First ESG Case Study Discussion!

You are cordially invited to attend the first Entrepreneur Support Group Case Study Discussion!

Monday, February 8, 2010

4 pm cst

427 N. Sheridan Ave, Lake Forest, IL 60045 (see directions below)

Lost?  Call me at 312-725-0161

Invited Attendees:

* Greg Hall, founder, Slix (confirmed)

* Tim Ettus, founder, Greenobambino (confirmed)

* Jon Morris, founder, Rise Interactive (confirmed)

* Dave Ormesher, CEO, closerlook (tentative)

* Gregg Carey, founder, Bunkhouse Media (confirmed)

* Me, founder, Life Phase Media (confirmed)

The purpose of this meeting is to solve a meaningful problem one of us is facing.  In advance of the meeting, the entrepreneur will write up a brief summary of the business problem that is keeping him up at night.  Each participant will read the summary in advance, do his homework and come prepared for a meaningful discussion.  We will kick it around for an hour or two.  After the discussion, we will head out for dinner and drinks.

I’m looking for a volunteer to be the first case study.  It sounds like there is a lot of excitement around Slix and Bunkhouse Media’s recent equity investment.  Maybe Greg or Gregg wants to go first.  I can volunteer to talk about Life Phase Media if these guys don’t step up to it.  We will all get a turn over the next few meetings.

From whom do you want to hear first?  Let me know your thoughts.

Looking forward to kicking this off with a bang!

Dave Linhardt
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The Power of the Mastermind

No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third – a third invisible, intangible force that may be likened to a third mind. You may have noticed many times that by discussing something with another person you suddenly get good ideas as a result of the discussion, ideas you would not have gotten without this association. Well, the same thing happens to the other person. A lot of good ideas have been born in individual minds as a result of having met in committee.

Associating with your mastermind alliance is not meant as a means of letting others do your thinking for you, far from it. It is meant to stimulate your own thinking through the association with other minds. No one knows everything. The more sympathetic minds you get together – that is, minds working for a common purpose – the more related information is going to be available. Great ideas are a combination of related information.

Pick the members of your mastermind group with care. Make sure they’re people you respect and who are hard working and conscientious. You’ll have a lot of fun, and you’ll reach your goals just that much sooner.

Criteria For Mastermind Group

Jon Morris and I were kicking around the idea of starting a Mastermind group for local internet entrepreneurs.  The following is a breif exchange of the potential inclusion criteria.  Please let me know if you have other thoughts.

—

I think this is a helpful idea.  I am currently looking for an advisory board for Life Phase Media, so this is a timely idea as well.

For me, I’m primarily interested in advisors who have experience in my domain – Internet marketing and traditional direct marketing.  So, my criteria would be:

1.  Must have been an entrepreneur at some time in career
2.  Must have run business who uses internet technology an enabling technology for the business or must have run a traditional direct marketing business
3.  Must have a bio that looks impressive to potential investors
4.  Must be a high-character individual

I think the domain expertise necessary would be specific to each company.  In my opinion, #1, #3 and #4 should be minimum requirements for any member.

David Linhardt
Life Phase Media, LLC
President

On Feb 25, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Jon Morris wrote:

David,

I hope that all is well.  I have been giving thought to the group and I think that I am narrowing down what I am looking for.  Basically, I want to create a shared board of advisors.  The challenge is that each of us might have slightly different needs for our board of advisors.  So my thoughts are the following:

1)      We come up with a criteria for people to enter the group and a criteria for people to remain in the group
2)      We have quarterly networking events with everyone
3)      Members agree to serve as a board of advisor for at least one or two organizations:
a.       Quarterly meetings with companies served
b.      Access to periodic phone calls/emails
4)      Individual companies have the right to select the board of advisors desired
5)      Members have the right to select the companies they participate with

Let me know your thoughts.

Jon

__________________________________________
Jon Morris
Rise Interactive

Kauffman Report On Angel Investing

“The average return of angel investments in this study is 2.6 times the investment in 3.5 years – approximately 27 percent Internal Rate of Return (IRR).  This average return compares favorable with the IRRs of other types of private equity investment.”

Kauffman Angel Report

Online display ad spend down 6 percent – iMedia Connection

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Self-pity Is An Opiate

The most insidious problem with drugs is that the human body develops a tolerance for them and requires larger and larger doses to achieve the same effect. The same is true with self-pity. The more you allow yourself to indulge in it, the more you will require.Soon, self-pity will become a habit, one so debilitating that you will rob yourself of all the potential you possess. Happily, there is a cure. If you truly analyze the situation, most often you will find that the problems that have driven you to pity yourself are mostly of your own creation. It follows, then, that the best person to remedy the problem is the person who created it: you yourself

Performance Ad Networks

If you’re looking for website traffic, sales or signups, check out some of the performance-based networks.  You give them your offer creative (banners, text ads, text links, etc.) and they put your offer in the hands of online publishers.

Hydra Networks (www.hydranetwork.com) – They are my favorite network from Maverick.  We were doing over six figures with them every month.

Epic Advertising (www.epicadvertising.com) – Formerly AzoogleAds, Epic is the largest performance-based ad network.  Their COO, Don Mathis, is a Harvard guy, so you know Epic is good ).

Copeac (www.copeac.com) – Fast-growing network.  This company is run with a heavy New York accent and attitude.  Having said that, these guys work hard and are very responsive to customer needs.

Cactus Media (www.cactusmedia.com) – Solid medium-sized network.  The two founders are great guys and generally ethical dudes.