In the Funding Proposal I made a Risk-Free Investment claim. Though I believe that’s a legitimate and maybe even a little bit genius concept, well supported by logic and evidence. But claims like that bear closer scrutiny.
If we really wanted to pin down the risk, it is that the membership is not able to successfully expand to the next threshold at a given launch event. For example, if we have completed Phase 1–raised $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in sweat, built a full-featured website, executed on the marketing plan, worked social channels, implemented celebrity programs, etc. if we are not able to reach the level of 100 on the planned launch date of September 2, 2013. If we get something like 25 people who sign up, does the whole thing just collapse?
The answer to that is yes.
This is a business that must operate at high volume. Just like a jet doesn’t travel efficiently at 25 MPH, Social Air needs to expand to 10,000 members quickly in order to stay airborne. Lingering with membership numbers in the 100s is a quick death. Hovering in the the 1,000s is just slower.
At any given launch event from the 10 Original to the 100 Charters or from the Charters to the 1,000 Cruisers, we either achieve the defined base level or we fail.
The good news is that by the time we make it successfully to 1,000 member mark the odds of making it to 10,000 increase dramatically as the story of “The Little Airline that Could” takes on a life of its own. As with most things, it is in the very earliest stages that the risk is highest.