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#1
September 22, 2021, 10:08 PM
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I think the high failure rate makes it complicated...
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The way the venture capitalists and angel investors usually do it is as a kind of "calculated gamble"... They figure that most of the businesses they invest in will fail. However, the profits from the few that make it, will make it so big, that it will more than make up for the losses! According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, about three-quarters of venture-backed businesses fail to return the money invested in them... The Venture Capital Secret: 3 Out of 4 Start-Ups Fail https://archive.is/kFRAx And that's after all the huge amount of due diligence that venture capital companies do! They only invest in the cream of the crop! So... you'd have to accept that the money you invest in most businesses will disappear in a puff of smoke... I think that's why you don't see more of it happening... I did find one entity - a non-profit - which will do small, low-interest loans to businesses in the USA, even those with a low credit rating... It's Accion... They'll loan $5,000 to $100,000, at rates as low as 5.99% interest, but... You have to have been in business for 12 months, making at least $50,000 a year in revenue... Accion: Small Business Loans in the U.S. https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/p...ans-in-the-u-s So you really have to be in business already... One of my brothers is an angel investor, and I've done some of this kind of investing myself (though not as much as him)... He's made money on his investments. It works just like with venture capital... Most of his investments will lose money, but of the few that make money, one or two will make so much return for him, that it will more than make up for all the losses... I think it's hard to do because of the high failure rate! I think it often does come down to what Glenn was talking about... People often spend money to avoid having to think... So all that money they have quickly flies out the window... I do know that many of these kind of investors invest in two important things - both the people behind it, and the idea behind the business... Not one or the other, but both... You have to be impressed with both... (You often see that on Shark Tank!) Dien
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Last edited by Dien Rice : September 23, 2021 at 12:39 AM. 
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#2
September 23, 2021, 01:03 PM
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I guess Ben Suarez was right.
This from 1998, and 7 Steps to Freedom II by Ben Suarez,
only 1 in 7 tested offers are winners, and you could go 13 before you hit the two. And like the venture capitalists vetted the cream, his offers were written and designed by professionals, and still, only 1 in 7 and I understand those numbers have held up the last 23 years too. Which sort of matches businesses started and those closed and if one includes all the Network, MLM, and distributor types, it may be closer to 1 in 100. My opinion, even reading PLANS for the big multi-million dollar investments is, sure, they (the investor) may like the product and the person...but as we see on the shark tank types, SELDOM is there a vetted marketing program, and the EGOS alone on that show, they think that is what they bring. But at the lower level, like down here, where I'm talking I think it would be the only thing I would look at, or the FIRST THING, as well as the idea and person. Some people, no matter how good his idea, is just NEVER going to make it happen. So, before I invested, I want to know HOW WILL YOU BE SELLING YOUR _______ WHATEVER? To whom, where, when and how? I've dealt with scores of inventors, and very few of them give any attention to the marketing, and when I did (or the team behind my decision), and told them we would PASS on it, they got offended, because they just knew they had the greatest thing that EVERYONE would want. NO. Now as a corollary, in the employment arena, companies like PSI and MHS and dozen of others offer testing and evaluations. Likewise, a small investor group which not only offers moolah, but TRAINING and EDUCATION to those applying might have an advantage. Take those guys turned down on the Shark Tank, many lick their wounds, some get defensive and a few LEARN what they need to do to make their offer more attractive. So, say a guy wants 5k to start his Blog, I'd have to know what the market is, and how HE is going to market. Of course, his topic has to be right and all that. But what if he wants to start a forum? Do you think we have enough experience to guide him, or will we need another 21 years to figure it out? What is missing from ALL the investors, and what I perceive is needed, although I could be dead wrong...there are those who will say, THEY need to have that first, before they ask for money (and they may not be wrong). But like the person applying for a job which requires knowing MS Excel, and he doesn't...the employment agency, which may offer this to him, with payback after he gains employment, may be busier than the one which says SORRY, YOU DON'T QUALIFY. I don't know, just spitballing this thing, but I think with some vetting, and of course a willingness to learn attitude on the other side, some pretty good ideas might come out of making a little bit of money available, even knowing most will probably be losing propositions. Gordon Quote:
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#3
September 23, 2021, 09:05 PM
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Business and marketing go together like bread and butter...
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I'm sometimes amazed how many small business people know very little about marketing... I think it's because I've been drinking the "marketing kool-aid" for a couple of decades now... so its importance is so obvious to me... Anyway, you may have something there! There's a lot of marketing knowhow missing from many folks... And they don't even realize that it's what they need... Great insights...  That could change the equation...! Best wishes! Dien
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#4
September 24, 2021, 09:41 AM
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Before they get the money...no matter the amount...
Just thinking aloud...
A members only website. Small monthly fee. The TOS include Non compete, NDA, and an agreement to take the 101 Entrepreneurial quiz. Sort of an assessment of biz/marketing knowledge. So, all requests for funding, come from those who have signed off on the whole idea first of all. NOT just net surfers who wander by looking for a handout. Then, a VIEW FROM THE ROOFTOP, how does the project proceed, what does the Map LOOK like, and what route have you (the seeker of funding) chosen and what obstacles are in the way. On the Shark Tank, the "contestants" are vetted for entertainment value and a mix of good ideas and real idiots are presented to the viewers, every show has someone we shake our heads at, this is of course, TV at its worse. With investors, angel, group or VC, they get as much information as they can, and then decide, although at the upper levels, it is amazing to see their choices and we see GREED as a big factor too. But BOOTSTRAPPERS, who are hungry, may often only need guidance, and their energy channeled into productive activity, someone to be there (like AAA was for the car traveler of yesteryear) when they encounter a detour. The investor group should have the expertise to send a tow truck (to beat a metaphor) to assist. This insures the investment and gives the Entrepreneur support. Why would I give any money to someone who doesn't know what a profit/loss statement looks like, or does not have a marketing budget and strategy, vetted and looked at, why would they think they should be funded? So, steps would be to FIRST get only those members who have agreed to the TOS, passed the entry exam and have a decent VIEW from above and a MAP to get them there. All that comes from the set-up. Sure, available funding may be the attraction, but the screening process may give the most qualified prospects who can turn a bootstrap startup into an ongoing cash cow. Again, just thinking aloud here. Gordon Quote:
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#5
September 29, 2021, 04:35 PM
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I Worked with a Millionaire Retired FBI Agent Who Spent 1 Million on Radio Tests
Thanks Gordon/Dien,
Brilliant guy I met at a 25K seminar. I got to watch while He Tested Dozens and dozens of ideas. Paid full price for Radio Ad Tests. Quickly went thru a Million Bucks. Confessed to me His EGO got the better of him. At the time a 30 Second ad on a Radio Station in Arkansas was only 10 bucks. MUCH better place to test. Every single Idea We Tested - on National Radio - by Spending Moolah FLOPPED. How did he get so rich you ask. Well. The Client we were working with at the time - An attorney who specialized in Car Accidents - Didn't have his System Packaged up. No Marketing. No Print Manual. Audio or video Course. So While we were doing that. The National Association of Attorneys REACHED OUT and Asked if our Client would TEACH 100's of other LESS SUCCESSFUL attorneys how to use his Software Program. REQUIRED each year. All Attorney's have to Do Continuing Education Courses. SANDY got in front of 100's of them. MANDATED to show up in one Place By LAW. And with the Systems we Created Started making MILLIONS! Success from a Completely UNPREDICTABLE direction. THIS Is why You Want to test Fast and Free. Thanks, Glenn P.S. - Notice how this fits Jay Abraham's HOST - PARASITE Model?
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#6
September 29, 2021, 11:34 PM
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Incredible suprises in business...
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Love that story...! I like how he spent big... which lost him lots of money... Yet from a completely free angle, he surprisingly made a lot! Business is often like that... The thing is, the opportunities only come if you're "playing the game"... If you're hiding and doing nothing, the opportunities are often not there, or you won't see them... As you said... "THIS Is why You Want to test Fast and Free." Best wishes! Dien
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Last edited by Dien Rice : September 30, 2021 at 01:39 AM.
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#7
September 30, 2021, 11:05 AM
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My first virtual product HOW TO START A CULT FOR FUN AND PROFIT.
Thanks Glenn, my head is still spinning from our chat, you sent me down many rabbit holes.
In my very first electronic book, circa 1985, I wrote about starting a CULT, or a club if cult offended one... And I wrote about getting rich via starting your own ASSOCIATION. I thought about starting two of them way back in the 1970s, one for NON PGA golf instructors and one for RESUME writers. Alas, I did NOT. But in your post is the GOLDEN TICKET to recurring passive income, make them RENEW every year. I had that idea for the SQ1 Trainers too, but that isn't one I want to pursue. How about being a doctor, doing injectables, like Botox, and having to spend THOUSANDS every year to keep your certification up? And what if the person doing the certifications were getting a % of sales of botox too? Yeah, that actually happens. Your club is sort of like an association, any recurring membership idea is going to go a long way to keeping a fire in the stove and belly full, eh? Gordon Quote:
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#8
October 1, 2021, 09:57 PM
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The time I (willingly) stayed at a cult-run hotel...
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I've had a long fascination with cults... Let me go off on a tangent... About the time I stayed in a cult-run hotel... In 1994, I was a post-grad student. I attended a conference at Drexel University, in Philadelphia... The conference had the exciting title of "The 4th Drexel Symposium on Quantum Nonintegrability"... (I just looked it up.) (My initial background is as a quantum physicist...) When you attend conferences like this, you organize your own accommodation. However, they usually provide you with a list of suggested places you can stay, which are near the conference venue... One of the options was "The Divine Tracy Hotel"... I read about it... It was pretty weird... It was run by a group called "The International Peace Mission Movement." That was an organization started in the 1920s, by a man who called himself "Father Divine"... Father Divine was an African-American man, but his following was mixed race, where people of different races lived together in harmony... Quite revolutionary for the time. His story was that Jesus was the "Son," but now Father Divine claimed that he was God the "Father" who had come down to earth... He forbade his followers from marrying. However, at age 65, he married a white Canadian woman who was 21 years old, or 44 years younger than him... However, they apparently never consummated their marriage... She became known as "Mother Divine"... Being much younger than him, she outlived him by quite a long time. She was still alive when I stayed at the Divine Tracy Hotel... Rumor was that she could sometimes be seen hanging around the hotel... There's also a Jim Jones connection. It's said that Jim Jones was inspired by Father Divine's multi-racial following, and incorporated this into his own cult... After Father Divine died, Jim Jones also tried to take over the International Peace Mission Movement... However, Mother Divine fought him tooth and nail to prevent that from happening... The Divine Tracy Hotel itself was quite strange... Men and women had to stay on separate floors! Also, women were not allowed to wear trousers at all... they had to wear (long) skirts... It was also very cheap... So... of course, I stayed there! Apart from having no women on my floor, it was really just like a regular hotel... Oh, with their own holy literature in the drawer of the bedside table... (I browsed through that literature at the time... I think I remember reading that Father Divine had predicted that the USA and Australia would merge as nations...) Just thought I'd share the story! The Divine Tracy Hotel is no more... it was later sold in 2006... Mother Divine has also since passed away (in 2017, at the age of 91)... Because Father Divine's followers were not allowed to marry, that means there were no kids... And by the time I stayed in the hotel, it was really a cult of old ladies... The International Peace Mission Movement was reported to once have had millions of followers... But now, it's reported to have dwindled down to around 12 to 15 members... Best wishes, Dien Last edited by Dien Rice : October 1, 2021 at 10:07 PM.
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