Will pigs fly?

It is with mixed emotions that I bring to your attention this fantastic write-up of LearnDog by Gail Plowman from www.pigswillfly.com.au.  I have been following Gail's stories of grassroots community and business issues for some time and had the pleasure of meeting her at the ConnectinUP conference a few weeks back.

In a Napolean Dynamite style "sharing of skills", I have tried to help Gail wrestle with the geekery of blogs, rss feeds and podcasts and she has responded with a write-up that captures the essence of LearnDog in ways that I couldn't possibly articulate.  In a single sentence she captures the essence:

"The global scale of the idea - to create a positive learning experience to help kids make better life choices and deal with the youth dangers of depression and suicide - is huge BUT it fits both a world-wide need AND the e-medium."

Then, she hits the nail on the head with an appeal for (much needed) help in setting up the legal/accounting infrastructure needed to underpin my crazy ideals:

"The plan is:

• set up a ‘Public company limited by guarantee (Non Profit) under Australian federal law’;
• seek tax (Deductible Gift Recipient) tax status;
• set up entities in strategic countries around the world.

“We could do with some help,” says Mike."

So why the mixed emotion?

Well, you see, I have spent the last couple of weeks preparing to put this little puppy into 'hibernation' for a while (can puppies hibernate?).  I have already over-stayed my one year tenure as product manager of LearnDog and unfortunately, without the legal/accounting infrastructure mentioned above, we are not in a position to sustain the level of growth we need. 

But who knows, maybe Gail's timing is excellent - maybe this little puppy will emerge from this situation sprouting gorgeous wings and a tiny snout.

Maybe pigs will fly!

Fang - Mike Seyfang - LearnDog