Together we’ll win!
The Green Entrepreneur Development School (GEDS) a student owned and run school that taps into the power of a supportive community to enable students with little or no money to build their own successful businesses as rapidly as humanly possible.
Think of GEDS as the Olympics of entrepreneurship. Like the Olympics very few people are willing to make the all out commitment that the Olympics or our GEDS business building program demands.
Boundless New Opportunities
Today breakthroughs in science and new technologies are creating more new lucrative business opportunities than at any other time in human history. 90% of all scientists and inventors that have ever lived are alive and working. They are producing more new opportunities every 15 years than were produced in the last 100, and the last century was very inventive with TVs, computers, space travel, washing machines, airplanes, autos and much more.
Entrepreneurs themselves are a major source of new opportunities. When the Wright brothers invented the airplane they created opportunities for airplane manufacturers like Boeing. They also created thousands of second tier opportunities. These, for the most part were low tech, like food services, airport support, travel agents and manufacturers of airplane seats etc.. It is in this second tier where historically businesses have been highly profitable and have created most of the new jobs. So the more entrepreneurs there are, the more new opportunities there will be.
Shortages, yes indeed and this is great news because history shows that shortages are opportunities for creative problem solvers. Look at the energy sector today, while doom and gloomers are crying in despair, there are over one hundred-thousand scientists and inventors working on the energy challenge. Those who find answers will win big. Already companies are earning millions, creating new jobs, building wind turbines, solar collectors, and biofuel plants.
Another way successful entrepreneurs create jobs for others is by spending money. Buy a wool coat, and you create work for the coat maker, the weaver, and the sheep rancher etc.. Or when an entrepreneur banks money the banker loans it out to someone who spends it creating more jobs. In fact, the source of all paying jobs on planet Earth is people spending money so unless entrepreneurs burn or bury their money, every penny they earn, goes towards creating work for others.
In a free market economy, shortages show up as higher prices. Today entrepreneurs are earning from 100 to 1000 times more money than any other profession. This is a clear sign of a vast shortage.
Best of all there are no formal educational requirements, school dropouts like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and other entrepreneurs with even less education outnumber those with Ph.Ds.
GEDS, a radical new approach!
With thousands of new opportunities to choose from each student must start their own business within 20 days of moving into a GEDS dormitory. For it is a lot more exciting and fun to learn accounting, in your own business, then to spend hours doing boring exercises for some imaginary XYZ corporation. The same is true for learning product development, marketing, and logistics etc.. The real world not the classroom is where the action is.
Each student has a mentor who is an experienced entrepreneur and has completed an intensive trained program. The mentor’s income is based on the students success this in addition to their caring nature assure each student the active support they need to succeed. Mentors are a great help with venture capital, marketing, and business strategy.
Qualifications
Because GEDS can not help all ¼ billion people who want an opportunity for a better life, we must be selective. Yet history show that humans do a poor job of evaluating others. Einstein for example was rejected for many jobs, he finally with the help of a family friend ending up working as a lowly file clerk.
Self selection is our answer
To build a close knit culture of success GEDS students have come up with the following 5 promises.
1) I promise to for the next 4 years: put all of my time, energy, and resources, into creating a world that works by building my own successful green business.
2) I promise through my business to create new jobs and opportunities for others, enabling them to also prosper and escape poverty.
3) I promise to join with other students in creating a fun, exciting GEDS community. By sharing building space, equipment, the internet and cutting expenses through co-op child care, success comes easier and faster than going it alone.
5) I promise to help rid the school of anyone who is not keeping their promises.
These promises are meant to exclude all who do not find becoming an entrepreneur a fun, exciting and fulfilling game. This school is NOT for people who aren't willing to put all of their earnings back into their business, postponing, fancy food, fashionable clothing, hot cars, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, pets, and all the other luxuries until they are rich and successful.
This high level of shared commitment creates a high energy community and increases everyone's success rate. Students often find more opportunities than they can exploit. If one student starts a successful printing company. The printing company will create entrepreneurial opportunities for graphic artists, machinery repair, and marketing. Then these companies will themselves create even more opportunities so being in a community of highly motivated people makes it much easier to succeed. This is why students promise to expel anyone who is not keeping their promises.
Tuition and other expenses
GEDS is working all out to make it possible for a penniless mother and her children to walk through our door and succeed. This means that we economize, no fancy builds or green lawns. We have chosen Genoa Co. because buildings cost far less than they do in metro Denver. Given the choice between spending money on decorating a room or helping a single parent start a business, the single parent wins hands down.
If someone wants a beautiful campus we recommend Colorado College at $50,000 per semester. On the other hand our tuition is $10 per week, this is ¼ of CU instate tuition. The big difference is that students graduate from GEDS owning a business instead of having a large student loan to pay off. The Amber Scholarship Fund can provide scholarships for some single parents. Dorm rooms are available at $18 per week, with four person occupancy. We are also setting up a co-op child care system.
Note: we are not a charity there are no freebies. We do have a good work study program and one of our students has started a temp employment agency. If you have no money you are welcome, but plan on quickly getting a part time job, there are plenty.
Bottom line
Caution: this is a challenging, demanding program, it is not for couch potato’s.
GEDS students will expel any student who is not playing the entrepreneurial game all out. We welcome only people who are willing to play the entrepreneurial game with the same level of all out commitment that olympic athletes show.
Three pathway to riches
1) Building your own successful business. Given the ever increasing number of opportunities this fun, exciting and challenging pathway to success is open to all.
2) Mentoring other students. In the GEDS structure this is an exciting and rewarding and highly profitable sideline. GEDS rewards mentors very generously because advanced technology is wiping out millions of traditional jobs. Studies have shown that entrepreneurs create more new jobs then big business and government combined. Mentors make it easier and faster for new students to succeed. To understand the magnitude of technologies impact on jobs see: http://todaysdisappearingjobs.blogspot.com/
And for a more indepth look at the growing challenge check out this bibliography http://jobkillingref.blogspot.com
3) Ownership of the school is divided up based on hours donated to the school. This is optional but several of us expect the school itself to be a very profitable business the profits will be divided up based on the hours worked.
As millions of traditional jobs vanish, job creating entrepreneurs will become the rich heros of our society. If you're willing to prosper and helping create a world that works. Then contact us. Thanks
Michone (Missy) Panion
401 Main St.
Genoa, CO. 80818
720-278-6731
PS When we speak of creating a world that works. Here are some of the challenges we are working on. Briefly they are:
1) 76% of college freshman will be financially harmed. That’s according to government figures. It seems that 51% drop out before they get a degree. Then of the ones who get a degree over half of them end up in low end jobs that don’t require or pay for a college degree, you know like flipping burgers or delivering pizzas. Do the math and you find that 76 percent of freshman would be better off if they didn't enroll.
2) Student loans are OK for the 24% who graduate and get good paying jobs. But the other 76% have an almost impossible task, so much so that over 5 million of them have defaulted on their loans. Running their credit making even buying a car almost impossible, and buying a house only a dream. GEDS can help as they can defer payment while in school, and by the time they graduate they should have a successful business, making paying back the loan easier.
3) Worker exploitation. The goal of many businesses is to pay workers a little as possible while making as much money off of their labor as possible. This is fundamentally unfair.
4) Growing inequality. As a few people get richer the middle class is sliding into poverty. As you can see from this graph, it is a long term trend. This not only affects the middle class it is also create additional hardships for the poor. This is because 70% of tax revenue comes from the middle class. With the demise of the middle class tax revenue is also falling causing massive cuts in social support programs. In the last budget 800 million was cut off of SNAP(food stamps) this at a time when many middle class families are becoming poor and needing help.
