Archive for October, 2008
October 30th, 2008 | Tags: Pilot Partners, Schools
While attending a breakfast at the Rivers Club this morning (and straightening my tie in the bathroom), I had the good fortune of meeting David Richardson of the Center for Family Excellence. Mr. Richardson was there for a BAAM (Benefitting African-American Males) Breakfast with the Northside Urban Pathways Charter School — http://pathways.k12.pa.us/. He was incredibly kind and, quite clearly, committed to serving the school’s youth.
As it goes, I soon after had the opportunity to meet the school’s CEO, Linda Clautti. I couldn’t attend the BAAM event as I was there for another breakfast. Nonetheless, I’m hopeful that I’ll soon visit the school, serve as a mentor, and perhaps form a pilot partnership. Given my own experiences as a teacher and administrator in a charter school, I’d love to get a closer look at the work they’re doing in and out of the classroom.
I’ve actually heard a great deal about Northside Urban Pathways and been encouraged by a few folks to eventually make contact. Goes to show how small and open Pittsburgh can be.
As Skill-Life seeks our first group of pilot partners and foundation funding to launch Skill-Life in settings where it could be of particular benefit to youth and families, this could prove to be a pretty fortuitous encounter.
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October 28th, 2008 | Tags: AlphaLab, Demo, Game Development, Investment
After five months here at AlphaLab, Demo Day has come and gone. It was a great opportunity to talk about Skill-Life in front of a receptive audience of investors and potenatial partners. The last few days of preparation have been intense but I’m happy with how things turned out. A few nibbles here and there — good places to start as we continue our current investment round.
The demo portion went well and the problem of financial literacy is obvious — an easy sale. I’m not certain that I spent enough time on the central question “how we make money.” The challenge is having a company with a social mission and the intention of seeking foundation funding early on. That inevitably comes across as something not terribly attractive to VC’s, and potentially, to angel investors as well.
The key, I think, is for us to embrace the mission-driven nature of Skill-Life while also making clear our plan for eventually reaching a consumer market. As of today, we’ve got a good demo, a solid pitch, and a workable plan for getting to the next level.
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October 25th, 2008
As of this morning, Skill-Life.com has officially arrived! It’s been a nice journey getting here with still more work to go.
This site includes information about our company and mission. Nore significantly, it provides a demo of the innovative and one-of-a-kind financial tool we are building.
And, of course, there’s this blog. Be sure to register for our RSS feed, join our community, and stay posted on our progress.
Thanks to Dtek Digital Media for their great work on the site and to Bad Feather for the outstanding design.
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October 23rd, 2008 | Tags: AlphaLab
We’re only a few days away now — 5 to be exact! After five months of being one of six companies in Innovation Works first AlphaLab, the time has come to show what we’ve been up to. The event is being attended by a number of potential investors, partners, customers, and champions, so the stakes are high. At this point, we’re working to get ready — perfecting the pitch and building the demo.
It’s an exciting and anxious time. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to present Skill-Life to so many folks of note. In our short lifetime as a company and social enterprise, this may be the most significant single event yet — with plenty more to come!
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October 23rd, 2008
I had a great phone call yesterday with a gentleman from MIT. He had taken some time to look over our previous CentsCity.com site (now Skill-Life.com) and, of course, had just finished reading some of the latest news about the economic crisis this country (and the world at large) is facing. It led him to an interesting place…
As it turns out, he’s a fan of the board game Monopoly. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Monopoly is the most-played commercial boad game of all time and is in the Guinness Book of World Records. That wasn’t so much a surprise. Here’s the interesting part — Monopoly can be traced back to 1904 or so, but it really took off during the 1930′s — during the Great Depression.
I’ve always thought that Skill-Life was “right on time” so to speak. That’s seemed more and more the case over the last month. Ten years ago, the need and want for financial education might not have been as significant as it seems to be now. And the technology certainly wasn’t yet at the ready. Now more than ever, we need to get this product made and out into the world.
Perhaps there’s something to be learned from Monopoly’s journey up. I certainly hope to achieve that kind of reach and impact.
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