Dennis Lankes Invention and Startup Entrepreneur Shares His Secrets to Help You Get Funded.

0:03hi everyone and welcome to another
0:05edition of inventors launch pad roadmap
0:08to success i'm your host carmine danisco
0:10and today we have the honor of speaking
0:12with a true entrepreneur he's a business
0:15consultant advertising genius startup
0:17investor and are all around technical
0:19guru his current project is taking the
0:22co-working shared space industry by
0:24storm I don't see them slowing down
0:26anytime soon he has a solid background
0:29in technology advertising web based
0:32systems this guy is just pure business
0:34you know I better just introduce them
0:36and bring them on because he's done so
0:39much I can go on with this intro all day
0:41we'll have them fill any gaps as I man
0:44Dennis lank co-founder proximity I
0:47Telluride Colorado I think we have them
0:50on the line now hey Dennis are you over
0:52there I'm here but I'm looking for the
0:54guy that you introduced I didn't know
0:56where he was at so I just want to make
0:58sure I was in the right spot no man if
1:01you you know we just had to had to have
1:04you on I've been hearing about the
1:05proximity space I was growing
1:07exponentially and I really wanted to get
1:10you on the show to talk about that but
1:12you know everything else you've done
1:13over the years this seems to be reading
1:16up to what's happening and helping these
1:18startups grow yeah i mean i've been
1:21super fortunate for the last probably
1:24decade to take some good advice that i
1:27had gotten from so a well-known
1:29individual some people known as a shark
1:32I know him as a horrible basketball
1:34player that owns an incredible
1:36basketball game mr. Mark Cuban and he
1:39said can I asked him one time I should
1:40listen you know I have aspirations to
1:43make big money how do I make big money
1:45and he said never be the smartest guy in
1:48the room and when and if you're not make
1:50sure that you stop and listen and so
1:53I've tried to make sure that you know
1:56I'm rarely the smartest person in the
1:58room so every time I'm in a room with a
2:00lot of smart people I try to make sure
2:01that I listen and what I've learned is
2:05that i have somewhat of a talent for
2:07hearing a good idea and when i hear a
2:10good idea i've become passionate about
2:12trying to help that person
2:13good idea really take it to the next
2:16level and fulfill their dream so their
2:18aspirations that they have and sometimes
2:21some would say that's good karma you
2:22know just an opportunity to help people
2:25do what they want to do for me it's just
2:29something that drives me I see people
2:31have a mission in their life and I've
2:35never really kind of had that thing oh
2:36my god gonna do this but I've always
2:39seen people and then you know in such
2:42all of them having that conviction of
2:44them having that you know energy that I
2:47was like well I got to do something to
2:48be able to help I mean there's got to be
2:50something that I can do and so that just
2:53kind of created opportunities for me and
2:55I'm very grateful for those
2:56opportunities the biggest one of course
2:59being my wife you know finding my life
3:00and you know she's she's really the
3:03driving force behind our family and you
3:06know helping her become an entrepreneur
3:08and create her business has been a huge
3:10part of any success that I've better any
3:13opportunities that I've had so real
3:15grateful for that and we're grateful to
3:16where we're starting to do with
3:18proximity and has a lot to do with that
3:20concept right there Wow yeah I mean I
3:23have to agree with you behind every
3:24successful person is usually a very good
3:29mate that's supportive and helpful so I
3:31have to agree with you on that one it's
3:35great that you mention that not as
3:36usually doesn't get mentioned a lot and
3:37I think it's very good you can bring up
3:40you've had a career that spans over
3:44multiple different powers of industries
3:46in that sense and it seems like it's
3:48weeding you to what you're doing now
3:51helping startups helping different
3:53companies fulfill their dreams which is
3:56must be very fulfilling as you spoke
3:58about together tell us a little bit
4:00about how the proximity space maybe came
4:03to be and and kind of you know who you
4:06have in there what's going on well I
4:08mean I'll tell you based on following up
4:11on that conversation you said having a
4:13good mate having good business partners
4:15you know is a huge part of it and we had
4:19a marketing firm the marketing firm was
4:21doing really well we had some great
4:22clients and you know a large part of the
4:25business was just trying to help
4:27large part of marketing is trying to
4:29spread the message for a product nine
4:32times out of ten the person that
4:33develops the product is usually not the
4:35best phase man or face woman for the
4:38product there's a very passionate about
4:39what they do they know everything about
4:41what it what it is that they're making
4:43or doing and they can tell you all about
4:45it they don't necessarily have the
4:47skills that could be able to sell it to
4:50somebody to explain to them why it's a
4:52headache reliance of pain in their life
4:54that they're going to fix even though
4:55that person has it you know it's an
4:59amazing thing is a race with people how
5:02smart we are often times we can't see
5:04the owns our own solution right in front
5:06of our face right so somebody has to
5:08explain it to us and that's where
5:10marketing comes in good or bad so this
5:14marketing company this partnership we
5:17have found that we were doing this for
5:19companies and coming into 2008 when the
5:23market went down and people were really
5:26struggling to be able to sell things it
5:30would be properly at saying it we
5:34discovered this opportunity to say okay
5:36well how do we how do we consolidate
5:39business resources and make it easier to
5:42for smaller businesses to launch in a
5:45down market and that's when we
5:47discovered co-working obviously we
5:48didn't develop co-working but it was
5:51something that was going on in Europe
5:52and we started learning about it I was
5:55brilliant you know the idea that half
5:58the time it's the one thing that you
5:59don't have that can cause your business
6:02to fail and if you can just put that in
6:04proximity no pun intended or pun
6:06intended to round you then your chances
6:11of success just go up exponentially and
6:14so we started thinking about how we
6:16would get into co-working and my
6:18business partners are like a list and
6:20everything that we've read there's no
6:21money in correct so you know why would
6:24we do this and I said well okay can we
6:27do it for the good of doing it they all
6:29laughed at me yeah and and then when
6:32they got then when they got done
6:33laughing at me they were like all right
6:34we're smart enough to figure out a way
6:35to make money at this so this is
6:37something that we really want to do but
6:39start looking at it
6:40so the first step was to open a
6:42co-working space we open the co-working
6:44space and rural Colorado rural Colorado
6:48say that five times fast and you know
6:52people thought we were crazy but what we
6:54found was there had been this transition
6:56this is by the way so 2008 jump ahead
6:59five years you know 2013 2014 and we
7:05picked a market that was small and but
7:08it was in the middle of all these resort
7:10areas we were finding people were
7:11running away from big markets not in
7:15droves but in significant numbers so
7:18leave in Denver because the traffic was
7:21bad I 25 was bad you know just had been
7:25a lot of traffic there's crime you know
7:27it's not the outdoors scenario that they
7:29were promised they were just living in a
7:32big city in the middle of a great
7:33outdoor playground and so they started
7:36moving the communities that really gave
7:38them more of that lifestyle you know I
7:40were talking a little bit before about
7:41how important health is to an
7:43entrepreneur and being able to do what
7:45they want to do so in Colorado
7:47specifically a lot of people are really
7:48pursuing that helps out of it that
7:50lifestyle side of it in in in front of
7:55what their entrepreneurial aspirations
7:57are so found this market we don't like
8:00to call it rural we like to call a small
8:02town everybody loves small towns nobody
8:04wants to live in a rural area right so I
8:07decided to open a co-working space open
8:09the co-working space and immediately
8:11found out wow there's a reason why
8:13co-working as I'm exploited in the US
8:15it's really difficult to get one open
8:17you get it go in and get it started so
8:20how could we make that whole scenario
8:22easier and basically what we did is we
8:24said okay what is it and as any business
8:27if you break it down to some simplest
8:29steps of what makes that business work
8:32right so what do people really really
8:35need that Juanico work together they
8:37need a space so they need access to some
8:39place and they need internet then they
8:41need good internet because they need to
8:43be able to connect so how do we give
8:45them those two things and give it to
8:46them really easily and so we we ended up
8:49with this proximity space it's a
8:51software hardware play that
8:53and network of co-workers to travel
8:56between locations allows them to have
8:59easy access door access via digital key
9:02to a space and then the space
9:05automatically recognizes them so they
9:07can immediately get to work get online
9:09and get to work that's kind of the
9:11simplest way to say it and you know we
9:13kind of coined that term is trying to
9:16connect the the digital nomads across
9:22the United States so is we're trying to
9:26move into an error where you know study
9:29same numbers say that forty percent of
9:31the workforce will be what we call
9:32untethered they'll be location neutral
9:35to fill out a bunch of buzzwords that's
9:38what startup entrepreneurs do right me
9:40to add a bunch of buzzwords so location
9:43neutral untethered workers but since
9:46there aren't any location mutual they
9:48don't have to be anywhere so how do we
9:50make it easy for them to be in you know
9:52in proximity again to other people and
9:56other entrepreneurs and other startups
9:57and get the resources and be productive
9:59and so that's how proximity space became
10:02that was a long story you shouldn't have
10:04asked me that echo just about the whole
10:06podcast why I go on side I just wanted
10:09you fall asleep carmine wake up in the
10:13area in the back so I mean so so again
10:16utilizing your background and obviously
10:18your partner's background to who seem
10:21like they're they're very educated in
10:23these different industries taking a
10:26market that wasn't actually where you
10:29can make money in it and bringing it to
10:32within tongue and finding and figuring
10:34out a way to make it profitable it's
10:36just one of the things that you're doing
10:38it sounds like you're kind of and you
10:40know for you mention is it sounds like
10:42you're kind of trying to connect like an
10:44Anytime Fitness type thing like you know
10:46here here's your here's your app here's
10:48your's oh if you're traveling and you
10:50just walk up to that door I mean it's
10:52amazing you can just walk up to a door
10:53and open these spaces and start working
10:57for myself I used to do a lot of work
10:59from home and I didn't like it I just
11:02wasn't productive enough so if these
11:04type of areas you are available to be
11:07like you said the internet is so
11:08important having people around just
11:10motivate team so you're having those
11:12things and they're mostly it really is
11:14not only a a way for people who work
11:17with only I talk about time saver I
11:19wouldn't have to drive all the way home
11:20after drop my kids off for going and
11:22doing something yeah no absolutely and
11:25you know I guess I skipped a very
11:27important part the reason why co-working
11:28spaces typically weren't making money is
11:31because they didn't have the critical
11:32mass number of people to work together
11:34or becoming a member of a co-working
11:38space was so laborious that it was just
11:41kind of like hey you know maybe I'll do
11:43it next week or you know those types of
11:45things or they had to give a lot of give
11:47away a lot of free days to get people to
11:49kind of get into the routine of it so
11:52streamlining that process to make it
11:54really easy for people to take advantage
11:56but co-working space has made co-working
11:59an opportunity to be way more profitable
12:02and so if that was the way that we did
12:05it and yet it's you obviously read
12:07between the lines carmine nope no fair
12:09you're cheating because you know a
12:10little bit of my background of opening a
12:11gym but we definitely did take a look at
12:14the you know 24 hour fitness model and
12:17instead okay well what are they doing
12:19they're assigning badges to people and
12:23little our ID cards and whatnot and
12:25they're giving them the opportunity to
12:27become work out when they want to work
12:29out the bad side down side that's a
12:32knock any gems but I'll knock a chance I
12:33own one there's a lot of time Jim's so
12:38more than they need to make when they
12:40meet right so that is it so as many
12:42memberships only thirty percent of them
12:44are actually going to use the gym and so
12:46that's where the revenue model comes in
12:48we are Jim that we want to tell your
12:51item and the way that we're looking at
12:52co-working is it doesn't work unless
12:54people are actually in using it and so
12:56how do you create a value proposition
12:58but they'll pay for what it's worth but
13:01they use it and they use it on a regular
13:03basis and it influences their life and
13:05it makes a difference to what they're
13:06doing and so that's a much harder plate
13:08to be able to make work but when it does
13:12work it's a really beautiful thing and
13:14it is something that you create a I
13:16don't want to use a cult that's the
13:18wrong word but you definitely create an
13:20affair
13:21holistic you know community of people
13:24that are like oh hey you've got to come
13:26be a part of this community that I'm in
13:27because it's doing great things for me
13:30and helping me out you know they can go
13:32good and bad if you have good intentions
13:34right then there's usually a lot of good
13:36comes out of it if you don't have the
13:37greatest intentions there's usually
13:39something really bad happens you know
13:41since we moved here from wake from Texas
13:43we won't mention wake up is that I'm
13:45trying to give you a lot of keywords
13:47that you could put on the spot cast yeah
13:49yeah I try to strongly a lot of logs
13:52over to me i'm just not like nothing but
13:58but you know what you're talking about
14:00and people that haven't worked say even
14:03in a in a real warrants like even though
14:06a real busy starbucks or for that type
14:08of environment people that haven't
14:09worked the type of environment that
14:11you're describing they really haven't
14:13experienced that energy that of walking
14:15into a place that's buzzing that things
14:18going on and people asking you questions
14:19and and several companies just throwing
14:21things on whiteboards and really the
14:23energy in those types of environments to
14:26me as a entrepreneur and I know to you
14:28too it is actually so fun and it makes
14:32me no more much more productive and it's
14:34it's hard you just want to take people
14:36in really narrow and or just to let them
14:38that witness well you know the funny
14:40thing is just people that think that
14:41they need a closed environment like I
14:43need my office right I mean I need to
14:45focus I need a quiet environment you
14:48know you ask them okay so when you go to
14:50get a coffee at starbucks by yourself
14:52what's the first thing that you do oh
14:54I'm looking at my phone and the reading
14:56facebook and what how do you concentrate
14:58on that you know there's all that noise
14:59moanin how do you concentrate on and you
15:02just watch the blank stare come over
15:05their face like I don't really know I
15:07hadn't really thought about it and I
15:09said you know when you're around energy
15:12it's you put your prerogative t to
15:14participate with it or not it really
15:15doesn't disturb you it feeds you you
15:19know if you've got energy around you you
15:21feed you whether you're participating
15:23with it or not that's a psychological
15:27benefit of it it's some things that
15:29people don't often pick up on but
15:32as a society as people were meant to be
15:34around other people you know we're not
15:36meant to live in isolation we're not
15:38meant to work in isolation and so I
15:41think that is a skill that people don't
15:42realize that they have and that they can
15:45greatly benefit from its some sort of
15:48learned scenario that we could I think
15:50it's also something that we've falsely
15:52attached to you and thank god there's
15:54people like Tony Hsieh with zappos and
15:57Bezos amazon that are kind of changing
15:59that atmosphere of you know we've been
16:02trained they're like hey you see you're
16:03not successful until you have the corner
16:05office with the window and you're by
16:06yourself right again and you look at the
16:09most successful entrepreneurs and they
16:11almost never spend time by themselves if
16:13they're not getting something from
16:15somebody else or a conversation or
16:16working on a deal or you know creating
16:18the next thing or working with their
16:19employees to say okay this is great
16:21we've made it to this level of success
16:23and how do we get to this level up here
16:25you know they never spend time away so I
16:28would almost you know and obviously this
16:30is self-serving so sorry but i would
16:33tell anybody like hey if you really want
16:35to be successful get out there and be
16:37around other people if you think that
16:38you can do it by yourself in a room you
16:41know god bless you if you can but think
16:43of how much more you could do if you did
16:44yeah so lately I agree a thousand
16:47percent the performance of productivity
16:50even if you have an experienced day
16:52giving it a try and and being
16:55open-minded is so important as you were
16:57we were talking before we started
16:59earlier that you know you don't want to
17:02be that smartest person in the room I
17:03know you had a lot of people strive to
17:05do that but being in at this take this
17:08type of scenario having that
17:09three-dimensional thinking people that
17:11don't know anything about your product
17:13people don't know anything about your
17:14business idea being able to throw that
17:16over to them without having to go
17:18outside this building what I have to do
17:20that and having trusted sources I mean
17:22me who actually can't pay for that to be
17:25able to do that yeah no I mean now
17:28you're down a whole nother tough we want
17:30to go back to the marketing side of
17:31things you can talk about people got a
17:33people that own products that are
17:35getting started that are entrepreneurs
17:36one is a very important lesson you gotta
17:39learn just to learn to let go a little
17:40bit you know ever the greatest products
17:43that are out there are ones that people
17:45rave about
17:46and that's what everybody wants they
17:47want people raving about their product
17:49but how does anybody ever going to rave
17:51about your product if you're always kind
17:52of person that has to tell everybody
17:54about right nobody else can explain it
17:56as well as I explained it well that's
17:59okay I almost cursed on your show I'm
18:03kind of look did you really go and do
18:06okay so that is an incorrect answer you
18:10are not the best person they can explain
18:14your product everybody else and as a
18:15matter of fact if other people can't
18:17take that baton from you and do it your
18:20product is in dire danger so I 100 a
18:23night it is so if you're not happy and
18:27so will bring it back around to the
18:28conversation co-working why that's so
18:30successful the product that we're doing
18:32is because it's all about people
18:34connecting and people talking about it
18:35people working with each other if I
18:37can't hand that baton to them and ask
18:39them to go out and say hey go talk about
18:41the benefits of what this is brought to
18:43you then what I'm trying to do is really
18:45not work so no I totally agree 1,000%
18:49and that's that that's why you know when
18:51we had first met and we speak and we
18:53talked to her several hours i think we
18:55didn't realize it and it felt like an
18:57hour went by just because we were
18:58telling stories and and you know kind of
19:00had the same mindset because we're
19:02entrepreneurs we've been in business all
19:04the time and we have these up and down
19:05and there's no way that we can
19:07accomplish everything by ourselves so
19:08either working in an environment like
19:11you're a building or going out and
19:13starting a company it's just that being
19:16able to start in the environment that
19:18you currently have in proximity space
19:20it's so important because you're not
19:21buying dhoni not signed a long-term
19:23lease not getting all these people and
19:25hiring employees and doing I mean that
19:27is a lot of stress you could actually
19:28have all those people because you
19:30probably have different types of
19:32businesses in within proximity space
19:34that other business can feed off of even
19:37if they had to pay small amounts or
19:38whatever it was they could probably use
19:40the barter system or whatever but just
19:42having that information or having those
19:43people at hand is is is priceless key
19:46well I'll tell you a beautiful part
19:49about it and here so this is for you
19:51know any kind of small company was out
19:52there you've heard the term you know
19:54keep some of your powder dry the
19:57opportunity to really fire a big shot on
19:59account
19:59right so don't go out there and waste a
20:01lot of your money on trying to create
20:03this decide that you're not yet right
20:06don't go out there and try to rent a big
20:09office get a bunch of furniture create a
20:10bunch of overhead so that people have
20:12confidence in your product or at least
20:13you think they will write the smart
20:16people that are coming in when you're
20:17first getting started will admire you
20:20for not making those mistakes like oh
20:22this guy's or girl this really think
20:24it's hard about what the next stage
20:26moves they should be making where that
20:28investment should go to particularly if
20:31you're looking at it but for investment
20:32you know they're going to be way more
20:33impressed if you're not wasting a lot of
20:36that overhead and here's the flip side
20:37of that conversation and a beautiful
20:39part about co-working anybody that's out
20:41there thinking about covert you should
20:42definitely try it here's why if you're
20:44just getting started you're one of her
20:46two person team and you're working out
20:48of a co-working space almost every door
20:50working space isn't set up to really
20:52define like this company's over there
20:55and that companies over here this
20:56company is here so your client walks in
20:59and all of a sudden sees all these
21:00people all right and they have really no
21:03understanding which one's work for you
21:05which ones don't right and the reality
21:08of it is you're not faking that that
21:10person out or you're not selling them
21:12something false because most likely all
21:15of the people that you need accounting
21:17marketing graphic design web development
21:21you know what we said financing
21:24bookkeeping any of those types of things
21:26that you need from the business likely
21:27there in that co-working space so likely
21:29there is that resource that you're going
21:31to use them to work as part of your
21:33business right so this person walks in
21:36and she's this big group of people well
21:38even if I don't ask I'm immediately
21:41assuming okay there's some confidence
21:43behind this right and if not and I do
21:45lassie like yeah there's a lot of great
21:47people a lot of great resources that's
21:48why we're here oh now my confidence goes
21:51up because you're not alone I'm not
21:53standing this this idea or this
21:55opportunity up by itself on just you
21:57there's some other people around you
21:58that are going to be able to help you if
22:00you need it like a huge bartok they're
22:02working in a huge like opportunity that
22:05people don't necessarily realize they
22:06get from co-working is that when their
22:09client walks in there immediately like
22:11okay this is
22:13all right yeah yeah you know it's i
22:16agree with you i was actually picturing
22:17that when you were talking about you're
22:20exactly right and the great part is not
22:22only are they going to that customer
22:23that clients going to feed off that
22:25energy in the room but also if they are
22:28smart they're going to realize that you
22:30are because you're increasing your money
22:33and they ultimately their money on a big
22:35office on all of those things when it's
22:38not needed talk about a sales that you
22:41justifying what you're charging people
22:42hey look i'm not wasting your money you
22:46know and as you started saying that I
22:48you probably saw a lot of shaking my
22:49head I'm like yeah you know when you
22:51start thinking but Rida mentally I'm
22:53from the clients do it's really a great
22:56question to them hiring someone and
22:59superior if you're looking at join an
23:02accelerator program or looking for your
23:04series one brown investment you know you
23:07want to impress your investors you can
23:09certainly talk to them like bring up hey
23:11at work out of a co-working space and in
23:13you know researcher co-working spaces
23:15look for the look for the assets that
23:17you know that you're going to need and
23:19see if they're already in that space and
23:21you can point that out and listen to
23:23investors love the idea that you're not
23:27alone right the last thing they want to
23:29see is they put a lot of money into you
23:31and then you've got to figure it all out
23:33you've got to rebuild the will to make
23:35it work so yeah if you're in that
23:38scenario if you're somebody getting
23:39started you're to the point where you've
23:40got a product you're trying to get
23:42investment yeah if you've got a private
23:44office you're probably wasting money and
23:46then investors immediately gone well you
23:48wasted some of my money yeah just now
23:51you really need this Oh agree I mean
23:53that's one of the more I mean you as a
23:55person who probably has invested in
23:57companies that's probably some of the
23:59questions I mean we here to you know how
24:01are these funds going to be spent and
24:03you're spending and Marta already and
24:06you're bootstrapping and you're trying
24:07to get some first round of funding in
24:09it's a kind of a no-brainer meaning that
24:11you're really doing what you say
24:14particularly when you've got a product
24:16right you've got a widget or a gizmo or
24:18whatever and immediately your direct
24:21community is a hundred people of
24:23coworker you know co-working people that
24:25you can sell to directly
24:27justified product and this habitat and
24:29these investors are investing in the
24:31product that never reaches the
24:32marketplace true you know so the fashion
24:35you can kind of get some justification
24:37and get some fine towel and get that
24:40immediate feedback that helps helps
24:43build it investors confidence right away
24:45so if you kind of go hand in eight yeah
24:48I totally agree no doubt about it so
24:52that is work run a little bit I mean you
24:54know we have we have funny we have time
24:56but we're on a little bit trouble try to
24:57use about 30 minutes here real quick
25:00question for you well as a couple + 1 is
25:03when when somebody is looking for a
25:05space such as yours and they're looking
25:09for they you know certain things or what
25:12are some of the most important thing I
25:14mean we talked about the internet but
25:15they should be look for like how big
25:17they where they're going to be sitting
25:18the other resources are things that you
25:21could ask like what employee those maybe
25:23top five things or three things they
25:24should be looking for if somebody is
25:26going to pick a co-working space to work
25:28out it either well number one the first
25:31thing is to connectivity and then number
25:33two because your connectivity is a huge
25:36the reliability of your connectivity we
25:38not you say in the big cities is that
25:39really too much of an issue but you want
25:41to make sure that you know somebody's
25:43not opening a co-working space with a
25:44you know a hundred people in and I 209
25:47connection that's probably going to be
25:49very painful for you so you want to know
25:51that they have some focus on their
25:55connectivity and then be their community
25:56so do they hold events do they try to
25:59get their community of co-workers
26:00together it's not just working together
26:04it's that opportunity to kind of mix and
26:06get to know each other I understand each
26:07other better and then look and see if
26:09they publicize their membership right
26:11they point out the people that work out
26:13of that space and look and see if that
26:15membership is is synergistic to you into
26:21what you're trying to do because if it
26:23is then that's going to be a huge
26:25benefit to you so I try to put that in a
26:29factual like crown on boots on the
26:31ground kind of term if you're selling
26:33the widget let's go with a widget then
26:35hey is there a marketing company in
26:37there is there a graphic designer in
26:39there
26:40that might be able to help me is there a
26:41bookkeeper in there that might be able
26:43to help me as I grow this type of thing
26:45do they have a regular social hour that
26:48they invite the outside community to
26:50come be a part of you know is there some
26:52visualization opportunities do they do a
26:54lot of messaging to their community
26:56those types of things so you do you know
26:58you do want to get d selfish about it i
27:01guess it's another way of saying how is
27:03this really going to help me and then as
27:05you become part of the community don't
27:06forget it's your job to give back
27:09connections as well so that's a good way
27:12look at it I mean you can almost
27:13instantly willed your i want to say
27:15departments out and and not only help
27:18your company but those people that are
27:20in that start off of that are in that in
27:22Japan they probably love to to have your
27:24business awesome yeah absolutely
27:26videographers podcasters my passions are
27:29great you know there you go Lisa go real
27:34quick I mean I know you guys are growing
27:36and will kind of get into that toward
27:37the end of this are there any businesses
27:40or startups that you can talk about now
27:44now that are growing that may be the
27:45listeners should maybe look out for oh
27:47absolutely um you know one of my
27:50favorites you do that not kind of how
27:53how you guys are helping them I don't
27:54want you know again I don't want to take
27:56a 10-minute answer for me because I
27:58don't know you can't talk about a
28:00company's that indefinitely great how
28:03you help them then once we should look
28:04out for um well so i guess i'll go back
28:07then that's the tip if you don't know
28:09we've got tell your adventure
28:10accelerators it's a great accelerator
28:12program in the mountains they have a net
28:16one of the unique things about them is
28:17they have a network of 92 mentors a lot
28:19of which they organize is the fact that
28:22they all like to go up and ski in this
28:24really beautiful ski area called I
28:25you're right it's not hard to organize
28:27people around you know a fun place to
28:30hang out be so and certainly not
28:34something not hard to organize and
28:35something around their passion about so
28:37check out our adventure each other ways
28:38it's a great program the turning out
28:42some really cool startups out of the
28:44program and the way that we help them
28:46particularly is just as any other
28:49accelerator program does is really kind
28:51of helped them with their business model
28:52and then really connect them
28:54it is it's all about networking and
28:56connecting in it I don't even know if I
28:59want to put a percentage on it it's a
29:01large portion killing business is just
29:03you know what are the connections that
29:05you have who is the people you know who
29:06the people can help facilitate what
29:07you're trying to do and so that's really
29:09where the strength for program is you
29:11know 92 people that are executives or
29:14past executives in a numerous amount of
29:18fields that have a huge network of
29:21connections across the country in global
29:24globally that's the strongest part of
29:26that of that program in my opinion right
29:29now right um so it's been very very
29:32grateful to be a part of it I'm very
29:34grateful to try to help in any way that
29:35I can so lets you can read between the
29:38lines and I don't need to be to hide
29:40losses it's just for the sake of time
29:42really connecting people connecting the
29:45people with their marketplace helping
29:47them break through some of those things
29:48a lot of stuff that you see really kind
29:50of on the program chart cake I don't
29:52know if we cannot say that about start
29:54full circle and you don't want to get
29:56any copyright infringement so you know a
30:00lot of things that you see on television
30:01that idea hey I can help you with a
30:03connection with a buyer right for a big
30:05retailer I can help you in the
30:07connection with a developing group that
30:10may otherwise you know might not
30:11otherwise be able to afford but I can
30:13tell them it's a project with them
30:14paying attention to that type of thing
30:16so those connections are really valuable
30:19and then just kind of really shaving
30:22down the edges of their business model
30:24and making them salinas passes because
30:26we can so then get to revenue they can
30:29become a good investment i type of thing
30:31so in advising them on their investment
30:33about getting them some legal advice
30:35it's fairly expensive that's no cost for
30:39them in the sense of copywriting and
30:43potential patent you know opportunities
30:46that something because all that gets
30:47expensive oh yeah so that's really where
30:49the benefit is in that program and then
30:51start upstairs but i can talk about one
30:55of my favorites that just came out of
30:57the last program is a company called
30:58Western rides and it's a clothing
31:01company so nothing like super techy
31:05exciting or like you know groundbreaking
31:08they're going to shoot me for saying
31:09that because it was a lot of what
31:10they're doing is groundbreaking with the
31:12materials in the clothing is very using
31:14but what I really liked about it is the
31:17business model that seems to become
31:18really popular these days is just going
31:20direct to consumer right getting that
31:22immediate feedback not trying to put it
31:24in big retail stores you know do you
31:27like this product just you do we'd like
31:29to make more of it what's your input
31:30that's everything so you get a chance to
31:32check out Western rice they're really
31:35great a great product there was a
31:38program at old a couple of programs fact
31:42called life dojo they were pretty cool
31:47there's there's just so many I feel that
31:51even mentioning anybody right because if
31:53you don't mention them all it is going
31:55to come back to you like you know hey
31:56how can we didn't talk about us Mountain
31:59drugs guy give elements pet food I guess
32:02can I just start name dropping left and
32:04right so it's like a good trouble it's
32:06like winning an Oscar and you say yeah
32:08yeah yeah when is you got to start
32:10playing the music for my stage right and
32:15now that we appreciate and like you said
32:17you know if the listeners want to go out
32:19it can they can check out the site and
32:21really it really research I just I just
32:23wanted people to see that this is real
32:25there's people out there that want to
32:27help startups they want to give
32:28information and there's people out there
32:29this facility dollars there's no reason
32:32knock it out make your make your Venture
32:35make yourself successful with the right
32:37people you have to surround yourself
32:38with the right people wherever you are
32:40yeah absolutely can do you know if I can
32:43if you don't mind real quick sermon like
32:45there's a million won programs within
32:47your neighborhood my neighborhood
32:49wherever you're at checkout a million
32:52cups that's a great event that's held
32:54all over the country check out startup
32:56weekend if you're thinking about
32:57starting up a company you know 72 hours
33:00to start a company those events are hold
33:02all of the globe super easy to Google
33:05these terms you won't have any problem
33:08finding the information check your
33:10meetup boards you know look for look for
33:13meet ups that are going on in your area
33:16there's always a resource check out
33:18techstars they're great organization
33:22check out the global accelerator network
33:24Gann that will help you find whether or
33:27not you have an accelerator program in
33:28your area there's some really really
33:31great resources that are out there that
33:33I've been a positive with not enough
33:34people know about so and of course check
33:38out Carmine's podcast and carmine can
33:40connect you with some great people
33:43including myself happy to take any phone
33:45calls or tweets or you know mean
33:48facebook grants if you'd like to define
33:51to and and you know that kind of leads
33:54me right into them we're just about that
33:56time how is it that people can or
33:59working the best way for people to get
34:00in touch with you I've always liked to
34:03say be with a party set don't make the
34:05party come to you you know your wedding
34:08crasher don't be a you know don't be
34:11somebody that's got an implication that
34:13nobody fulfills so that being said you
34:16can find me on Twitter at Dennis like us
34:19junior ordeal Anka start at d-link is
34:22junior you can find me on Facebook just
34:25search tennis Lanka's you can call me
34:28direct here's something unique probably
34:30don't get people doing my phone number
34:32is 970 901 for 108 you've got a business
34:39if you've got something you're trying to
34:41get off the ground and you just need
34:42somebody to bounce an idea off over air
34:45up or get some resources you can call me
34:47direct how about that not that's big
34:50that's big that's somebody that actually
34:51does what they say they're going to do
34:53if they're giving you their phone number
34:55you know that they can deliver what they
34:56say so that's pretty awesome then
34:59absolutely comment I appreciate what
35:02you're doing it's it's you know it's
35:03getting out there and feel people out
35:06there like you do have to follow through
35:08and what you say you're going to do and
35:09mean and have some conviction behind
35:11what you what you're saying you want to
35:12do so to do this work to put a podcast
35:14together to try to put some information
35:16out there for people good on you come on
35:19I'm coming press I appreciate and I
35:21appreciate in it and I appreciate your
35:22time any of you listen that you get
35:25ahold of dentist make sure your ask them
35:27for me how he ended up playing
35:29basketball with Mark Cuban and living
35:33hahaha what I do this thank you so much
35:37for being on the show I had like and 20
35:40more questions that we ran at a time and
35:42I'm sure you back on it pop would know
35:44you're busy I appreciate that I'm with a
35:47stick well we can banter back and forth
35:49on line right people can watch that's
35:51true now that is a good idea hey dad if
35:56you stay warm up there and take care of
35:58man I hope to see you again thank you
36:00sir don't rub it in because you're down
36:02there in Florida I don't appreciate that
36:04am i funny thank you for having me on I
36:07appreciate you coming by