Imagine
Landscape
Americans See Opioid, Fentanyl, & Mental Health Crises As Top Threats - Behavioral Health Business
Prediction: Psychedelics Will Be Integrated into Current Mental Health Treatment Regimens - Pharmacy Times
Lyra Expands into Complex Mental Health Care - Behavioral Health Business
MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, Lykos Therapeutics, & the FDA Application for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy - Psychedelic Support/Sam Woolfe
Lesson
In light of the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation transition to Lykos Therapeutics, I’ve had some great conversations this past week that catalyzed some thoughts around different forms of scaling. Below is an outline of how Community Scaling and Capital Scaling differ, yet inform each other.
What is always important around any source of equity - whether it be capital or human time / energy - is the intention.
Is a return expected?
Is this return monetary? Energetic?
What is the nature of this exchange and the expected outcome / exit strategy for both parties?
It is so vital to continue to discuss the lines between donation, conscious investing, and traditional investing.
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Community Scaling & Capital Scaling
Community Scaling
Definition: Community scaling involves the expansion and growth of a community, which can be a group of people, users, customers, or stakeholders who share common interests, goals, or characteristics.
Guiding Principles:
Engagement: Increasing active participation and involvement within the community.
Membership: Growing the number of members or users within the community.
Diversity: Encouraging a diverse and inclusive community with a variety of perspectives.
Communication: Facilitating effective communication and collaboration among community members.
Methods:
Events and Activities: Organizing events, discussions, or activities to foster interaction.
Content Sharing: Encouraging members to create and share content.
Social Media: Utilizing social platforms to reach and attract new members.
Feedback and Iteration: Listening to the community's feedback and making adjustments accordingly.
Capital Scaling
Definition: Capital scaling focuses on increasing financial resources, assets, or investments to support the growth and sustainability of a business or project.
Guiding Principles:
Funding: Securing additional funding from investors, grants, or other financial sources.
Revenue Generation: Expanding revenue streams through sales, partnerships, or new products/services.
Efficiency: Optimizing operations to make better use of existing resources.
Profitability: Increasing profits and ensuring a positive financial outlook.
Methods:
Investment Rounds: Conducting fundraising rounds with venture capitalists, angel investors, or crowdfunding.
Business Development: Exploring new markets, partnerships, or business opportunities.
Cost Management: Controlling expenses and improving cost-efficiency.
Scaling Products/Services: Expanding the range or enhancing the quality of offerings.
Relationship between Community Scaling and Capital Scaling:
A strong community can attract investors and contribute to capital scaling by increasing the perceived value and potential of a project or business.
Capital scaling can, in turn, be used to enhance community experiences, provide better services, and support community growth initiatives.
Both concepts are not mutually exclusive. And both are crucial for the overall success and sustainability of a project. They often complement each other in a mutually reinforcing manner.
Life
Imagine
When I worked as a case manager in East Harlem, I would work Saturday mornings. They were always quiet, not much going on. Clients who lived in the housing program would come in and out with their breakfast. There was a lot of stillness.
During these shifts, I would like to imagine. Really test the limits of my inner critique. Allow the wildest, ‘craziest’ personal and global possibilities to occupy my brain from an uncomfortable amount of time.
Imagine a world where non-judgement and compassion is the default.
Imagine a world where war and prejudice seem so juvenile. So last season.
Around this same time in my life, I had first experience with MDMA.
The following day after my experience, I remember sitting in a coffee shop and having a pathway open up, which allowed me to imagine…
We have a world that drugs us with caffeine, alcohol, and (to a lesser extent now) tobacco. These chemicals, broadly, make the body more productive and impair decision making, respectively. Billions, if not trillions of dollars, support these two chemicals across the world.
And only if we could take a sliver of that and apply that to different chemicals. Chemicals that allow for more self love, more openness, and healing. Of course these chemicals, ones like MDMA & psilocybin, stray us away from materialism and consumerism, which begets resistance from the status quo.
Imagine if it didn’t.
Imagine if private industry, our personal mental health & well being, and all the forces around us all were working in unison. Not working in exploitative contrast - which is what is feels like a lot of time with private industry.
I like to imagine these realities. Whether they exist on this planet or others, in this dimension or others, in our lifetime or others.
It never hurts to imagine.