Educational Resources: Key Topics, Themes, and Coursework

LEARNING CENTER for Professional Development, Coaching and Skill-building Opportunities

Articles by In3’s themes (tagline):  Inspire | Innovate | Invest

Education remains an important facet of In3’s work and mission. Much of what we do is dedicated to helping build bridges of understanding, opening access to funding and knowledge via innovative solutions to some of the industry’s most frustrating problems.  We love to learn, and have seen skillful entrepreneurship, effective fundraising strategies and just common sense (paying attention) deliver on-target results.

In3 Presentations, Workshops/Webinars or Retreats

As former adjunct professor at a top-rated business school, managing partner Daniel Robin makes it a priority to offer presentations, programs and consulting services that are “just-in-time” — applied to the real world conditions and challenges at hand.

What has caught your curiosity recently?  Where we accelerated learning enable you and your team to make a quantum leap forward?  What patterns or issues keep you from enjoying expanded success?

Sometimes the answer is to hire a professional to add to your team’s capabilities, but often the better answer is to take it in-house and learn on-the-job how to better get that job done.

Here are some of our top educational themes:

1. Project Finance Essentials — inspire, innovate, invest model, also called Project Finance 101, best as a series of short sessions, spread out over 3-10 weeks.
2. The so-called “impact”, “net zero waste,” or “circular” economy and why it is defining the future of investing.  How has investing for “sustainable” and climate change mitigation or other ESG issues — Environmental, Social & Governance.
3. Mid-market Project Finance that solves 4 notorious problems with zero money down — In3’s MasterClass for Affiliates and development partners (preview article)
4. Impact Capital — who is investing, in what sectors, with what terms, and how to gain access?
5. Renewables Project Finance Happily Disrupted [ also available as a webinar ]
6. The challenge of “Sustainability with Prosperity” and how that drives innovation — keys to making lasting breakthroughs without breaking a sweat (article)
7. Project or Early-stage Venture Fundraising — master what not to do in order to multiple options for right action.  In other words, only trust your intuition to a point.
8. Investment Strategy for Renewable Energy Projects (can be tailored to a specific industry or technical pathway)
9. Applied Innovation — works best as weekend retreats, offsites, or workshop.  More
10. Tools for Collaboration with diverse international teams … breaking down silos, proficiency gaps, or other barriers to success
11. What is “Vetting” and how it works to increase your odds of success, saving time and money
12. Opportunities in renewables, waste-to-value and/or clean energy markets
13. [ Additional Course Topics (management skills, mostly) or Ask Us if you have a particular topic in mind not appearing here ]

See definitions if the meaning of terminology used here seems unclear.  Or All FAQs.

See also our Video Library or recent interviews and public presentations made by Mr. Robin.

Those who have been doing “impact” project finance awhile realize what it takes.  But if you currently seek capital for a worthwhile venture or project, at some point you need to ask yourself a tough question: why don’t you already have it?

Most entrepreneurs would answer that they’re not sure what the problem is, or confidently pursue their various options in hopes of meeting and succeeding with investors that “get it.”  If you’ve done your homework, and are offering a fair deal (either a willingness to sell shares or pay close to market-rate interest for debt capital, or related instruments), then what’s the hold-up?  Just haven’t met the right source, or is the problem deeper than that?

Perhaps it is because you simply haven’t gone deep enough, made the necessary effort?  Or, perhaps — if you’re honest about it — because the company has some issues? (Most do.)  We’ve found that often what’s missing is a precise understanding of how investors think, act, and will perceive your particular situation.  Lack of objectivity, on the one hand, mixed with a very common fallacy that investors are a unified group, with predictable interests, styles, or model.  They’re not.  But how fully have you “stepping into their shoes”?

Objectivity is lost by the time you’ve given your plan the attention such efforts require.  But also consider that market conditions change, investors change, best practices and expectations change, and when you combine these factors, some number of disconnects or delays seem inevitable.

Well, they don’t have to be.  Sometimes, we’ve found, entrepreneurs know extremely well what is required to obtain their capital.  They just don’t want to do the work.  Better to hire an expert to facilitate the campaign?  We can help.

The truth is that, historically, few (2%-5%, by some estimates) of all project starts ever obtain the necessary capital to complete them.  Why is that?  Likely a combination of several elements.  If you don’t already know the exact reasons you have yet to raise all the necessary capital, perhaps it would be wise to step back for a moment and sort out causative factors?  For example, objectively speaking, how “bankable” is your project or venture, really? Are there perceived risks that could get in the way? Project finance is really about monetizing contracts; if you have gaps in this regard, how far will you get?

In other words, are you truly ready for outside investment or other forms of financial support? If not, what does it take to get ready and successfully raise the necessary capital in the current economy?

At In3 Group, we’ve developed a platform, programs and assessment tools that allow you to honestly evaluate where you are now, how you stack up compared to the ideal, and thus precisely estimate your chances for successful fundraising.  The “onramp” to all this is called RAIN. Once you obtain your score, (or letter grade) contact us to learn more about subsequent steps, how to qualify for billions in available capital through In3 Capital Partners, schedule a private webinar or tool demonstration, or to join the next public workshop session using these tools.  See events.

Commitment to results

Part of our commitment to clients and affiliated partners, and an important principle of social sustainability, is helping teams learn how to objectively assess and come up with validated answers to these questions. We all benefit from a precise, nuanced understanding of the strengths and areas needing attention because that accelerates the fundraising process.  We get paid when you get capital paid in.  So, how open are you to learning and discovering the truth?

Rather than learning through painful and tedious cycles of trial and error (which can also become quite expensive), by doing the work and paying attention to the team’s results you already have many of the answers.  An objective third party, such as In3 Group consultants, may be able to help you piece together the rest and, most importantly, focus on those essential few elements that will make your situation investible.

When project finance success depends on quickly and reliably gaining access to available capital streams, it pays dividends to learn from specialists, so-called expert and certified practitioners, who have seen hundreds of businesses, some successful, most not, and can recognize the patterns and point to principles through hard-won experience.  We at In3 have this practical knowledge and can serve as a resource to your team.

These days, information technology can greatly aid with discovery and more formal educational programs (webinars and seminars) can also greatly accelerate learning. By seizing opportunities to learn, we leverage our time, grow in our profession, and win more often.

Rather than trying to remain the source of answers and solutions, we prefer to share our hard-won experience in learning partnerships that range from informal coaching to formal coursework.

The goal is to get out of the way so that others can flourish and gain autonomy, thereby becoming self-sufficient. To that end, we offer various workshops and classes on the practical “how to’s” of project finance, innovation, impact capital and more.