Kicking ass and taking names

August 1, 2011
Sofia, Bulgaria

Even with so many things wrong with the world right now, there are a lot of interesting opportunities out there.

When you watch the news, it seems like the world is coming to an end. It’s all doom and gloom. But I’m here to tell you that there are a lot of good news stories around the world.

My entire life is oriented around this idea– sniffing out these opportunities, pressing forward past all the bad news, and making interesting things happen with interesting people.

To give you an example, here are a few things that I’m involved in right now that I’m really fired up about:

1) Our annual entrepreneurship workshop is coming up in just 10-days. This is something that I am really looking forward to– spending time with some exceptionally bright young minds from over 30 different countries and helping them develop the skills to create value and solve problems in the world.

The students are coming from places as diverse as Pakistan, New Zealand, Brazil, Israel, Tajikistan, the US, Canada, China, Kuwait, Switzerland, and South Africa, and despite their relative youth, many of the attendees have already begun making their marks on the world with entrepreneurial ventures.

I’m looking forward to working with these young minds, helping them hone their skills, and investing in some of the more interesting ventures that they’re already working on.

2) A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about an incredibly innovative genetics researcher in the UK; we were introduced by a mutual friend, and we spent a long evening recently talking about his latest breakthrough in developing a low-cost genetic testing procedure for the retail market.

He told me about a special mutation of a common gene called CCR5-d32. This mutation is prevalent among northern Europeans, and it has been shown to make the carrier resistant to certain infections, including West Nile virus, HIV, and possibly Smallpox.

Many scientists believe that this mutation developed naturally among some people during the Bubonic Plague in the 15th century, and those who carried the mutation survived the pandemic to pass it along to their children.

This particular researcher has developed a fast, accurate, low-cost means of testing for the CCR5d32 mutation (among others), and he’s looking for both funding and expertise to help him build a business around his breakthrough procedure. I’m incredibly excited about the possibility of participating in the venture.

3) Two-years ago, I took a significant position in a small startup that designs and sells baby products. It’s an unlikely investment for a globetrotting single guy like me, but I was compelled by the sheer creativity of the owner’s designs. He really broke all the rules and shattered the industry mold.

Today, the company’s products sell all over the world, and revenues have gone from zero to over $5 million this year. We expect that number to double next year after signing a long term purchase agreement in the coming months with one of the world’s largest retailers on the heels of a successful test in many of its stores.

4) Lastly, after months of searching, planning, conducting due diligence, and negotiating, we are in the final stretch of executing a contract for the purchase of an absolutely exquisite property in Chile that will become the home of our resilient community project.

This excites me for a number of reasons– we’re planning with one of our partners to develop a cutting edge medical research center within the community, and this should go along nicely with the genetic testing opportunity I mentioned above.

I’m also eager to expand the property’s existing agricultural operations; right now, the property has a working farm that grows a number of different crops– wine grapes, blueberries, corn, tomatoes, a variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts, etc.

The land, however, is of considerable size, and there’s a lot of room to scale. Given the direction I see food prices heading, as well as global demographics (world population will hit 7 billion this year), I think this will be a sharp long-term investment for the community.

I’m telling you all of this because I want to underscore a key point: no matter what happens in the world, there will always be an abundance of opportunity– plenty of ways to kick ass and take names.

It’s easy to focus on the doom and gloom, and I know that some folks are even waiting for the world to come to an end. But given all the exciting possibilities, it certainly seems a more compelling approach to:

1) first take steps to protect yourself, your family, and your livelihood
2) then get out there in the world to seize the moment and make it count.

I’d love to hear from you– what are you excited about? Whose ass are you kicking, whose names are you taking?

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