2006 Year in Review...

I've been thinking over the last few days about writing a MVIS 2006 'Year in Review' blog post. I pretty quickly realized that it would be probably take a book rather than a blog post to do justice to the amazing transformation of the company that has taken place over the last 12 months. But, I can sure put things in a nutshell, as far as I see it at least.

We have a:

New CEO
New Board of Directors
New Management Team
New Business Strategy
New IPM Platform Technology
New World-Leading Development & Manufacturing Partners
New Miniature Green Laser Initiative
New Color Eyewear Initiative
New Tier 1 Automotive HUD Partner
New Helmet Mounted Display Contract
New World’s Smallest Full-Color Laser Projector
New $35M Funding
New Analyst Coverage
New Redmond, WA Headquarters

Not to mention a new Product Manager for Color Eyewear. I've been an employee of the company for about three months now, and it's been a pretty amazing experience. After having watched so closely from the outside for so long, and trying my best to influence things to whatever degree I could, it's very exciting and gratifying to be able to get out of bed in the morning and come in here and focus my energy to push this thing forward.

Having been in touch with so many of our shareholders over the time I've been writing this blog, and being a shareholder myself, I always think about the activities we’re undertaking in the context of the value they will create for shareholders. But beyond the monetary value we hope to create, there is a sense of mission and purpose here – we realize that the technology and products that are being developed here have the potential to change the world in a fundamental way. Our projectors for mobile phones are intended to inspire and delight people, and allow personal mobile content that's currently constrained to a small screen to be projected as big as life, anywhere. Our work on automotive head-up displays is targeting improved driver safety and awareness that should ultimately save lives. Our efforts to provide see-through helmet mounted displays to our men and women in harm’s way are designed to improve their safety and effectiveness in the harshest and most dangerous conditions. Not least, we’re excited about the progress we’re making on Color Eyewear displays, and intend to deliver personal visual experiences that are unique and compelling, and elevate the usability and potential of mobile devices beyond what’s possible with traditional display technology.

We know we have something really special here in this company. What's important to realize is that the fundamental building blocks that are required for this company to be successful, including the new management, new board, new strategy and new technology platform, have been put in place during 2006. That part of the rebuilding effort is in the rear view mirror now. 2007 and beyond will be dedicated to executing the business strategy that was defined early this year and enabled through the building blocks highlighted above. We’re totally focused on bringing our IPM platform technology to market, inside exciting new OEM products that meet significant unmet market needs. We believe that digital information and personal media should be pervasive, portable and uncompromised. We think the rest of the world is coming around to our way of thinking – and we are excited about the role we can play to bring valuable new applications and compelling new experiences into being.

Thanks for being my wingmen on this awesome journey. I’m really indebted to you all for your contributions for story ideas, your comments and your ongoing encouragement and readership. Stay tuned for what is sure to be an exciting 2007. We expect to put the accelerator to the floor...!