Igniter Exploration Deck

Exploration Deck
A conversation primer in the
exploration of practical
approaches to transformative
venturing and investment.

Common experiences in venturing
call for new approaches
• Common experiences:
– The earlier the stage, the less applicable
or effective conventional management
practices tend to be
– The deeper the level of system change
being sought, the less effective
conventional planning approaches tend
to being
– The ‘earlier’ and ‘deeper’ the venture, the
greater the influence of the values and
style of key stakeholders and leadership
• Essentially, transformative venturing is
about creating a stable state far from
equilibrium.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. (Michael A. B. Lewkowitz - Igniter Incorporated - michael@igniter.com) 2

Venture investing involves
much more than just dollars
• Venture investing involves 3 forms
of capital
– Financial
– Social
– Intellectual
• In the overlaps there is leverage
– financial + social = ?
– financial + intellectual = ?
– social + intellectual = ?
• At the centre is the fulcrum where
the most powerful approaches will
be found
– financial + social + intellectual = ?

Look ‘early’ and ‘deep’ to develop
the most applicable approaches


Initial observations in
transformative venturing
Challenge is to employ capital
(all forms in synergy)
as a productive catalyst

Readiness indicators
•Trust
•Clarity
•Momentum
Requisite Conditions
•Basic financial stability
•Core competency coverage

Accelerating conditions
•‘Venture vortex’ alignment
•Active, appropriate network

Initial thoughts on practices for
transformative venturing and investing
Conventional Systems Transformative
Strategy Strategy investment
practice*
Intellectual •expert advice •wisdom in community 1.“Venture Votex”
•directive •co-creative 2.“Viable System
engagement Model”

Financial •invest in plans •invest in conditions 3.“Deal Day”
•seek surety •create space 4.“Seed stability
•control risk •comfort with unknown fund”

Social •directly managed •dynamic 5.“Iggy-Active
•linear •fluid Network”
•referral based •interconnected

* Further explanation on the following slides.

Practice 1:
“Venture Vortex”
• A comprehensive
venture alignment
framework
– Frames questioning
– Describes
interconnection
– Aids in due
diligence and
optimization
• The greater the
alignment of the
venture, the greater
the efficacy of the
investment

Practice 2:
“Viable System Model”
• Developed by Stafford Beer
• Systems science of
organization
– For business system
diagnostic and design
• Core principles for
designing and organizing a
venture to fulfill a purpose
– Wikipedia
• http://tinyurl.com/3cfyz9
– Highlights on Igniter blog
• http://tinyurl.com/23v7yt


Practice 3:
“Deal Day”
• A co-creative approach to deal structuring
• 1 day session with venture team, investors, and key
community members
– Review and update Venture Vortex alignment assessment
– Determine venture condition measures and activities
• Requisite conditions
– Basic financial stability
– Core competence coverage
• Accelerating conditions
– Venture Vortex alignment
– Active and appropriate network

– Structure deal to most catalyze venture conditions and
take advantage of the clout in the investment process
• Recognize capital’s clout as attractor, influencer, and enforcer


Practice 4:
“Seed stability fund”
• First, and foremost, ensure plan for basic financial
stability
– Financial capital
• Basic cash-flow break-even, or
• Sufficient to achieve crtical milestones that will enable next round funding
(also sufficient time to close funding)
– Social capital
• Key connections and relationships related to the above milestones
– Intellectual capital
• Venture Vortex alignment to focus in on core activities and identify key
milestones, activities, and resources
• Shared experiences from venturers that established basic financial
stability
• Second, and possibly in parallel, additional capital can
be applied for investment in accelerating conditions

Practice 5:
“Iggy-active network”
• Whole portfolio network activation
– Leverage social capital from past investments
– Enable social capital sharing and leverage among the
investees
• Supported through online network development
– LinkedIn
• Document work history on behalf of investees’ key personnel
• Encourage them to connect their network
– offers the network of entire portfolio and their networks to their contacts

– Social networking community platform
• E.g. Ning + del.icio.us (or Twine)
• Shared learning... intelligence... consciousness...
– Pro-actively leverage for
• Deal flow, due diligence, specific capital/resource support requests

Process of exploration
• Those who are on ‘the frontier’ of transformative
venturing and investing have a wealth of experience and
observations that have yet to be articulated and turned
into practice
– Step 1: explore and articulate that wealth YOU
ARE
HERE
• Series of intentional conversations with investors on ‘the frontier’
– Step 2: transform insights into implementable practices
• Some initial concepts have been presented in this deck
– Step 3: just do it - put it into practice
• Currently envisioned as small, dedicated, time-limited experimental fund
(e.g. 5 investments, 18 months)
– Step 4: revisit and.. repeat?


Exploration guides

On the leading edge of change, An accomplished venture builder with
consistently delivering quality programs over a decade of experience founding,
to hundreds of communities and advising, professional investment, and
organisations. managing emerging entities with a vision.

✴Access to a global network
✴Founded: 6
of facilitators and change
✴Incubated: 2
agents.
✴Funding raised: > $6M
✴Observing change first
✴Managed: 3
hand for over 40 years with
✴Advised: 5
affiliates in 36 nations.

Mission: To enhance people’s capacity Mission: To co-create a
to participate in the creation of a more comprehensive example of the
human world through training in group practical structures for common people
facilitation and leadership methods, to meet their primary needs in a way
and facilitating community and that reflects balance among people and
organizational development. the planet by 2015.

Igniter Exploration Deck

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