Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Nature of operations

v3.7.0.1
Nature of operations
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Nature of operations  
Nature of operations

Note 1 - Nature of operations

 

                Corporate Structure Overview Since 1985

 

Mentor Capital, Inc. (“Mentor” or “the Company”), which reincorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in late 2015, was founded as an investment partnership in Silicon Valley, California by the current CEO in 1985 and was originally incorporated under the laws of the State of California on July 29, 1994. On September 12, 1996, the Company’s offering statement was qualified pursuant to Regulation A of the Securities Act, and the Company began to trade its shares publicly. On August 21, 1998, the Company filed for voluntary reorganization and, on January 11, 2000, the Company emerged from Chapter 11. The Company relocated to San Diego, California and contracted to provide financial assistance and investment into small businesses. On May 22, 2015, a corporation, named Mentor Capital, Inc. (“Mentor Delaware”) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. On June 30, 2015, a vote of the holders of a majority of outstanding shares entitled to vote approved an Agreement and Plan of Merger providing for the merger of Mentor with Mentor Delaware and in which Mentor Delaware was the surviving entity. The merger was approved by the California and Delaware Secretaries of State, and became effective September 24, 2015, thereby establishing Mentor as a Delaware corporation.

 

                Current Business (2008 - 2016)

 

Since the August 2008, name change back to Mentor Capital, Inc., the Company’s common stock has traded publicly under the trading symbol OTCQB: MNTR.

 

In 2009, the Company began focusing its investing activities in leading edge cancer companies. In 2012, in response to government limitations on reimbursement for highly technical and expensive cancer treatments and a resulting business decline in the cancer development sector, the Company decided to exit that space. In the summer of 2013 the Company was asked to consider investing in a medical marijuana related project with a cancer focus. On August 29, 2013, the Company made a decision to divest of its cancer assets and focus future investments in the cannabis and medical marijuana sector.

 

Mentor has a 51% interest in Waste Consolidators, Inc. (“WCI”). WCI was incorporated in Colorado in 1999 and operates in Arizona and Texas. It is a legacy investment which was acquired prior to the Company’s current focus on the cannabis sector and is included in the consolidated financial statements presented.

 

On February 18, 2014, the Company signed an agreement to purchase a 51% interest in MicroCannaBiz, LLC (“MCB”), for $200,000, see Note 11. MCB is a Limited Liability Company organized in Florida in January 2014 which began operations in June 2014. MCB provides cannabis and marijuana related private companies, investors and microcap issuers with information resources including client company specific publications, directories, and continuing education courses. On April 27, 2015, Mentor converted its equity contribution of $74,000 to a ten year note receivable from MCB and MCB’s remaining member as provided in the funding agreement, see Note 11. The Company was not successful in collecting on the note receivable and after consultation with collection attorneys, the note was impaired in its entirety in November 2015.

 

On February 28, 2014, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase 60% of the outstanding shares of Bhang Corporation, formerly known as Bhang Chocolate Company, Inc. (“Bhang”), which was ultimately rescinded. Following arbitration, on December 29, 2016, Mentor obtained a judgment against Bhang in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The judgment is comprised of $1,500,000 invested by Mentor into Bhang plus pre-judgment interest in the amount of $421,534.62. The judgment also accrues post-judgment interests at the rate of 10% from December 29, 2016 until such time as the judgment is paid in full. Amounts paid to Bhang is reported as Receivable from Bhang Chocolate Company in the consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2016 and 2015. Interest receivable is fully reserved at December 31, 2016 and 2015 pending the outcome of the Company’s collection process.

 

On April 20, 2015, the Company acquired 100% of a Georgia sole proprietorship, dba Investor Webcast (“CAST”) valued at $469,611 in exchange for 4,696 to-be-created Series B convertible preferred shares of Mentor. On May 7, 2015, Mentor formed a Delaware limited liability company subsidiary, Investor Webcast, LLC, to hold the assets of CAST. CAST provides cannabis related private companies, investors and microcap issuers with investor information through webcasts, conferences, email and an evolving mix of media products, investment publications, industry financial research, and by other means. After one year, the to-be-created Series B convertible preferred shares could be converted, in steps or in whole, into shares of Mentor common stock. The to-be-created Series B convertible preferred shares were to convert to shares of Mentor’s common stock based on the conversion formula applied to operating results for the preceding four calendar quarters, as defined in the Purchase Agreement (as defined below). Due to low revenue and a net loss experienced by CAST in 2015, as well as revised cash projections for the future 5 years, the fair value of the convertible security liability at December 31, 2015 was $0.

 

On March 1, 2016, the Company entered into a Mutual Termination Agreement and General Release in which the certain Investor Webcast – Mentor Capital Cannabis Owners Public Liquidity Agreement effective April 20, 2015 (the “Purchase Agreement”) and the Convertible Security Agreement between Mentor and the prior owner of CAST were cancelled and terminated, resulting in a disposition of CAST assets and liabilities by the Company. Pursuant to Section 3 of the Purchase Agreement, the CAST owner was to receive Mentor shares according to Mentor’s conversion formula specified in the agreement. However, the CAST business did not evolve as quickly as CAST owners expected and the result of the conversion formula was a negative number less than zero at the time of the termination. Therefore, the parties by mutual consent dissolved their relationship. The CAST prior owner received assets valued at $7,408, assumed liabilities of $17,587 and received $500 in cash. Mentor forgave an intercompany note receivable from CAST of $23,225, direct intercompany charges of $10,284, and $17,043 of intercompany overhead receivable from CAST. Two prior employees were also paid $50 each.

 

On June 25, 2015, the Company formed Canyon Crest Holdings, LLC (“CCH), a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Mentor. CCH was formed to provide management services to the rapidly evolving cannabis sector. Services to be provided may include but are not limited to: 1) Branding, marketing, administrative and consulting services; 2) Compliance and legal services; and 3) accounting and financial services. There have been no operations in CCH during 2016. Operations of CCH are included in consolidated financial statements from the date of inception (June 25, 2015) through December 31, 2015.

 

On August 21, 2015, Mentor entered into an agreement with an individual known to CCH operating management by which the individual purchased to-be-created Mentor Series C convertible preferred shares for $120,000. After one year, the to-be-created Series C convertible preferred shares could have been converted, in steps or in whole, into Mentor common shares. At the time of the agreement, Mentor was awaiting state approval of its reincorporation under the laws of the State of Delaware and the Series C convertible preferred shares had not yet been created. Therefore, upon Mentor’s receipt of the invested amount, a convertible security was issued to the purchaser which could be converted to Mentor Series C convertible preferred shares once the preferred shares were created. Mentor loaned the $120,000 to CCH for investment into another entity, however, due to internal disagreement between the startup entity’s managers, the planned startup operation has been discontinued. Due to the fact that the planned operation has been discontinued, the fair value of the convertible security liability is $0 at both December 31, 2016 and 2015. In March 2016 the Company designated the individual investor as holder of 120,000 of Mentor’s unexercised Series D warrants, exercisable at $1.60 plus the $0.10 warrant fee.

 

Mentor IP, LLC (MCIP)

 

On April 18, 2016, the Company formed Mentor IP, LLC (“MCIP”), a South Dakota limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Mentor. MCIP was formed to hold the patent rights obtained on April 4, 2016 when Mentor Capital, Inc. entered into that certain "Larson - Mentor Capital, Inc. Patent and License Fee Facility with Agreement Provisions for an -- 80% / 20% Domestic Economic Interest -- 50% / 50% Foreign Economic Interest" with R. L. Larson and Larson Capital, LLC (“MCIP Agreement”). Pursuant to the MCIP Agreement, MCIP obtained rights to an international patent application for foreign THC and CBD cannabis vape pens under the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970, as amended. On approval of the United States patent application, MCIP intends to seek exclusive licensing rights in the United States for THC and CBD cannabis vape pens for various THC and CBD percentage ranges and concentrations.