Weekly Wins:

• • Months ago, I met Emilio Corchado from Startup Ole. He invited me to speak at his inaugural Miami event connecting founders, investors, venture builders, and government officials from LATAM, Spain, and the US. Best week of the year 🚀…

• • We re-launched BlackSmith Ventures as a Venture Building Studio (Foundry) and initiated the search for two (2) Associate Founders… Hit me up if you’ve ever wanted to be an entrepreneur and you’re ready to get after it…

• • Met a Cuban dude (32 yrs old) who made his way into the US via Arizona – traveling to Miami – and just bought his first car ever. I had a 100 questions and it was fascinating to learn the story of my new friend… His goal: become a Venture Builder… God sends you people when you need them and his story changed my view and life in a great way. Life is not what you see on TV!
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Weekly Lessons:

• • Need to learn Spanish fast… To many opportunities and too many good people to miss out on… Communication is key…
• • Life happens outside, with others… Not behind the computer.
• • Wanna invest in an entrepreneur? Find the ones that have LOST almost every damn thing and invest in them. The hard work is not when you are winning. The hard work is coming back from death, defeat, and ground zero… Sadly, I’ve been there more than once. Thankfully, I met at least five (5) like me this week.
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The Future of Venture Building Studios

Venture Builders develop business ideas in two ways (or both ways as is our case):

• • Internally (aka The Foundry)
• • Externally (aka Acquisition/Partnerships)
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Venture Builders then assemble the playbook, team, resources, and methodology to Launch, Build, Grow, and maybe even exit the business.

I equate a Venture Builder Studio to a baby nursery. Lot’s of little babies that we feed, nourish, teach, and grow before we eventually send them off to live their best life when it’s time.

Fun fact: My mom was an NICU (sick baby) Nurse her entire life, ha. Interesting parallel…

So, how does our model differ?

Once we have product/market fit and we know the idea is ready, we partner with Associate Foundersto come in as “Leader”. In the early stage, you don’t need a CEO type title. You just need to have the grit, open-mindedness, and hustle to “Attract” the ideal customer persona (ICP) or avatar.

Associate Founders take a significant equity stake (vested over time) and eventually a salary (once the business is able to pay) and then together we…