Saturday morning, Cory and Matt met at the climbing gym to climb for a couple hours and then met up for brunch with Jesse and Sabina to flesh out the 10 ideas that Matt had identified. Cory had been talking to other finance folks in his network, which was more developed than Matt's for people working with public parks, preserves, and public camping. They had put the finishing touches on The Climbers and felt good about that as an initial start. They had identified 12 people total for the initial group who had committed to participate. Even before this group had fully launched, though, Matt knew there was something bigger that was possible. Though he had his own ideas about what was possible, Matt wanted to bring Jesse and Sabina into the conversation for some brainstorming.
The waitress took their orders, and Matt and Cory pulled out their notebooks. “Okay,” Matt started, “thank you, guys, for offering to give us some ideas here.”
“Free breakfast and time with Sabina – not a hard sell,” Jesse replied. Matt could appreciate the snark and levity that Jesse brought with precise timing.
“So, Cory and I are both at this place of wanting to do more. We're launching The Climbers, which will largely feel social but also have this networking component. We've got the weeklong camping trip confirmed for early November when we will go to Yosemite. I got the CFO of Adventures Accessed confirmed as our guest for that one. So that all feels good, but we want to begin to plan for more…Cory, what would you add?”
“Yeah, that sounds right,” Cory said. “I think putting this group together is going to unlock some possibilities, and I'm ready for a career change but don't just want to fall into a good opportunity that gets presented with me. I want this to be a little more intentional. So, part of the homework here for Matt, or I guess both of us, is to define 10 possible outcomes for what could follow out of this networking group.”
Jesse looked at Sabina, “Happy to help here but we don't really know anything about this industry, so I'm not sure what I could offer…”
Cory jumped in, “Actually that's kind of the beauty of it. You guys aren't close to this so you might be able to see opportunities that we can't. Just try…I'll start the list. No ideas are bad.”
“Okay, I'll start,” Sabina said. “Three ideas that are off the top of my mind. One is that this climbing group continues to grow, and you have like 50 members or something and you start charging for participation and it becomes its own little business.” Matt and Cory nodded approvingly, but careful not to say anything so as to not stifle brainstorming.
“Second idea,” Sabina continued, “is that you get this group going and then people start looking to both of you for help with their business or organizational financial challenges and you start your own business to serve this niche market. I think it could just kind of grow out of this whole thing…and then the third idea, and maybe this is the one you guys don't want to hear, is that you decide that this climbing club is enough of an outlet for your creativity and you find that you like your jobs enough to just stay at them. Maybe this puts this all into perspective.”
Matt nodded and took notes. “That's a real possibility, something I have thought of and others have expressed, which is the ironic fact that once you start taking action the other pieces of your life seem to get lighter. It's as though you stop feeling stuck and start being empowered so everything that you thought was broken, like your job, isn't necessarily. But,” Matt added emphatically and with a laugh, “that's not going to happen in this case. I'm ready to do something.”
“Okay, great start. Thank you, Sabina. Jesse, your turn…” Cory turned to his partner for insights.
“Sabina took two of my ideas. I won't say which ones…but okay. Fourth idea is that people love the camping trip specifically and you end up starting an adventure camping business. Fifth idea is you create a not-for-profit out of this to engage the private sector, leaning on Matt's background, to support the public sector environment, leaning on Cory's background. So, some sort of initiative that gets corporate audiences outside to support the mission of the Forest Preserve and other types of organizations like that. I'm not sure…” Jesse wasn't sure his thoughts were relevant.
“That's great – keep going, this is good stuff,” Matt encouraged him.
“Okay, sixth idea is that you partner with the gym to expand the concept of The Climbers to other groups of people beyond finance, like people who work in design, or lawyers, whatever. You kind of build this networking juggernaut that's almost like a chamber of commerce but for younger, more active people. Oh, now I'm on a roll!” Jesse clapped his hands, now that his creativity was flowing. “Seventh idea is that you buy the gym and expand it through franchising, or partner with the woman who currently owns it to franchise the next future site and beyond.”
Matt and Cory were busy scribbling notes.
Sabina jumped back in. “Okay, I have an eighth idea. Somehow through doing this you both grow your network and get job offers for the perfect job that you think blends a commitment to nature or the outdoors with your expertise in finance. I wouldn't be surprised if people come to you to interview for some roles that could be interesting.
“A ninth idea, maybe the inverse of that, is that you guys start a head-hunting business where you place finance professionals in roles relevant to their passion for the outdoors. You become a sort of niche agency for identifying top finance talent with a passion for camping, the outdoors, whatever, and placing them at companies that see that as being mission aligned for them.”
“Yeeessss,” Jesse sarcastically but enthusiastically high-fived Sabina, who laughed in return. “Okay, I've got the tenth one. Somehow, other people find this interesting and you film the whole thing or write a book about two middle-aged guys trying to find themselves and it ends up as a reality show. The Cory and Matt Show, where you find other middle-aged guys working in finance and help them find their path in life. Personally, I'm not sure I'd be watching but hey, people love Shark Tank and all that, so maybe there is something there.”
Matt and Cory both laughed, “That might be the best idea yet!” Matt said.
“Well, I'm no expert,” Sabina said, “but I can't imagine two people as smart as you two with as much context who couldn't figure this out.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe you should chat with Saul. He's smart and I bet could give a good perspective on this.”
“I don't know,” Matt said, thinking. “That seems a little weird. I mean it was only a couple weeks ago that I even acknowledged that I had an interest in broadening myself and getting reconnected to this outdoor passion of mine. If I come with a full plan about what we are thinking of pursuing, he might be wondering what the heck I have been doing with my time since it might look like I haven't been working, or worse yet, that I'm actively looking for my next job.”
“Okay, well, it was just a thought. I'm not sure you give Saul enough credit. I mean, you and Cory have committed to talking to people so I'm not sure whom you had in mind.”
Matt suddenly remembered the homework from Kim. This was it. You have to talk about it with someone who can help you personally advance the idea. How quickly he had forgotten, and how ironic that it was Sabina who would remind him of it. “You're right,” he called to Sabina, “You're exactly right. I need to talk to Saul.”
Sabina blinked, confused by the sudden change of heart. Matt recalled, then, how Chad had leveraged the chairman of his law firm to host an event which helped get him started. He also recalled Renault's story of starting the safety software company that he spun out with the company's support and capital, even. In fact, lots of the entrepreneur stories he was hearing involved co-opting people with whom you currently work to help build your future. Matt grabbed his notepad and scribbled a note. “I'll talk to Saul first thing Monday morning.”