I LOST MY BELT (NO REWARD)
Karl Dakin
Capital Coach | Stakeholder Investor Campaigns | Design, Stage, and Manage or Support | Reduce Time, Money, and Risk of Raising Funding | Increase Probability of Success! | Opportunity Management
CONTENTS
?·?????? Quick Calendar
·?????? Funding Points
·?????? Successful Funding
·?????? Don Cohen Show
·?????? Opportunities
·?????? Subscribe – Daily or Weekly Editions
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QUICK CALENDAR
?I quickly list here upcoming opportunities where I will be sharing information, lessons in funding, or meeting in person or via videoconferencing.
?May 31 (change of date from Tuesday to Friday) – Successful Funding - Back Office – Justin Lowell
?June 4 – Successful Funding – Leadership – Kon Apostolopoulos
?June 12 - SuperCrowd Chicago – Workshop on Crafting Crowdfunding Offers
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?FUNDING POINT – I LOST MY BELT (NO REWARD)
?As I went through security at the Austin airport, the security screening device disappeared my belt like a sock in the dryer. A magician may have performed the same trick in a shorter period of time at a much lower cost to the taxpayer (for the machine, not my belt).
?I quickly learned that the only store that sold belts were limited to women – no men’s belts. This edition of my Instant Funding newsletter could jump off at this point into a number of topics dealing with gender, equality and the like, but I am going to follow up on my edition on Monday where I addressed the need to prepare for disasters.
?When I prepared the business plan for the project, which took me to Texas and back to Denver, I did not include the threat assessment of what might happen if I lost my belt. This possibility was not even considered. If I had thought of it, I would have assigned the probability so low that I would not taken any special action. Even if the probability had been higher, I would have assumed that I could quickly take corrective action that would have solved the problem.
?This is the situation in which a business commonly finds itself. A problem arrives unexpectedly. It is not a disaster. It can be fixed. Nonetheless, it is one more thing that may stress the budget, timetable, or a sense of wellbeing. Is this like the story of the English king who lost a battle for lack of nail to hold a shoe on a horse needed for a battle or is it just a nuisance that will be dealt with and quickly forgotten?
?Early in my career, I took what I thought was a minor risk that proved to be of greater magnitude, costing me six months of delay and a loss of time. I took away from this lesson of life that I should try to avoid all risks whenever possible.
?I describe the situation as an illustration of the difference between playing on the edge of a cliff and playing at a distance from the edge. The same act conducted in different ways may have wildly different results.
?As an entrepreneur, where risks occur constantly and threats are given, it is possible to become too accustomed to risk-taking. This may be a desire for a constant adrenaline high or simply taking for granted that things can and will go wrong.
?It is recommended that a small business block out time periodically to do a threat assessment. If necessary, make a game out of it and reward members of the team for their creativity. However, this exercise may surface legitimate threats that had not been considered or recognized threats for which a proper counter or fall back has been prepared.
?Now, I have to do this assessment in real-time and find a belt or a reasonable substitute.
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SUCCESSFUL FUNDING
Friday, May 31st (not the usual Tuesday date), the next show for Successful Funding, will feature as my guest Justin Lowell with Form Factor. We will discuss getting the back office of a small business in order to support a capital campaign.
?You may register to attend this show at:
?You can see all of my shows at the time of broadcast or recordings of past shows at my profile on LinkedIn.
?DON COHEN SHOW
领英推荐
This morning, I was a guest on Don Cohen’s show. You may see a recording of the show at:
?I enjoy being a guest, engaging in conversations with other guests, and building communities with Don, using LinkedIn as a communication channel. Every show is its own adventure as we start with a word of the day and then see where the conversation goes from there.
Don is an expert on LinkedIn, particularly on the use of Live streaming to build brands and communities. We will discuss using LinkedIn as a social media platform for building communities that support raising funding.
All shows where I have been a guest can be viewed on Don Cohen's LinkedIn page under Posts.
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OPPORTUNITIES
Community Revitalization Funds
I am teaming with a number of experts in community engagement, organization and funding to develop a model for a community investment fund that can provide capital to a set of local projects that can collectively and interactively generate sufficient economic activity to serve as a foundation for a community’s future growth.
We are seeking seed funding in the form of a short-term loan that will be repaid out of Reg CF crowdfunding campaign. Anyone interested in learning more and discussing a demonstration, please contact:
Karl Dakin at [email protected]
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AeroCine
With avian flu in the news and a growing number of cases of diseases and pathogens transmitted by air, I am advocating the use of cold plasma as a safe and effective way to continuously disinfect the air and surfaces within any kind of building.
I can provide Pathogen Focus disinfection equipment and conduct a small-scale clinical demonstration on-site in the field. Anyone interested in learning more and discussing a demonstration, please contact:
Karl Dakin at [email protected]
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The Ultimate Dinosaur Park
I will be in Texas this week visiting different site candidates for a theme park that will feature full size, highly realistic, animatronic dinosaurs. The theme park would be positioned with advanced robotics, workforce training and economic development.
I am exploring possible relationships with developers, hospitality operators and other attractions.
Anyone interested in learning more and discussing a demonstration, please contact:
Karl Dakin at [email protected]
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SUBSCRIBE - THE DAILY EDITION OR THE WEEKLY EDITION
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This Instant Funding newsletter is now available in a Daily Edition or a Weekly Edition. You may choose between this Edition, published seven times a week, or the Weekly Edition, published once a week. If you are already subscribed to the Daily Edition and wish to change, just ‘unsubscribe’ and then ‘subscribe’ to the Weekly Edition.
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Karl Dakin, the Capital Coach
Dakin Capital LLC
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Sooner or later all of us entrepreneur-types will get too close to that proverbial "cliff edge." Make sure Karl is nearby.