“Dave Evans is from the future.”

Dave and The Butler Bros are in an alliance of companies. As such we are faced with opportunities that we must agree upon collectively. Dave messaged our entire group recently with his thoughts on working for equity. Once again Dave’s past experiences will change that future that I live in. He gave me permission to share his thoughts here. Perhaps you will find them to be merely common sense but I found them to be very well reasoned and most importantly, full of self esteem. I think this post will be of great value to the many start up agencies I socialize with and the many start up businesses connecting with them. Would love your comments.

My POV on “equity” projects is this: While I may do this same work in my “day job” I view these projects as “volunteer/night job/things I’d like to see happen but realize they may not…” endeavors. So, I have to limit the number of these I am working on. (That number is generally between zero and one.)

As for my involvement–and I’d except the same for all of us–it is constrained by the fact that this is an equity deal. I can balance (but don’t ask my family for a second opinion on this…) a controlled commitment with other (aka ‘paid’) work. (Otherwise, I should not be part of this.)

That said, (insert start up name here) and his team need to recognize that we are all doing some variation of this same balancing act: He is NOT getting a team that is 100% focused on this project, precisely because we have other obligations. That is his choice: His alternative is go and pitch this, seek funding, issue an RFP, and pay for a fully retained team.

As for the equity…it needs to be substantial: We need to be (appropriately for the the role we are playing) equal partners in this with (insert start up name here) and his team (minus the ‘founding’ allocations, of course…). We need to see business plan, and our involvement must be noted in it before agreeing to this.

In summary, we aren’t creating the expectation that we will work for free, and hope something nice happens. There is risk, and with that there must be an offsetting reward. We are offering instead to JOIN his team as equity partners, with a committed eye on creating shared success.

“Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path… exactly where you are meant to be right now… And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love.”

- Caroline Adams

We believe in a Smoke Free Texas. Second hand smoke is a public health hazard linked to death, cancer, heart disease and respiratory illness in non-smokers. Our work with LEGACY this year has convicted us of these truths.

Last year the team at Smoke Free Texas did not reach their goal of a statewide smoking ban in public places. We believe that their communications can be more pointed and more memorable this year. It’s time to shake up the willing. We offer this redesign of their logo as a donation to this effort. Special thanks to our partner Brett Stiles for his generous donation of time and talent.

If you are interested in helping Texas become smoke free please download a petition or become a fan on Facebook.

So back to the BW piece, which focuses on a Florida based Subway franchisee named Stuart Frankel. In order to lift sagging sales he tweaked his pricing to 5 bucks for a footlong. In the article he quips, “I like round numbers.” So do real people Stuart. You knew that though because you spend lots of time with them. Enough with the decimal points already…

As the national coverage of this story would indicate, Stuarts tweak trickled up to the brass in corporate and it is now a system wide promotion at Subway with national TV spots and mountains of collateral behind it. It’s literally become a 3.8 billion dollar idea. Pardon the decimal point.

The reason this bus board ruffles my ventricles is the crass collision it creates in my mind regarding a very real public health crisis. Namely, that the leading cause of death in Texas is heart disease. So when I see this board I think, ‘you nailed it Mickey D’s, pump MORE beef in our hearts!’

Now, we are all free to eat whatever we want. We can dispassionately read the statistics about what kills the most Texans. We can browse the statistics about which cities eat the most fast food. We can ignore the correlations if we choose. We can throw hundreds of billions at health care without ever looking in the mirror. But when a brand practically taunts us with entendre and we don’t notice…that starts to feel a little too much like “Idiocracy“. What are you noticing?

Annick Beaudet project manager for the City of Austin’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program asked us to help with laying down the “law” of the trail.

The trail is near and dear to our running shoes, bike tires, and BOB’s. Last year we designed the new identity for the Trail Foundation. While this poster was a much simpler project to execute there was some great learning…I wasn’t aware that the “speed limit” on the trail is 10 MPH for instance. Let’s just say it took me a little longer to ride into work today.

Big thank you to design partner  Toby Sudduth for jumping in and creating the look for this poster at a moments notice. Keep your eyes peeled for it at local bike shops and blown up big this weekend on the trail.

And yes, we can all get along on the trail if we just take a minute to remember a few simple rules.

Happy Trails.

On the surface there is nothing wrong with this park. Millions of happy families stream in and take full advantage of the Lost Lagoon water park, roller coasters, marine exhibits and incredible up close access to marine mammals. The shows are entertaining, too. Watching a whale breach the surface of the water and sail through the air, all set to high decibel Euro-style techno music, is exhilarating.

A dolphin takes flight at one the shows we visited.

However, I understand that our ocean’s are in trouble, so I felt a huge disconnect in the park. It’s apparent that SeaWorld lacks a fully integrated conservationist philosophy.

SeaWorld’s greatest  opportunity is to guide people to make a clear connection between themselves, the animals and the environment. The park is too focused on short-term human satisfaction and doesn’t function to educate how human behavior is the dominant force in determining the future of not only the oceans but our planet. Humans need re-think and re-learn our place in the world. Organizations like SeaWorld are perfectly suited to take on a challenge of this magnitude.

SeaWorld takes full advantage of the captive creatures it trains. These animals are the largest draw for the park. They help generate wealth for a few and a living wage for many. But how do the world’s oceans fare on the payroll? The animals are on loan from the ecosystem from which they were harvested. They are not really performers or actors – they are ambassadors representing the thousands of species in the oceans who can’t cooperate or ’smile’ in a show. The animal’s performances should be seen as a invitation for us all to take heed and become involved.

A good strategy would be to incorporate the soul and goals of the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund into the mainstream entertainment concepts and programming of the park. The Foundation’s goals can become the core driver of the business. With this act, SeaWorld can transform itself from a theme park that skims less than a million dollars from its immense annual profits to put towards its scientific grants – into a highly effective and entertainment/education advocate organization for the worlds oceans. Sure, some SeaWorld programs exist that touch on conservation, but they’re lost amid the larger theme of the park – which is mostly about humans being ‘entertained’ by animals. It’s time for SeaWorld to make the worlds oceans a proper business partner.

Families should leave SeaWorld inspired to become a part of the solution to key issues that threaten our oceans. Picture millions of Americans empowered by practical ideas on how to sustain wildlife and their environments. Teach people that all of us have a responsibility and each of us have real power to protect and conserve and about our responsibility because of our wealth, influence and our capacity to consume.

This is how SeaWorld becomes a part of the solution. This is how all the toil and investment really starts to make sense and the whole world wins. Leaders like SeaWorld San Antonio’s EVP Dan Decker have been with the company for many years. He believes in the culture. Decker states in a youtube film that the company has, ‘Taken very good care of he and his family…’ He has obviously been a good steward to the brand. The question is, can leaders like him think beyond the walls of SeaWorld and be as good a servant to the world’s oceans?

Why can’t SeaWorld become a place that churns out inspiration and action? They can…. it’s simply a matter of will.

Here are some companies that embrace corporate social responsibility as a key part of their business model and are rewarded for it:

Patagonia (constant environmental vigilance baked into everything they do)

Interface Flor (Mission Zero: eliminate their negative environmental impact by 2020)

I love farmers markets. I’ve frequented my downtown Austin market weekly for the last four years. Other than the organic food you buy directly from the people who grow it there is a lot of upside. The people watching is prime. There’s music and laughter. And there’s ample excuse to eat breakfast twice. 

But there is something more than surface glee. There exists a nervous vitality at farmers markets that is not found in any supermarket. The farmers worked like hell to get the food into the stand. Most woke up extra early market day and drove 50 to 100 miles to be there. They need to sell out or close to it. The shoppers are hoping that there will be enough of whatever it is they are after. They must deal with the relatively lawless lines and the awkward hand offs of produce. The lack of structure. The hand scrawled signs. A slight degree of uncertainty is present for all involved. Something that feels much more like reality and much less like we’ve become entitled to expect hangs in the air. It’s all very humanizing. 

Apparently there are now about 4900 farmers markets in the US. That is a bounty of reality waiting to be harvested. So grab a canvas bag or three and get yours. 

If you are interested in keeping up with the Tribune as launch approaches become a fan on Facebook. They are also keen to tweet as you would expect. You can also register on the splash page for the site to be at texastribune.org. You did it Thornton, congrats!