21TH June 2012

Uncategorized

Falling in w/Maximus Forum

Scaling St. Anne Gorge- Come hang with us

I’ve had the good fortune of falling in with Maximus Forum, a small group of EO and YPO qualified entrepreneurs that meet quarterly to exchange new ideas, tackle challenges, and address opportunities against new and undiscovered backdrops.

While we started out with a constitution, I’d be laughed off the internet if I reprinted it here. The group is 100% hard-core entrepreneurs. We are founders of our own companies (sometimes multiple) and have businesses with $25-100+M in sales, 50+ employees, $10-50MM in capital. In total, we have created over 1,000 jobs, which makes our occasional run-in with “occupy” protests all the funnier. And while we started in garages and on kitchen tables, the issues and opportunities we face have evolved as much as our businesses have.

That’s why it made sense to get together with peers that face similar challenges. At this point, the elevator explanation on soft attributes would be: Everyone has a depth of experience, a curiosity to learn, a sense of respect and accountability to the group, and a ribald sense of humour.

We also are a group that has seen a lot of the world, so we try to keep things interesting when we meet. The once-in-a-lifetimes we have experienced in our first two years include

1. Court side and backside at the Miami Heat
2. Sonoma Wine ramble- on bikes
3. Ascent of Mt. St Anne Gorge – in flip flops
4. Vegan voyage through Toronto – complete with Rock Art.
5. Lunch and a backstage star bashing from one of Broadway’s most accomplished producers
6. … and soon, the OU Horseshoe – on the field, I’m promised

But we are really all about improving ourselves, our families and our businesses, so we work at it every trip. Our self-booked learning sessions have had top flight learning sessions on interesting subjects like

1. Lean methods
2. MAP and 360 reviews
3. A Player recruiting
4. The Dunbar line and Core Values
5. 7 Habits of Highly Effective people
6. Reading Body Language- from the FBI’s top interrogator

Our members include

1. Brendan Anderson, Evolution Capital
2. Alan Homewood, 2 Checkout
3. Kenny Etinson, Syntax
4. Jack McDonald, Leeza Distribution
5. Miles Spencer, Mojiva
6. Rich Manders, iAutomation
7. Link Howard, PowerLink
8. *Mike Crowe, Advocator Group (sabbatical)

That’s everything, up ’til now.