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Glen Wakeman - Launchpad Holdings, LLC |
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February 12, 2018 Issue |
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CEOCFO MAGAZINE |
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Increasing Your Chances of Success |
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CEO/Founder
Launchpad Holdings, LLC
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – February 12, 2018
CEOCFO: Glen, you have an extensive history as a global executive, writer, inventor, mentor and investor. What is your focus today?
Glen Wakeman:
My focus today is on growth: specifically, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses. I've been fortunate to travel a diverse and interesting road with both successes and disappointments. I'd like to contribute what I've learned to others' development, whenever I can, with the hope that they can see things a little more clearly and thereby increase their chances of success.
CEOCFO: What is the idea and focus behind Launchpad Holdings?
Glen Wakeman:
The idea is to turn ideas into plans, thereby reducing the risk of failure. The focus is on early stage entrepreneurs and not established businesses as early stage entrepreneurs need help to get off the ground. We've learned that ideas and plans are not the same thing. Our goal is to provide a structured way of thinking about and building a plan that is fast and easy to use. With a plan in hand, it will be making it much easier for entrepreneurs to then go and raise capital from friends and family or from whomever.
CEOCFO: How have your interests come together to create the Launchpad tools?
Glen Wakeman:
Launchpad is something of a synthesis of my career, really. I've lived and worked around the world, done start-ups, raised capital and built teams. Launchpad Toolkit reflects that experience by consolidating my learning into a simple to use guide. The result is a clean, clear, investor friendly presentation that reduces the risk of execution.
CEOCFO: Where are you in the process of sharing the Launchpad story and services?
Glen Wakeman:
The site is up and operating. We are in an "MVP" stage and are receiving improvement ideas form our customers. It's pretty exciting really to co-develop a solution to a basic problem, leveraging our customer base as a resource.
CEOCFO: What is the basic process at Launchpad?
Glen Wakeman:
The basic process is to follow a guided tour of establishing a business, including everything from legal entity to marketing. It's an on-line software as a service that takes a client through a series of thoughtful questions and helps provide answers. The result is a presentation document that enables fund raising.
CEOCFO: Do you see increasing opportunity in the current economic environment? How do you temper risk with potential reward-for yourself and for Launchpad users?
Glen Wakeman:
We definitely see opportunities ahead. New business formulations exceed 50,000 new enterprises a month. Many fail due to the lack of capital or planning. We address the risk of not having a solid plan and thereby increase the chances of success.
CEOCFO: How does Launchpad stand apart from other companies that work with budding entrepreneurs?
Glen Wakeman:
Launchpad Toolkit is simple and easy to use. in addition, it offers tips to developing entrepreneurs to help them grow as leaders.
CEOCFO: What have you learned as Launchpad has grown? What has changed from your original concept?
Glen Wakeman:
We've learned that simpler and clearer is better and more effective. Like many entrepreneurs, our original plans were way too ambitious and we tried to "boil the ocean". By trimming down the feature set, we've learned that we can deliver bigger and clearer benefits to our customers. Listening to customers, and adapting to their insights and needs, is an effective way to grow a business.
CEOCFO: I suspect you are always thinking about, if not working on several projects at all times. What is on the agenda for the next year or so?
Glen Wakeman:
Presentations can be boring and therefore turn audiences away from what could be a great idea. More, I think effective communication can enable growth. Humor is a good solution to the problem of boredom. I'd like to find a way to incorporate the fun of memes, videos, and satire into an easy to use presentation toolkit. Essentially, I’d like to bring the creative and funny writers and artists in the gig economy into the investor pitch meeting. The project name is "Snarkify". It's under development. Let's see where it goes. |
Listening to customers, and adapting to their insights and needs, is an effective way to grow a business.- Glen Wakeman
Glen Wakeman - Launchpad Holdings, LLC
Contact: Phone: 305-773-0288 Email: glen@launchpadholdings.com
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Glen Wakeman, Launchpad Holdings, LLC, Increasing Your Chances of Success, CEO Interviews 2018, Business Services Companies, Technology Company, Business plan solution, online business plan strategy solution, build your business plan, help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, guidance for establishing a business, everything from legal entity to marketing, easy to us guide for entrepreneurs, Glen Wakeman, Launchpad Holdings, LLC Press Releases, News, twitter, facebook, linkedin, google plus |
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Glen
Wakeman
