Tuesday, December 27, 2005

FAQs about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind

Good morning, Billion Dollar Business Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Thanks to the many people who have been sending me e-mails about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Since so many of you are asking the same questions, I wanted to save everyone time by sharing those questions and answers. I will update this post from time to time, so plan to return if you have more questions.

1. What does a member receive?

The basic fee covers the following services:

-- A twice-yearly review of the entrepreneur's business model and plans done by me. Continuing business model innovation is one of the keys to outstanding entrepreneurial success. This service will make that process easier to accomplish by applying the lessons of the group's work to an individual business with specific recommendations. This service is not available from me outside of the group. To learn more about this subject, read The Ultimate Competitive Advantage which I co-authored in 2003 based on the success practices of the fastest growing companies. The first review comes within a few weeks of a member joining the group.

-- Access to weekly (or possibly bi-weekly longer) teleconferences in which I will review templates that can be used to ease members' development of the three 2,000 percent solutions (increasing market size by 20 times, reducing costs of providing and using offerings by 95%, and accelerating adding customers by 20 times) and answer specific questions. For those who miss these calls, there will be a replay line. The calls will be scheduled for the convenience of the majority of the members.

-- Written materials designed to help members create the three 2,000 percent solutions and implement them successfully. Members can submit e-mail questions about these materials and receive answers.

-- Where appropriate, introductions to other members with complementary interests, skills and resources so that they can pursue mutually beneficial relationships. I will make the introductions based on information members share with me on a confidential basis.

-- Publicity about ventures and introductions to investors where that is desired and appropriate. I anticipate that this group's existence will attract a lot of interest among potential investors. That should ease the opportunity to gain favorable financing.

-- The option to exclude competitors from the group. Some people will prefer to pursue co-opetition opportunities. Others will want to avoid that. It's up to the member.

For additional charges, members can also receive individual help with developing their 2,000 percent solutions, coaching on developing their organizations, introductions to potential customers and other services that a specific member feels are important to the member's success.

Ultimately, we have only one rule: The members make all the rules. Services will probably shift over time as members develop more experience and understanding of what they would like to do with one another.

2. What is this service?

Most people haven't been in a master mind like this before. Most master minds rely on relatively little organization to accomplish their purposes. Members support each other on an as-needed basis and voluntarily. You can read about master minds in Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich.

Over many years, I 've learned that people like master minds . . . but would like to have some more content, structure and support to get the most benefit from them.

I think of this service as being a way to become your own consultant . . . but at less than five percent of what it would cost you to hire a consultant.

The logic of this is pretty obvious. By sharing resources, members split the general costs. If we have 20 members, everyone is paying around 5 percent of the general cost. If we have 100 members, everyone is paying around 1 percent of the general cost. Where members need customized assistance, their costs are still reduced by having already gained access to the general knowledge and resources.

3. What does the basic service cost?

The basic membership fee varies based on an individual's experience, location and when they join the group. The longer someone waits to join, the more expensive the fee is. That's justified by gaining access to work done before the member joins and having a larger network of entrepreneurs to draw knowledge and assistance from.

I will provide you with a quote that will be good for 30 days anytime you want one.

4. What information can members keep confidential about themselves?

Members are free to keep all information confidential about themselves if they wish. I will be glad to sign a confidentiality agreement before reviewing business models and plans, but these need not be submitted if a member wishes to keep them private. During other contacts, it's up to a member how much the member wants to reveal. I advise that members zealously guard their proprietary secrets in the same way they would with anyone.

5. Who is a good prospect for this service?

The main requirement is that someone will be an active participant and make concerted efforts to apply what is learned. Those with more entrepreneurial and executive experience will be better able to do that. Those who have already created successful 2,000 percent solutions will be among the most effective members. Any prospective member who wants to become adept in this discipline can take an on-line tutorial with me to prepare for the group. There is an additional fee for this service. Everyone who joins should have a strong desire to build an enterprise with more than a billion dollars in value.

6. How can this group's work be applied to an educational program?

Many members are enrolled in degree and non-degree business programs. You may use the work that you do to apply what is covered in the master mind in your course work. A typical application would be to describe your business model or your plans to implement that business model. But you may not quote from copyrighted materials that are not in the public domain. That material is proprietary and may not be shared outside of your own organization. Typically, you will find it difficult to publish academic articles and books based on the work in the master mind without violating the copyright limitations.

7. How many members will the group have?

Master minds become much more effective as soon as they have at least 30 active members. We will grow as rapidly as is feasible to reach that level. At this time, I don't know how long that will be.

Most of the scale benefits to members are achieved at 100 members.

Based on my time availability and the level of service I would like to provide, it will be impractical for this group to grow beyond 350 members.

Growth will be moderated after we gain 30 members so that growth doesn't become a distraction from delivering member services.

As always, the members make all the rules so membership may be capped at any time by a majority vote of the members.

8. How can I learn more?

Beginning this week, I will host a series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind. As part of these calls, I will be describing more about creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.


I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Wednesday, December 28, 2005: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Thursday, December 29, 2005: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Monday, January 2, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early.
I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad
to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!


If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.


May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell