Hacking Capitalism Through Activist Entrepreneurship
Register to become a Founding Member of The Pathfinders Collective
Thank you to all of you who have helped me refine the thinking so far.
It’s been incredibly exciting and enjoyable to work on this and next week sees the start of filming - there’s a lot to catch you up on and at the bottom of this email is an exclusive offer to become a Founding Member, which I’m mentioning here in case you just want to scan read.
You may ask ‘what’s a Founding Member?’ and ‘member of what?’
Read on to find out…
The Story so far
I’ve been on a mission to address what I see as the root causes of climate change: our flawed economic system that is wholly dependent on infinite growth on a finite planet; and our culture’s failure to adequately incorporate our scientific understanding of the planet as one interconnected living system.
We are not separate from nature. We are nature.
So, armed with this mission I’ve been working as a consultant to businesses that want to change.
However, working with one or two businesses at a time is too slow for the change that we need and comes with a high price point as a result, barring many from participating.
Hence, the desire to return to my roots as an educator and to start teaching again.
The idea that I could go back to teaching and teach the things I feel most passionate about and inspire as many people as I can simply lit a fire in me and I’ve gone for it.
Expert input
I’ve consulted with established startup Founders, academics at Schumacher College and the University of Exeter, regenerative business advisors, circular design experts and therapists helping people with eco-anxiety and personal development through non-violent communication.
It’s been an amazing ride.
I also met with Extinction Rebellion Catalysers (who lobby billionaires at Davos) and learned how best to affect change through using the existing financial system against itself.
I even met with multi-millionaire XR activist and entrepreneur Roc Sanford by Zoom at his off-grid home in the Hebrides. Whilst discussing ways to use entrepreneurship as a means to change our economic systems, Roc shared a correspondence an XR colleague had had with Noam Chomsky who told XR that there isn’t time to destroy or dismantle the system and start again. Instead we have to use the system we have got and come up with ways to undermine the old and bring about the new.
This is exactly what The Pathfinders Collective is all about, so hearing this was an incredibly inspiring moment.
All this went into the mix alongside all the feedback I’ve been getting from potential members and this is why I’m now pivoting from standalone trainings to a community platform. Here’s why…
The vision
No one can do this alone. If we are to stand any chance of making lasting change, we have to do it together, over time.
We need to keep iterating, experimenting and sharing.
This is a collective after all.
Taking as our starting point and mission the need to address climate change at it’s root causes, we need to consider the following:
New economic vision. We have one generation in which to fundamentally transform the global economy from a linear, extractive model based on endless growth to an ecological and regenerative model that neither pollutes more than the Earth can absorb, nor uses resources faster than the Earth can regenerate them. (There’s much more in there in relation to justice and a whole host of things, but as a simple baseline distinction, this should suffice). In order to get there we need a new vision for what business is and is for, as well as a new vision of the future.
Theories of change - it’s personal. The more digging I have done into change and how to bring it about, the more I realise that so much of this is about encouraging people to have what is really just a change of heart or to change their minds, albeit about incredibly entrenched and deep notions of identity, right and wrong and worldview. And at scale as there are a lot of us. This is huge. However, we lead by example and create new ways of being and doing in the world, create value for others, generate and distribute wealth, that are so attractive and effective that others copy us. Whether they copy or not is up to them but we do it anyway. The point is that we can’t have social transformation without personal transformation.
We need huge innovation at speed - we need startups. We need new businesses, new models, new products and services that solve our biggest problems and make a profit. We also need to think about what to do with those profits in order to address the huge inequalities in our societies. Can startups be a source of exponential good? Can they serve to create what Prof Tim Lenton calls ‘positive tipping points’? Let’s find try it and find out.
Collaboration and symbiosis. Nature is full of lessons and one very important one is that species in thriving ecosystems are all interconnected, interdependent, collaborative and symbiotic to a large degree. This is to say that the web that weaves life together favours mutual reinforcement - networks of species wherein the waste of one is the food of another, the pest of one is the prey of another. Or, as in mycelium networks connecting with tree roots, we see nutrient exchange between species. The mycelium feeds the tree roots the minerals that trees need but can’t access. And the trees feeding the mycelium the sugars they need but cannot otherwise source too. The takeaway message? We need to collaborate in an organised fashion for the good of the whole, be that your business, industry or region and so on.
So, with all that in mind, here’s what’s coming…
The Pathfinders Collective is going to launch this Autumn as an online learning community.
Here’s what will be inside:
How To Launch An Impact Driven Startup Online Course (5+ hours of teaching, lots of resources and handouts). From idea to first paying customers.
Monthly 1 Hour Masterclasses in Biomimicry, Regenerative Business Design, Circular Business Models, All Aspects of Marketing, Finance and Operations.
Weekly 90min Q&As and group discussions to support the online course
Bi-weekly 60 min Eco-Anxiety, Mindset and Personal Development workshops
Bi-weekly 60 min Goal Setting Workshops to keep you on track with launching and scaling your business.
Every month we gather round for 60mins to listen to the stories of World-class academics, Experienced Impact Founders, Activists, Impact Investors, Coaches, Psychologists and Mindfulness Practitioners, Marketers, Lawyers & Accountants to help us on our way.
Tutorials, playbooks and mini-courses on Facebook/Insta Ads, Google Ads, SEO and more, Business Planning, Financial Forecasting, Accessing Funding, Pitch Deck Development
The latest draft of things can be found at thepathfinders.co and the waitlist is now open for registration, so feel free to share it.
Bio
In case you are new to me as well, here’s a quick blurb to give you some of my credentials so you can feel in safe hands along the way:
I’m Rob - along time educator, recovering journalist and senior manager.
I have a LL.B in Law and Sociology from Cardiff
a MSc in Sustainable Development from Exeter
a PGCE in Adult Education from Plymouth
I’m a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
I’ve been published in Adbusters, Resurgence & The Ecologist, Dark Mountain Books and XR Writers Rebel, and many more.
I designed the UK’s first Engineering degree to train students to launch their own startup for credit and receive funding for doing so (see here). This course helped secure a $1 million gift in funding from an alumnus and angel investor.
I was responsible for the launch of the UK’s first Degree Apprenticeship program in IT & Digital Solutions at a Russell Group University.
I oversaw the transition of all teaching and learning across the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at The University of Exeter to online learning during the Covid-19 lockdown.
I’m also the Co-Founder of Serenna and Co-Founder at Moon Phase Studio too, both ecommerce sites the latter of which went from £0 to £45k in it’s first month of trading.
Register your interest to become a Founding Member with 30% off for life
As a way of thanks for being on this list, I will be providing the first module of the course as free training for you as soon as it is finished (end of September).
And I’ll be giving you an affiliate link you can use to refer others to become members, with a 30% commission for life.
BUT
If you would like to join as Founding Member, I can give you an exclusive 30% discount for life based on the initial introductory pricing (which may well go up as I work things out) of £35 per month, or £350 for the year.
To become a Founding Member, you need to opt-in by replying to this email.
If you like the sounds of becoming a true Pathfinder by being one of the Founding Members, helping to shape the community and shared content for many more to come after you, hit reply and tell me that you’re in.
You won’t be bound to pay a penny, I’ll simply include you on emails with more info on what’s to come and how to get setup. Once the site is live I’ll send you a link and a discount code and you can decide what to do at the time.
For now, I just need to get a feel for numbers - so let me know:
In? Out? Or need more info?
All the best,
Rob