As with most matters in life, this financing isn't all wrong or all right.  

First, there is no way any bank would loan POET money at 6% or so, and most likely would not loan them money at any rate - a banker would tell POET go to the capital markets, VC's, etc.  Putting aside POET's balance sheet, POET has no net income, so a Bank is out of the question.

Second, I think what was done was pretty much the cost of doing business.  You've got to offer some upside to an entity that is willing to loan money to a company in a speculative situation.  I don't care who the buyer of DL might be, that deal may never close for various reasons, and many of them may signal that POET is in trouble.  With that kind of risk, you need to offer some significant upside if POET hits.

Third, in fairness to Derek's point of view, I think Mika mischaracherized the availability and type of financing that POET was likely to obtain during that conference call.  I went on record saying that at the time and I believe Mika knew full well what kind of deal he could actually do.  I'm sure the intention was to get the share price moving (upward), but other than some here that bought into Mika's "bravado," I don't think it convinced potential serious share price movers to enter the stock.  An aside re Derek's post, Derek talks about if all we've been "told" is correct - well, I think much of what we've been told is right here on this board and gets conflated with what the company has told us.  The DL sale and POET's future are not assured, at least that's how I read it - this remains very, very speculative.

Fourth, if FJ were a traditional banker, I don't think he'd lend POET money at 6% (not that he wouldn't want to) - banker's are constrained in the types of loans they can make and perhaps a sliver of loans can be made to outfits such as POET, can you imagine what regulators and shareholders of a bank would say about such practices?  FJ might end up being the subject of a documentary if he were to make such a loan.

So, your only avenue is to go through the capital markets.  After all, that's why you went public in the first place - not to make investors rich, but to fund your company, and as a by product of success of your company, your investors make money.