Kicking the Habit

One of my passions for the past couple of years has been the translation of Sustainability principles into bottom line profits.

To this end, I am an active CleanTech Advisor at the MaRS Discovery District and have been a lecture leader at Shulich, Sheridan, McMaster, University of Toronto - Mississauga and The Directors College on such topics as Climate Change, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Recently, Tom Rand the CleanTech Practice Lead at MaRS released his long awaited book: Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit- 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World - my copy arrived on Monday. As I did a quick scan of its content, I was reminded of one of the famous Seinfeld episodes featuring Cosmo Kramer and his "Coffee Table book about Coffee Table Books" . When on Regis and Kathie Lee, Kramer demonstrates that the book is so practical that its cover "actually converts into a Coffee Table itself". As my friend Sbrolla might highlight I am not comparing Tom Rand to Kramer by any means(!). I am simply underscoring that this book is one of the "more practical" purchases that you could make. It walks us through the 10 technologies that will allow us to kick the fossil fuel habit. These include: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Biofuels, Hydropower, Ocean, Smart Buildings, Efficiency & Conservation, Transportation and the Energy Internet.

I found it 1) ENGAGING - Tom does a great in keeping it upbeat and ensures that it has element's of his keen wit; 2) INFORMATIVE - the text walks us through the basics, issues and opportunities associated with each technology; 3) TECHNICAL - Simple diagrams and photos take the complicated technology and make it easy to understand, 4) LOCAL CONTENT - lots of references to Canadian technology and even some Ontario based companies; 5)PROVOKING - gets you thinking about having a Trillion dollars to spend and what the impact would be of this money, 6) HOT TOPICS - in addition to the 10 technologies, Tom tackles Climate Change, Nuclear, Carbon, Hydrogen and Peak Oil; 7) VISUAL - the photo's are stunning and reinforce the fact that Windmills and Solar arrays are simply Majestic.

Overall a quick, visual and information book that deserves the read and an ultimate place your coffee table. As a Science, Sustainability and Academic Guy, this is Great work Tom!

Let's hope you don't follow Kramer's lead and spill the coffee all over the book when you get a chance to be on Regis.

M&M's - Paramount for Success

M&M's are critical to a company's success and I don't mean the plain or peanut kind! Measurement & Management Dashboards are important tools for building sustainable success.

A couple of months agoTerry Matthews - a great Canadian icon was speaking at a MaRS event about his success model for start-up organizations. Having started over 80 successful organizations in the past 25 years, he has a record of credibility. Terry explained that one of the keys was to have each of his organizations' create a monthly report that measured a number of indicators in the Rear View mirror (We Accomplished this, We achieved that, We we unsuccessful with this.) and out of the Front Windshield (We plan on completing this, We are Scheduled to achieve that). These monthly Dashboard reports were prepared by the CEO as if the company were publicly traded on the TSX - a great standard of Governance.

For my clients at the RIC-Centre I am also encouraging the drafting of these telltale M&M Dashboards that cover the important facets of their start-up. The CFO and CEO need to ingrain that culture of measuring and taking management action in their early evolution as an organization. Measurements should cover the basics of financial reporting but also drill down a number of layers on key indicators such as Customer Acquisition, Product Development, Human Resourcing, Regulatory Approval, Channel Development etc. The clarity of the historic indicators and forward looking statements will do wonders for the focus and accomplishment of these early stage organizations.

Many of my Followers are also curious to hear about how the High Handicapper is making out. After a couple more lessons, hours on the practice tee, a loud shirt and 15 rounds later - there is considerable improvement. "Jimmy the Genius" continues to work his magic - the hard work however is clearly in my hands. Following my own entrepreneurial advice I have implemented my own M&M Dashboard process for my journey to a lower handicap.

On the top part of the card I write down the three things that Jimmy has me working on (grip, alignment, aim) for the current week. I also articulate what I hope to Accomplish - 2 less lost balls, gross stroke reduction of 6, 5 less putts for example. This sets the tone and provides a constant reminder of what I am trying to accomplish each time I make an entry onto the card.

In the middle section I create a series of drill down measurements that allow me to manage each part of my trek down the course. Off the tee I note if my ball went where I had intended it to go with a simple check mark. If if doesn't go where it should have, I add additional indicators - did it go Left (L), Right (R)or Duff (D)? For Left and Right I also note if it went Long (LO) or Short (S). For Lost balls I count the number and location -Woods (Wo), Water (Wa) or those nagging ones lost on the Fairway (F). (I decided not to measure Deep Woods or the number of Skips across the pond!) For Putts, I count the Total including the number less than 3 feet and greater than 20 feet. At the end of each hole in addition to my Gross Score I have some interesting statistics to help me M&M at the next tee.

By the way, don't ask me to keep your score as well as mine - There is no room on the card and my M&M Dashboard is all consuming to my focus and Paramount to my Success.

Bright & Not Blurry Eyed Business Plans

I finally broke down over the weekend and attacked the stack of 5 Business Plans that I promised to read and comment on. They ranged in length from 15 to 80 pages and covered multiple industries and segments. My mind was whirling as I completed the last "...in conclusion" section. As I compared and contrasted the individual documents I was inspired to write a couple tips to help those Entrepreneurs with their next versions.


a) Capture My Attention Quickly - Perhaps its starts with your overarching vision, but find a clever way establishing and leading our interest in your product or service quickly.

b) Make it Easy to Read and Compelling to Turn the Pages - Think about that spy novel that drives you aborb the content and turn the pages as the plot unfolds.

c) Follow Business Plan Protocol - There are many protocols & templates out there and they all lead the reader through a time tested process. All of the heading and topics will need to be addressed so there are no short-cuts to be taken. One client suggested that since their product was so unique they had no competitors and "never would' - therefore they left the section completely out!

d) Cadence your Content with Appropriate Emphasis - A colleague of mine at MaRS - Andy Haigh (ahaigh@marsdd.com) has developed a 25 page format for the business plan. His rationale is simple - create something that the reader can digest in a single sitting - lean towards 25 pages rather then 60. The flow goes something like:

• Executive Summary (2-3 pages) - Company description, Value Proposition, Key Highlights
• Introduction (2-3 pages) - What is the problem that the company is trying to solve?
• Product & Technology (2-4 pages) - How does your technology solve the problem?
• Market Size (2-4 pages) - Start with the big numbers and narrow it down to your market.
• Go to Market Strategy (2-3 pages) - How do you plan on attacking the marketplace?
• Competition (2-3 pages) - How are you "better, faster, cheaper" ?
• Management (2 pages) - Do you have the team to make it all come together?
• Financial Summary (2-3 pages) - Financial Model, Investment Opportunity, Cash Flows.
• Strong Summary (1 page) - Re-iterate Key Points

e) Visualize at Every Opportunity - 25 pages of solid text will not work for your reader. Since a picture tells a 100o words - the photogragher or graphics designer are the world's most effective writers. Use charts, graphs, pictures, white space and section headings to help illustrate the points and focus the reader.

f) Proof Points - Do you have the customers, beta trials, strategic partnerships and trending financials to clearly demonstrate that you have it right?

g) Strong Finish - Having lead the reader through a compelling 25 page journey, re-iterate the key points to leave them with a lasting impresssion.

I have tried to capture in a few words what is clearly a significant art form. Have Andy and I missed anything? We look forward to your feedback.

"Is there anyone out there....?"

Having recently done some maintenance on my Ipod, I was reminded about one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs that contained the phrase: "..... Is there anyone out there...". For those that know me well I have spent the past 2.5 years trying to increase my Significant Impact. I have done this by focusing more on Not-For-Profit work, increasing my level of Coaching and Mentoring and spreading the word about Good Governance, Climate Change and Sustainability. Encouraged by colleagues such as Gordo, Pinky and the 'Dag, I have been long overdue in establishing a Blog to support these efforts.

Late last year I signed up to be an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) within the Ontario Commercialization Network. This network includes many well known brands including MaRS (www.marsdd.com), Communitech, Tech Alliance, ISCM, OCRI, OCETA and BioEnterprise. Most of my EIR is centred in Peel, Halton, Hamilton and occasionally in Toronto. I initiate my work from the RIC-Centre (www.ric-centre.on.ca) in Missisauga. This brand is emerging as one of the key resources in the commercialization network. Supported by the Ministry of Reaserch and Innovation (MRI), the Brampton / Caledon / Mississauga Board of Trades and the University of Toronto Mississauga, we are helping young organizations "...Accelerate Their Time to Commercilization." The work is challenging, fulfilling and a ton of fun - especially if you can see the progress these companies are starting to make.

Consequently, I now have a steady and reliable feed of interesting and exciting stories about our Innovation Economy in southern Ontario. The time is ripe for me to get onto the computer and create a regular feed of information for my newly minted Blog. As a result of my 'slow off the mark' approach, I have some key catch up to do this month.

Once again, I ask the Question: ".... Is there anyone out there........?"