A doer not just a talker: Rasmus Lee and his adventures opening hygee bakery in Downtown Los Angeles, Part 1 of a 6 Part Series, “doer’s not just talkers.”

Rasmus Lee and his partners are so close to opening a true, Danish bakery-Cafe serving fresh, just out of the oven, light, flaky, pastry and breakfast fare for the residents of South Park Los Angeles and the greater Downtown Los Angeles community, providing a needed service for South Park-in essence an alternative to Starbucks and providing 25-35 new full time and part time jobs to the under-employed.

He and his partners have brought on board a dynamic, professional expert from Denmark to assure quality and standards.

You can just imagine the aroma of fresh baked goods wafting from the greasless-kitchen, the scene of a busy, kitchen which can be viewed from the large windows. Hope Street, South Park Los Angeles, all the residents, and all the stake holders will benefit from Hygee Bakery: In a recession and Rasmus took financial and professional risks to open and he has had to go through significant difficulties to realize his goal.

This blog, and this author truly salute the perserverance of Rasmus and Co.,

Bottom-Line: If you knew the full-story, the drama behind the scenes of what it will take to finally open, you would agree, that at the end of the day, Rasmus, Premiere Real Estate (www.premiererealestatebroker.com), and all his partners have undergone a trial by fire in order to provide our South Park L.A residents an added value: A full-service, specialized, gourmet Danish bakery.

My team at The South Park Development Group (www.flvllc.com) is their neighbor and we can’t wait to walk two doors down for a light breakfast and some coffee. To all South Park residents- let’s support local innovation, let’s all become more than customers of Hygee Bakery and Rasmus’ efforts-let’s become members, regulars, and help turn the tide.

Soon to come: Part Three, Opening Day-which we will upload onto this site via live video-cast and flash around the world on You Tube and via a twitter-campaign.

kevin roberts: enter the jungle

On writing copy for email marketing

-posted  by martin cavanaugh porter

Do not underestimate your reader.

Do not write short, overly colorful copy unless you are incapable of writing well.

Do not deluge your segment benefit list with daily blasts.

Do over-estimate your reader: consider them your equal plus.

Do write extensive copy that is fact-based, low in adjective use, and written in black and white (with careful color accents).

Do systemize your email send-offs: perhaps weekly.

Bottom-line: Provide valuable information that is interesting, factual which leads the reader to trust you and to seek you (and thus your product or service) out. Write factually and passionately. Write simply, in a straightforward way and if you feel emotionally charged by the topic, well, emote. Passion through facts, Emotions through topic choice will lead the reader to value your email marketing and subscribe to your newsletters and blogs, and eventually, come to your viral-video events and social networking events to personally seek you out.

want to destroy your brand?…use hyperbole

branding & mkt 101: the danger of hyperbole or: “the worlds greatest phone system.”

Short and sweet: Mercedes Benz doesn’t call themselves the best automobile manufacturer in the world, nor for that matter does Rolls Royce-it does claim, that in relation to the size of the car and the size of the engine that it is the quietest. Note, relational to other distinguishing elements of the product.

Even Rolls Royce knows it’s important to qualify a claim.

Be what you are and admit your mistakes-then you will be trusted as an interlocutor, client, or service provider. This recession has cut the wheat from the chaff: those left standing will return to the basics: great service, great branding, and a degree of dignity relational to hyperbole.

For example:  If a client asks me has Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC ever failed? Answer: Yes. Or, have I (Martin) lived a life with full of personal mistakes. Answer: Yes. Or, are you sure all your ideas are good? Answer: No. Or, are we the ‘greatest’ branding-biz dev-vc organization. Answer: No, sir.

Forbes Legacy Ventures  LLC and The South Park Development Group have been told about the “world’s greatest phone system.” -hyperbole.

Here’s why: Out of 70 days use, 69 have been filled with some kind of error-each error a mark against my brand-my companies.

The errors continue: Two clients assumed we had gone out of business. Today clients and I called into the office this morning when my team was here and the phones did not ring.

Clearly, this is not the world’s greatest phone system. It’s a system that is actually a threat to our business.

Save the hyperbole for the saps-this crews been around the block too many times.

Lesson: Don’t ever use “greatest” -unless your:

• Nelson Mandela (South Africa’s Champion and world Icon)
• Gandhi (Saviour of India)
• Kevin Roberts (World Wide CEO Saatchi and Saatchi and saviour of over 700 brands-not hyperbole)
• Giovanni Agnelli (Founder of FIAT, emperor of Alfa Romeo, Ducatti, Maserati, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, and, founder of Europe’s third largest V.C firm-for which he was the secret leader of until after he passed away).
• Muhammad Ali (Need I say more)
• Winston Spencer Churchill (Saviour of Western Civilization)
• Golda Meir (Israel’s Iron Lady)

we’ve test driven the e-road here are the results: downtown los angeles’ transport solution-zero emission, sustainable transport: driving the future now

it's about time

Down Town Los Angeles Business Blog has test driven the  e-road and here’s the bottom-line: fast, fun, and effective.

A phenomenal solution to downtown los angeles commuter congestion and best of all, eco-freindly-zero carbon emissions.

We applaud Logan Guzman, and the distributors of this new, vital, integral mode of transport: the e-road, a major step in the right direction.

full disclosure: members of the Downtown Los Angeles Business Blog are partners in the South Park Development Group and Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC, and are in the process of developing a business relationship with E-Road, for which we are thrilled.

project management two examples-the difference between success and failure -downtownlabiz.com

one mba grad at a company is given an assignment by his superior. he chooses to ‘hunker’ down and closes his office door to focus, concentrate, and ‘figure it out.’ he works long hours, through the weekend, and looses sleep, his stress level-rises, he becomes dysfunctional, and finally, is viewed as a net-zero by his organization. His career is on the line.

the other, same archetype, so to speak: has an mba, similar school-same credentials, and is given a similar assignment. he reaches out, not just within his company but his friends, and ‘alternative’ thinkers-designers, artists, graphic designers, priests, community organizers, all sorts, far outside of his ‘club.’  his network is diverse- and so,  the solutions he provides related to his  assignment are alternative:  big, worthwhile, and win him accolades. He completes his assignment on time: in fact quickly- his friends help, he draws them in-he builds teams excited to help him. He sleeps well. His stress level is minimized, and his organization feels he is a key, up-and-coming player-a vital employee. His future is secured.

success: a glowing, bright light, liked, loved, a connector, non-judgemental of other points-of-view (at least professionally), and open to all sorts. does great work, through others by exciting them, by bringing energy and  dynamism to the table.

failure: close the door, round-the-clock, go it alone ‘busy-bee’, reactive, and afraid.

a game changing c.f.o-the importance of having a great mentor in your organization

c.f.o as game-changer

as c.e.o i deliberate, i engage in strategic thinking, and I develop the best strategy that should be implemented on behalf of my team, my clients, my family, and my community. most often, strategically, we are right on the money, backed by powerful tactical flanking executed by the team.

 i don’t always know how to handle everyone-i don’t always get interpersonal relationships right: i am burdened by the entirety of the enterprise-which is no excuse-i refuse excuses from others and will not accept one from myself.

but, i can become so engaged in the day’s affairs and so wrapped up in my own ego, that i can’t see the forest from the trees-and the trees are my team. trees need water and the chance to grow.

i became insensibly unable to deal with a member of the team because i could not, through my limited prism of life and business experience comprehend the true nature of that person’s character or abilities-and i gave up. my c.f.o did not. she saw what i did not: a biz developer, a hustler, a beehive worker-a passionate, unique individual whose life experiences, bound together into a quilt of embedded memory make her a valuable player to my clients, my team, and to me.

 my c.f.0, eve, worked with her and what i can see-early days-is an early spring of personal growth and business mojo. always listen in business, always look for the tipping point, which is to be found at the edges, not at the centre, at those moments when you should listen, and are not. effective=active=acting intelligently. that’s what i am beginning to see  in this person that the c.f .o is mentoring, and i am proud and grateful.

we may have a business development powerhouse on our hands in this young acolyte.

beyond commoditization of customers: from customers to members, from members to members of your tribe.

green-organic boot-strap v.c funding in south park l.a: hope RIZE

Friday, May 15, 2009

 

the hopeRIZE fund:finding and boot strap funding GREEN-ORGANIC entreprenenuers

today, brett and I will be filing the securities and exchange paperwork for the hopeRIZE fund: moving toward solution-first round financing for young, dynamic, highly innovative future GREEN ORGANIC entrepreneurs: core component attribute: the startup(s) must be HQ downtown southpark l.a. within the four block LUNA-EVO-EVO SOUTH-FLOWER STREE LOFT schema.

we look forward to working with South Park stake holders to advance this goal.

-martin cavanaugh porter III and brett h tomich.

questions? you can email: info@southparkbusinessincubator.biz 

50-for-500 club

we cannot remain locked in a disparate darkness of financial road blocks to innovation. 

the best time to innovate, invest, and grow is through a recession by supporting groundbreaking start up-entrepreneurs who often lack the ‘get in the door’ credentials to accelerate their product to market and reach the payback period to investors. 

the los angeles business war room round table must assist start-ups and on-going businesses receive a degree of credit from suppliers, obtain second rounds of financing, and have access to state-of-the art technology to leverage their innovation and bring their product or service to market. 

let us look at the present value, beta, efficiency frontier modelling through the lens: degree to which we can support an innovator succeed.

credit scores: one part of a whole- many individuals credit scores have taken a hit these last years and/or young men and women don’t have enough credit history to have an adequate score.

Let us move beyond the obvious in our collective thinking ”We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Einstein.

 lets also talk about: innovation scores (can product or service be brought to market or improved and be re-branded in short order with a reasonable expectation of success) and credibility scores (what is the individual’s relationship with his freinds and family like-this is a prime new way of balancing a potentially low credit score). full due-diligence adding criteria that allows for a more balanced view of the potential investment. 

 

brett and I propose the  50 for 500 club to begin to provide direct, technical,branding, ongoing strategic advice and limited financial ‘boot strap’ assistance to one potential innovative, entrepreneurial  graduate from the USC Marshall School of Business through the South Park Business Incubator (a private business incubator, a business  unit of the South Park Development Group). much more to come about the 50 for 500 club in the days ahead.

 south park biz incubator (also called la biz incubator) would provide legal, technical, office, branding and marketing assistance (unlimited email marketing campaign blasts, free, best of breed website-on line ecommerce presence, viral-SEO marketing, business planning, and assistance in 2nd and third round financing) for the life of the start-up company, taking a 10% interest.

members of the 50 for 500 club in return for each member putting up a $500.00 stake in the venture, collectively own 10% interest.

it’s a new model: double down on the angel  investor model and drive innovation and the hopes of start-up businessmen and women.

the 50 for 500 club will be on the agenda  at the first war room round table.

questions? ideas? email: btomich@southparkbusinessincubator.biz or mcporter@southparkbusinessincubator.biz