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Portal News — No comments
04
Aug 10

New Free Benefits for Green Entrepreneurs

I think green entrepreneurs have unique needs that are different than other entrepreneurs. EcoSector is designed to address these unique needs that green entrepreneurs have in common with each other. Here are some new free programs and features that can benefit all green leaders and entrepreneurs:

  1. EcoSector now provides free online capital and business training. If you are an entrepreneur seeking capital, an investor looking to learn how to assess success factors for early-stage green companies, or an organizer attempting to lead a transition in the economy, I think you’ll enjoy EcoSector’s first free training program — Capital Mastery Fundamentals.
  2. The EcoSector Portal is now a better free marketing and organizing tool for eco-entrepreneurs. One of the main benefits of the Portal is the way people can easily browse and learn who’s doing what in their region or topic of interest.  These new features will improve user experience and increase traffic to the community:

Cool Looking URLS — Until now the EcoSector Portal has relied on rather ugly “query string” URL’s to identify individual profiles.  Now, we have cool looking URL’s like Facebook and Twitter.  For example, GreenSmith Consulting’s public profile URL used to look like this:

http://ecosector.com/portal/profile?target=118

Not very cool or useful.  Now GreenSmith’s URL looks like this:

http://ecosector.com/profile/greensmith

The new cool URL will help with viral marketing (i.e., rapid sharing) of your Profile. To upgrade your profile to the new cool URL style, just visit https://ecosector.com/portal/myprofile.

Search Engine Optimized — We changed the technology of the EcoSector Portal so that all individual records can now be indexed by the major search engines.  This will increase the “findability” of your individual Public Profile and traffic to the Portal as a whole.  This increased search optimization will benefit the whole community and allow EcoSector to increase the amount and quality of free services we can provide to people like you who are leading the transition to a green economy.

Increased Speed — The technology improvements also produced nice speed improvements on the Portal’s search and delivery of content.  This makes the Portal a lot more fun to use.

Mark Winstein
Founder

Uncategorized — No comments
15
Jul 10

Common Root Cause of Gulf, Exxon Valdez, Bhopal Disasters — And What to Do About It

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Do Entrepreneurs Hold the Key to Stopping Eco-Disasters? I think they do. I spent a decade as an environmental activist in Washington, D.C., and I learned that politics isn’t everything.  Because the one common element in all these disasters is financing.

Without our modern capital system, none of the gigantic ships, factories, or drilling platforms that created our worst eco-disasters would have ever been built! This is why I’ve dedicated the past ten years of my life to transforming the financial sector — like the organic food movement and the industry that grew from that is transforming agriculture.

So I want to let you know about a free entrepreneur training program I created that I believe will make a big difference in preventing future ecological disasters like the Gulf oil spill, Exxon Valdez, and Bhopal.

I’ve been training green leaders and entrepreneurs for over 20 years. Now, I’ve taken my most important entrepreneur lessons and turned them into a free online video training series called Capital Mastery Fundamentals. And I’ve opened these lessons up to the public, not just green entrepreneurs, because I want to increase the success of every entrepreneur who wishes to be of service to society.

Why do I call this new program Capital Mastery? Because solving today’s biggest challenges requires skilled use of our capital system, not just political pressure.

Mark

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Actions / Green Economy Action Guide — No comments
30
Mar 10

Can You Please Comment on the new Green Economy Action Guide?

I just wrote a new ebook called the Green Economy Action Guide. The Guide aims to educate entrepreneurs, investors, and community organizers on the weaknesses in our financial system that limit the growth of socially and environmentally beneficial businesses. It also offers some immediate solutions and action steps individuals can take now to help grow the green and social-benefit economy.

Since everyone reading this blog is really a leader in society, I would greatly appreciate it if you would download this short (8-page) ebook and provide me with your feedback to make it better as I expand marketing to reach a much wider audience.

Some of you might have specific strategies I could add to the Guide, in which case it might make sense to include your thoughts and also add your name as a co-author or contributor.

Mark Winstein
EcoSector
Download the Green Economy Action Guide

ABC's for... / Actions / Entrepreneurs / Investors / Portal News — No comments
28
Jul 09

Free Ebook: 12 Insider Secrets to Raising Capital

This is very cool, and also time sensitive.  I wanted to let you know about this right away.

On Friday, I spoke with Dave Lavinsky, co-founder and President of Growthink. If you don’t know Dave, he is a major “guru” when it comes to raising capital.

(Dave and his company Growthink have helped over 2,000 clients raise over $1 Billion over the past decade, and he has also taught over 250,000 other entrepreneurs how to raise funding).

So, anyway…in August, Dave is organizing a virtual Capital Raising Bootcamp to help entrepreneurs like you raise money to grow your businesses. And, as part of this program, he put together a really cool report called “The 12 Insider Secrets to Raising Capital.”

Here’s the neat part – I asked Dave, and he said I could share this report with my readers for FREE. So here it is:  12 Insider Secrets to Raising Capital – Download Now.

Being an “insider”, I already got my copy and was really impressed at how much good, useful info Dave was willing to give away for free.  So, I figured you’d like a chance to see it too.

I think you know how this stuff works.  The free report is great – really valuable stuff you can use right away.  If you get the report, Dave will also send you a few more emails inviting you to take the capital raising course, too. My recommendation is, if you want to raise capital for your company, take the course.

Yours Truly,
Mark

P.S. A month ago, I took another course from Growthink called “Dave’s Ultimate System for Raising Venture Capital”.  That was an amazing course.  Look, there are a lot of capital raising “gurus” out there, and I always take the time and expense to test drive anything that might give you a leg up when it comes to capitalizing your company.  I am 100% satisfied with the course I took.  Dave told me this new “Bootcamp” course includes all of information I got and a whole lot more, especially in the area of super-early stage capital, which is the hardest to raise. So, definitely check out the free report. I got a lot of great new ideas just from the free report.  Here’s the link again – 12 Insider Secrets to Raising Capital – Download Now

P.P.S.  I know business capital raising can be really challenging.  I’ve been studying it and doing it myself for nearly a decade now.  So, I just wanted to throw in another special offer – if you end up taking Dave’s course, I’ll also give you 3 half-hour personal capital coaching sessions myself, on top of all the good info and personal attention you’ll get from Dave.  Just let me know.

Actions / Commentary / Revising NAICS — No comments
27
Jul 09

Then the Census Bureau Called Me…

In my last post, I mentioned how the Bureau of Labor Statistics contacted me for additional info on my proposal to make Ecosystem Health Care and Assistance” a top-tier listing in the Federal government’s “North American Industry Classification System” (NAICS) 5-year revision process happening now. For background, please see my first post on this subject from April 2008)

Last week, I got another call from the Census Bureau.  What I’m told is that revisions to NAICS are being researched by several agencies.  As I was talking, I recalled many other interesting links that can help people understand the already huge size of the “ecosystems sector”.  I’ve included them at this end of this post.

My point in all this is that taking care of the health of ecosystems is already so big that it should be included at the highest level of the NAICS system.  If the Federal government will make this change to the system, it will have a significant impact on the economy because the NAICS category system is used so broadly in everything from job listing sites to investment indexes, and simply seeing that the “ecosystem sector” is top-tier in NAICS will reframe the global dialogue about economy and ecology.

Here are some examples of infrastructure-scale projects that rely on the health of ecosystems for their economic function:

Environmental Business Journal has a wealth of reports on US and global economic activity in this space: http://environmental-industry.com/

The website Ecosystem Marketplace documents how globally, ecosystem markets and incentives are increasing rapidly to help grow this new ecological economy: http://ecosystemmarketplace.com

The “Rise Report” published in 2003 showed that over $2.6 billion was invested in “double bottom line” Private Equity strategies focused on environmental and/or social benefits: http://www.riseproject.org/uzrise_capmkt_rpt_03.pdf.  This number has grown considerably since then.  The latest “green” private investment figures are available from http://cleantech.com

Actions / Portal News / Revising NAICS — No comments
07
Jul 09

I get a call from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

My die hard fans will remember my quest to upgrade the Federal government’s “North American Industry Classification System” (NAICS) to add a top-tier category for “Ecosystem Health Care and Assistance” in the system’s upcoming revision.  Doing this would would focus all economic features of our economy on the environment – from reporting my major media to job listing and lending categories.  Simply acknowledging the green sector is one small and low-cost governmental step that can truly transform the economy.

In April 2009, I submitted my formal comment to the process which you can read about in my last post on this subject. I figured that would be the end of it, but a few days ago, I got a call from a researcher from the Bureau of Labor Statistics who was charged with the task of following up and researching the merits of my proposal.  We had a nice talk, she asked me if I could provide additional names that would be able back up my wishes with some hard facts on the scope and scale of the green economy.

I suggested she contact Dr. Robert Costanza, founder of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, Storm Cunningham, author of The Restoration Economy, and Lester Brown, author of Eco-Economy.  I also pointed her to the EcoSector Bookstore for more experts & authors on the green economy.

If you have the names of any other experts in the macro and practical size and scope of the green economy, please post them here and I’ll make sure the researcher gets the info you provide.

Mark

10 Reasons — No comments
12
Jun 09

Reason #2 – EcoSector helps end high legal fees paid by green businesses

PROBLEM #2

High legal fees present a huge obstacle to any entrepreneur attempting to raise capital the U.S.  In the Summer 2009 edition of Yes! Magazine, Michael Shuman of BALLE notes it can cost $50,000 to $100,000 or more in legal fees to prepare  legally compliant securities offering documents for raising seed and early round capital.

SOLUTION #2

EcoSector helps reduce and even eliminate these fees in several ways:

  1. High legal fees can often result from an entrepreneur paying a securities lawyer to do non-legal work such as strategic planning, earnings projections, and drafting legally compliant business plans. This happens when an entrepreneur retains a securities attorney before their basic business documentation and capital strategy are in place. EcoSector helps green entrepreneurs seeking capital get properly prepared for their securities attorney, eliminating unnecessary legal fees.

  2. Different securities attorneys can charge widely varying fees for identical work products. Most securities attorneys prefer working with huge clients who can pay huge fees and shy away from first round entrepreneurs.  Over several years, EcoSector has developed relationships with securities attorneys who prefer to work with early stage companies, and who have clear, fixed price fee structures.  By choosing the correct attorney, it is possible for an entrepreneur to complete the work Shuman mentions for $5000 to $15,000. EcoSector’s attorney associates can also help entrepreneur raise these fees in a legally compliant way, effectively bringing the out-of-pocket cost to the entrepreneur to zero for a signficant capital raise.

  3. EcoSector Industry Association members can help green entrepreneurs defray legal costs by making additional gifts to qualified green entrepreneurs in increments of as little as $1.00.  Learn more about becoming an EIA member…

10 Reasons — No comments
12
Jun 09

Reason #1 – EcoSector Solves Structural Barriers to Local and Green Investing

PROBLEM #1

Michale Shuman of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies wrote in this month’s Yes! Magazine that while local businesses generate 50% of all economic activity, “local businesses receive none of our pension savings.  Nor do they receive any investment capital from mutual, venture, or hedge funds.  The result is that all of us, even stalwart advocates of community development, overinvest in the Fortune 500 companies we distrust and underinvest in the local businesses we know are essential for local vitality.  This situation represents a colossal market failure.”

SOLUTION #1

The EcoSector Portal is actually a carefully designed tool for solving the problem Shuman writes about by helping local investors find and invest in green businesses near where they live. The Portal can be used by community leaders now for free to help them organize and revitalize entire local economies.

If you like this reason, please join the EcoSector Industry Association today with your membership gift of $1 or whatever you like.

10 Reasons — No comments
11
Jun 09

10 great reasons to help launch EcoSector today

Some readers have been following my efforts since 2001 when I first proposed a way to take the environmental protection game to a whole new level, beyond charities and government.  The essence of this strategy involves transforming the financial sector in way that is similar to how Whole Foods Markets made it impossible for the big food chains to ignore the importance of organic food.

Why is it crucial to transform the financial sector? After lobbying Congress for the environment from 1990 to 2000, I concluded that financial sector decisions are even more important than political ones in shaping how people treat our ecosystems.  After all, even if destruction is “legal”, most of it won’t happen without business financing. And, even if the harm is “illegal”, the finance sector provides the money businesses use to either fight government  regulations in court or lobby to “legalize”  harmful activities.

I believe we environmentalists have an urgent need to come together and take true leadership roles in the finance sector if we want to accomplish long lasting eco-solutions. This means adding a whole new set of options beyond today’s “socially responsible” investment funds which totally exclude early-stage investing – the very lifeline between where we are now and the true ecologically-sustainable economy of the future.

Today, I’m kicking off a 10-day campaign to gain 100 new founding members for the EcoSector Industry Association. Several people have already become  paying members. These early members helped crash-test EcoSector’s unique recurring micro-gift system.  Now the technology is functioning beautifully, and it’s time to go to the next level!

Based on the membership gifts so far, 100 new members will make EcoSector nearly self-sustaining, and enable us to carry out vital strategies to reach a national audience with this message.

Each day for the next ten days, I’m going to give one good reason for you and your friends to join the EcoSector Industry Association for $1 or whatever amount you like. I’ll note one major systemic problem a day, and describe how EcoSector solves it. At the end of ten days, I’ll let everyone know the results.

Commentary / Ecopreneurs — No comments
04
Jun 09

This should prove we mean business!

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in growing EcoSector is the tired old notion that protecting the environment is just for charities.  This new article should prove we mean business: Can Ecosystem Restoration Businesses Lead the Green Economy?

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Green Economy Action Guide

How We Can Put Billions of Dollars To Work Solving Our Eco-Challenges Without Waiting for Big Governments to Act

  • Why Can't Governments Protect the Environment?
  • How Can the Green Economy Solve Large-Scale Eco-Challenges?
  • What is Limiting Growth of the Green Economy?
  • What Can I Do?