Here in the State of Washington, we lost our patience with the Federal government, it’s JOBS Act, and the lack of rules making progress at the SEC. In 2014, we passed the Washington Jobs Act, and starting November 1st, it is legal for Washington businesses to sell equity to any Washington residents. With some limits. Companies can raise up to $1 million Investors can invest the greater...
In working with 100+ entrepreneurs at my accelerator, my pre-accelerator, in my MBA class and elsewhere, I constantly see entrepreneurs looking forward into the unknown future, but few looking backward. Not backward into the past, but backward from their ultimate goal. This is most easily explained by stepping back to pre-school, back to the time when you first learned about mazes: In this maze...
In the complicated path from idea to startup, there often come times when a larger-than-normal hurdles get in the way. Not impossible hurdles. Not something outrageous. Just a hurdle that seems difficult, but which can be solved using brute force. Brute force solutions can take a few hours of effort or a few weeks of effort. The commonality is that they are monotonous, time consuming, and...
Here in the State of Washington, we lost our patience with the Federal government, it’s JOBS Act, and the lack of rules making progress at the SEC. In early 2014, we passed the Washington Jobs Act, and are moving forward toward legal equity crowdfunding for Washington companies and residents. The last step in that process are the rules from our State regulator, the Department of Financial...
Another year, another 2,200+ impact investors, foundations, nonprofits, and social entrepreneurs gathered together at SOCAP, the social capital conference, the intersection of of money + meaning. With up to 11 simultaneous sessions over multiple days, plus a dozen scheduled meetings, and two dozen unscheduled, I barely scratched the surface of the event. In this post, I summarize a few of my...
Early stage impact investors face a market that has few acquisitions, fewer IPOs, and is filled with entrepreneurs who liken selling their companies to selling out. How can investors earn a reasonable (or market rate) return? This workshop will share the investment structure used by Fledge – the conscious-company accelerator – as a framework for discussing and sharing our ideas for investing in a...
Time again for the annual visit to San Francisco to attend and present at SOCAP, the social capital conference. Once again this year, I’ll be running a workshop, “Investing without Exits“, Wednesday, 2:20pm in the Fleet Room. Early stage impact investors face a market that has few acquisitions, fewer IPOs, and is filled with entrepreneurs who liken selling their companies to...
One often misunderstood topic of entrepreneurship is “sustainable competitive advantage“, and specifically, the advantage from a “network effect“. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon, iTunes, and many other modern technologies succeeded due to this effect, but the anecdote I like to use is almost 150 years old, the telephone. The anecdote goes this like: One telephone has...
I’ve spent the last few weeks reading applications upon applications. 122 applications for Fledge. Another 56 for Social Venture Partner Seattle’s Fast Pitch. Plus a few dozen more for Seattle Magazine‘s upcoming Impactful Company Awards. All of these in just the past 60 days. Earlier this year were more than a hundred others at five business plan competitions at local...
Podcast: What’s up Bainbridge, “From Idea to Plan” Do you have an idea for a must-have product or service, but need help with what comes next? On four Tuesdays in July, OfficeXpats at the Pavilion in Winslow is offering a lunchtime course to take your business or nonprofit idea to the next step. Interview with School for Startups Radio Join host Jim Beach everyday at 8:00pm EST...
