a43",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.05,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.42
      },
      "kind": "callout",
      "text": "Twist is faced with large, longtime players ready to undercut on price; cheap Asian competitors will underprice any quote and throw cheap labor at the order",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "primary",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "8d0555bd-e061-493a-91f2-140990fe60b3",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.15,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.25
      },
      "kind": "paragraph",
      "text": "Twist’s US-based competitors expressed disbelief similar to Genscript’s, indicating that it’s now a “race to the bottom” and were mystified that Twist would try to take on larger Asian companies with longer operating histories and staying power. A key Twist competitor stated that Chinese companies will now “just find out what we quoted and undercut the quote.”",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "paragraph",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "e01b4bad-5e60-4d26-ba55-0182f7bc402f",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.15,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.7
      },
      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "The phrase “race to the bottom” came up a lot, yeah... I can’t help but wonder if that’s where people get confused, thinking this market is growing to blow up, that their segment of it, Twist’s segment of it, the DNA synthesis piece.",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "testimonial",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "5efd7bd6-b67c-423e-9e33-2145ed5c235c",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.12,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.48
      },
      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "It’s an interesting market... big companies that have been around a long time... GenScript, for example, would just find out what we quoted and undercut the quote. And then, our understanding of the market was GenScript tended to throw more people on a project because they have a low waiver cost in China.",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "testimonial",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "68eced8c-5a7b-4bf5-ae1c-e8b8c45ee7b5",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": null,
      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "“It’s an interesting market. I was going over some stuff the last time I really dove deeply into this. For example, the top competitors for Twist are GenScript, Thermo Fisher - sometimes people refer to them as GeneArt, and IDT - and these are big companies that have been around a long time. Sometimes to get a contract, we had an experience at Gen9 that GenScript, for example, would just find out what we quoted and undercut the quote. And then, our understanding of the market was GenScript tended to throw more people on a project because they have a low waiver cost in China.” — Executive recently at IDT, a key Twist competitor; currently employed at another synthetic biology player",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": null,
      "toolName": "Authority citation",
      "toolSlug": "authority-citation",
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfe8-586c006248a1",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.02,
        "w": 0.3,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.95
      },
      "kind": "source-note",
      "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": null,
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "f8947388-dae1-4f2e-8705-052450ed377e",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    },
    {
      "bbox": {
        "h": 0.15,
        "w": 0.9,
        "x": 0.05,
        "y": 0.08
      },
      "kind": "title",
      "text": "Twist’s strategy started a price war with Chinese manufacturers, sort of like challenging ISIS to a suicide bombing contest.",
      "attrs": null,
      "subkind": "headline",
      "toolName": null,
      "toolSlug": null,
      "confidence": null,
      "componentId": "1173cfc8-fc4e-4964-8995-fa4bd8f2e3f2",
      "frameworkName": null,
      "frameworkSlug": null
    }
  ],
  "metrics": [],
  "tools": [],
  "frameworks": [
    {
      "name": "antagonist-introduction",
      "slug": null,
      "matchId": "6814b9af-5c6f-42e2-88ce-2f02d711d846",
      "evidence": "Frames competitors as a threat and Twist's strategy as self-destructive.",
      "confidence": 0.8
    }
  ],
  "arcBeats": [
    {
      "to": 70,
      "from": 55,
      "beatId": "f840f37b-dc3b-4f69-a41b-48aecbb588b4",
      "arcName": "Overcoming the Monster",
      "arcSlug": "overcoming-monster",
      "beatName": "Presentation of the thesis",
      "beatSlug": null,
      "evidence": "Clear articulation of the case against Twist",
      "position": 3,
      "confidence": 0.8,
      "parentBeatName": null,
      "parentBeatSlug": null
    }
  ],
  "loops": [],
  "imagePathAlt": null,
  "thumbSrc": null,
  "thumbSrcAlt": null,
  "locked": true
}