{ "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": 97, "pageCount": 236, "prevPage": 96, "nextPage": 98, "slideType": "expose_contradiction", "function": "expose_contradiction", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide uses a Q&A format to build credibility for the core thesis of operational failure.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "bullet_list", "quote_block", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/97", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-97", "components": [ { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.35 }, "kind": "callout", "text": "Rework is a key driver of Twist’s manufacturing and cost problems; have to keep re-making genes due to errors; “very high failure rates”; inability to properly make longer or more complex sequences", "attrs": null, "subkind": "primary", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "a47c7b83-8fd5-4ecb-8288-1a2f511eff9e", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "A former Twist employee in senior product and sales roles also framed “very high error rates” and re-work as the key reason why manufacturing costs and losses have spiraled out of control: “you sequence five and two of them are right...if it’s a complicated sequence, you sequence 15 and maybe none of them are right.” He indicated that the problem worsens exponentially with sequence length, and that “they don’t have the capabilities to do a lot of it,” confirming their niche as a low-quality, commodity manufacturer that competes solely on pricing and discounts.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "96c59997-aa41-4517-b2d0-d19bef03d289", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.45, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.45 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Q: “When you say they didn’t get the efficiencies that they want, what did you observe that was inefficient? Was it the amount of labor? The speed? The cost of the inputs? There must be a big driver.”\nA: “Reworks. When you’re making a fixed-length gene and they do 1.8 KB or something is their largest size, and if it’s an easy sequence, you sequence five and two of them are right. If it’s a complicated sequence, you sequence 15, and maybe none of them are right. So, your costs very quickly change since sequencing is a big driver of the cost there.”\nQ: “Is it that the longer the sequence, the more quality problems you have and the more attempting to redo it?”\nA: “The longer the sequence and the higher complexity of the sequence. So, that can be GC percentages, so how much of a GC versus AT. If you go from a low of like 20% to up to 65% or 70%, you can handle that. When you get outside those bounds, some organisms definitely have genes outside those boundaries, and even some of the human genomes are outside those bounds. It’s much harder to assemble. So, when you introduce the GC complexity - and sequence complexity. So, if you have a lot of the same sequence repeated, which a lot of genes do, that’s also very complex to assemble. So, you introduce all three of these complexities: GC content that’s somewhere out of range, repetitive sequence, and long, you start getting very high failure rates”\nQ: “Where and how much of a problem was that for Twist? How much time, effort, and people did that take for them?”\nA: “They don’t have the capabilities to do a lot of it. It was a lot of effort and the cost of the sequencing, so you had to go back and get other clones, and that’s just someone putting a work list together to redo that. Sequencing is a pretty big percentage of the cost of making a gene, so it gets expensive. Of course, the longer the gene is the higher your failure rate.” --Ex-employee in senior product management and sales leadership roles", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "d052e839-5f4f-40e7-ace1-6cd986e2b464", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“When you’re making a fixed-length gene and they do 1.8 KB or something is their largest size, and if it’s an easy sequence, you sequence five and two of them are right. If it’s a complicated sequence, you sequence 15, and maybe none of them are right. So, your costs very quickly change since sequencing is a big driver of the cost there.” — Ex-employee in senior product management and sales leadership roles", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfec-eceb8a0a21a7", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.03, "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": "633f7119-ff34-4c02-a96c-1512b467806f", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "authority-citation", "slug": null, "matchId": "5f064a7e-f094-4be3-af71-b2b6b5c52b55", "evidence": "Uses expert testimony to validate claims", "confidence": 0.9 } ], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [ { "to": 100, "from": 90, "name": "Cost Of Inaction", "slug": "27-cost-of-inaction", "bestFor": "Urgent budget requests, compliance, risk mitigation", "matchId": "ba084e17-8baa-48c4-95ae-b7f2113f8ae2", "evidence": "Analysis of Twist's financial struggles and industry implications", "position": 1, "objective": "Highlight the consequences of Twist's actions", "structure": "The Status Quo -> The Hidden Costs Accumulating -> The Future State of Inaction -> The Tipping Point", "confidence": 0.6, "description": "Quantify what happens if the audience does nothing" } ], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }