I asked Wes Schaeffer, the Sales Whisperer, back on to the Cold Star Project to follow up on his previous appearance, "What CRM Should I Get?" Turned out there were plenty of details for us to cover, so you could understand what you need to get together before you go out shopping for a new CRM. 

If you don't write down the process you're using to gather leads and market to them, you'll get suckered in by bloated CRM programs that sell you features you don't need and will never use. Wes explains the steps you must go through to make sure you don't fall into this trap, and instead get the right CRM for you--the one you will actually use. 

You'll learn a lot from our straightforward discussion, and if you want Wes' free CRM training package afterwards, it's at https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/pbl 

 Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar 

Adam Crowl returns to the Cold Star Project to talk about a "moon-based gas station," point-to-point travel, and why many space-focused people want us to go to Titain.  To become a spacefaring society we're going to need infrastructure, and what we're discussing today could be an economically and physically practical part of that.  

Adam's blog is http://crowlspace.com/ 

 More about Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/ 

Space news aggregator and educator Fraser Cain is on the Cold Star Project to discuss Elon Musk's Starlink and his experience with startups. 

SHOW NOTES:

First we cover the Starlink constellation:

 -what is it (high speed worldwide ISP satellite network) 

-compliance requirements -space junk / Kessler Syndrome problem - lowered planned altitude solution -astronomers not consulted - streaks of satellites crossing images blocking view (somewhat fixed) 

-privacy & political considerations - it's a broadcast network - no intermediary / routing - all traffic will go at same speed.

Fraser co-founded 2 businesses in the 90s that went public and another that he made a lifestyle business:  

-Absolute Software for a laptop theft recovery system 

-Communicate.com web development for large companies 

-Communicate owned early one word domain names 

-discovered self-knowledge of where his genius range / fun point is in business 

-found his "fun factor" is in educating and directly connecting with readers through Universe Today 

-"20 years later still having a ball" 

-features: minimal staff, built to last, strong purpose (not Exit for money, but "how do I make this more fun for me?") 

-uses Pateron because he doesn't like paywalls 

-how self-directed vs Patreon-directed? His readers want the "chefs special" 

-If-Then Statements about Happiness that don't work out in reality (people end up sadly surprised), so pick something you love. 

Get on Fraser's newsletter distribution list at https://www.universetoday.com/ 

 Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall

Self-educated nuclear propulsion expert Eustratius "Stuart" Graham joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to bring us up to speed on this topic.  

Stuart is consulted by Space industry professionals and is building an online repository of history and information about nuclear propulsion for space vehicles.  

Our discussion is a great primer for you to understand the historical development of nuclear propulsion (which was primarily completed in the 1970s) and how it is being planned for use today.  

Beyond NERVA blog and encyclopediac site: https://beyondnerva.com/ 

In today's solo episode of the Cold Star Project, I'm sharing an example of how harsh demands force people to think outside the box. And that's often not good for you.  

The brutal demands on Germany of the 1919 Versailles Treaty ending WWI prompted Weimar politicians and military officials to come up with creative means to circumvent those restrictions. These means enabled Germany to pay off reparations much more quickly than anticipated and get out of economic domination, and also train and upgrade their armed forces in a way the treaty was specifically designed to prevent. Germany took their activities "off the radar" of the victorious Allies.

If you can't see an event, you can't audit it. As we've covered in past discussions, poor documentation results in stories changing over time...and the lessons you thought you learned often being invalidated.

Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar

* BUILDING a business 

* RUNNING a business

* Running a SUCCESSFUL business  

are all different things, and Ken Moskowitz of AdZombies is on the Cold Star Project with Jason Kanigan to tell us stories that highlight the differences.  

We begin with the question, "Do companies actually learn anything?", and continue with how to put the right people into the right seats.  

Our discussion about scaling covers:  

What business are you in? What business are you really in? And what business should you be in, to "future-proof" your business? Ken poses and gives his real-world examples to answer these questions.  

This is one of the top five interviews I've hosted. 

 Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar

Daxy Perez, founder of Legacy Podcasting and the Podcasting Success Secrets group on Facebook, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk about growing your podcast.  

We discuss:  

He also describes from the examples of his clients what an underrated podcast looks like, sharing important details podcast hosts can build into their own shows.  

Daxy points out that podcasting is not "like launching a product; it's not.: it's like starting a book. All right: now there's a lot more work to be done." 

 Talk with us: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar 

Swell System founder Derek Schmidt is back on the Cold Star Project and he's got some new stories of scaling to share. We discuss:

- How business owners are using Swell to document their processes, so they can free up their own time and energy and learn

- How agency owners can give up control of key tasks like bidding on jobs without fear that their people will screw up

- Derek's appearance as a Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)-featured tech presenter for a $50K grant - info at cednc.org

Swell is an integrated business management solution and is one of Cold Star Tech's Preferred Vendors. More information can be found through our referral link at https://coldstarproject.com/preferred-vendors/

Talk with us: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar

Are Companies Actually LEARNING Anything?

Without accurate documentation, the story changes over time. And if the story changes over time, what can you say you've really learned?

If you're not documenting what happens in your business, you and your people won't learn anything. Operational excellence will be an impossibility.

You say, "Yeah, I know that," but I know hardly anyone is documenting anything. The processes, and the data that results from them, are in their heads or not recorded at all.

And they data they do have? The accountant doesn't know what their production people need--and the production people don't know to ask accounting for it.

So you don't "know that."

How do you sell a scaling business? Particularly a process-based, zero employee business?  

Peter Hoskins of RareCurve has succeeded in multiple six and seven-figure exits and this time on the Cold Star Project we're discussing the details of how he did it. What factors were involved in this seven-figure sale?  

- How did Peter get the business organized to sell?  

- How did he find an appropriate buyer?  

- What kind of commitment was required to make the sale happen?  

- How long did it take?  

These and many other questions are answered in this extensive interview with a business creator who understands the importance of process and documentation. Join Peter Hoskins and Jason Kanigan for this in-depth conversation about selling a scaling business.  

Talk to Cold Star: http://bit.ly/talktocoldstar