Category: Venture Capital

The Depths of Hollywood's Deceit

12/8/2022

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
---Exodus 20:16

The 1991 novel American Psycho chronicles a young Ivy League venture capitalist’s decent into madness. The lead character is named Patrick Bateman and the story is told in a first-person perspective. Set in New York during the early years of the Regan era, Bateman details his privileged upbringing, his sexual proclivities, his contempt for American society, and his contempt for his peers.

He also confesses to a series of serial murders, rapes, and killings throughout the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Bateman avoids capture and sweats through his ordeals. At the end of the story, he flies off the handle when the lead detective dismisses him as a potential suspect. The detective concluded Bateman didn’t have the gumption to commit such grisly crimes.

The book was made into a move in 2000, and Christian Bale was intentionally cast into the role of Patrick Bateman by the upper echelon of the Masonic Order. Bale is the son of Great Britain’s former King George V. After King George V abdicated from the throne, he traveled to China in 1938 as a trade ambassador. China experienced a Communist uprising that year and Japanese forces invaded. King George V family fled the country and Bale was left behind in the chaos.

The movie Empire of the Sun chronicles Bale’s interment within a Japanese prison camp and his eventual escape when the Japanese withdrew from China in 1945. The movie is true in part. The film reels were captured on board the RMS Queen Elisabeth 2’s maiden during its maiden voyage from Japan to Vancouver British Columbia in January of 1954. Bale was onboard that vessel as was his internment camp Quarter Master, known today as John Malkovich.

One-hundred and eighty-eight boys were on board the RMS Queen Elisabeth during its maiden voyage. It was the fourth and final experimental voyage arranged by Arasmus McCoy and Artamus MoCoo. Born of Scottish nobility, they were the originators and backers of the Cunard Shipping Line. Today they are known as Malcomb Forbes Sr. and Malcomb Forbes II.

All of the one-hundred and eighty-eight boys on board the QE2’s maiden voyage were placed with foster families throughout North America. Only one-hundred and eighty-six arrived. One dove off the pier in Japan and returned to his home in the Ukraine. His bunkmate was summarily executed on board the ship and tossed overboard the next day.

The remaining one-hundred eighty-six boys were all channeled into film and television when they arrived in North America within California and Canada. Most became actors and a few became directors and executive producers. Bale was not among them.

Bale was fostered by the Masonic Order’s Michael Cane. He grew up in Watts, Califorinia and entered the United States Secret Service in 1981.

His appearance in the movie Harsh Times is accurate to a degree. He was a street hooligan and fluent in Spanish. He was assigned to a narcotics task fore that combated Manuel Noriega in Central Columbia in the early 1980’s and then assigned as a persona assistant to Laura Walker Bush in Texas during George Herbert Walker Bush’s one term as President in 1988.

After H.W. Bush’s term as President ended, his soul was purchased by Great Britain’s GCHQ and he was groomed for a career in film. He was interviewed on Hollywood and Vine in 1991and asked about his military service. It was an orchestrated interview.

His appearances in Henry V in 1989 and Newsies in 1992 were both filmed onboad the QU2 in 1954 and subsequently released after he agreed to a contract with RKO Pictures. He was never in the 1987 film Mio in the Land of Faraway. That role was played by an unknown actor named Shameous Keeg.

Bale’s appearance in American Psycho was a safety net. He was cast into the role in case he ever decided to venture into American politics. The story captured on screen is entirely true and Bale played the role convincingly. That said, the story belonged to another well-known Hollywood actor high up in the Masonic Order.

Brett Easton Ellis is a pseudonym. The confessional belongs to Andrew McCarthy. A graduate of Exeter and a savant, he attended Cambridge and worked for J. Walter Thompson. Like the novel implies, he murdered his girlfriend Gail Clarke in 1981 after a cocaine binge. The Masonic Order lured Bale into the movie to trap him into the Order and corrupt his soul.

“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of Christ,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled.
and every mountain and hill shall be brought low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
and all the flesh shall see the salvation of Christ.’”
---Luke

Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting

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The Carpetbaggers' Exodus

12/5/2022

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“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
---Matthew 24:29-31

Through the late-1960's, Princeton's football game programs were always lead indicator of events to come. In 1927 for example, the Yale game program featured Adolf Hitler at the precipice of his career; and the 1933 Columbia game program gave indication that the Wallenberg family of Bavaria had sold the Jewish people out to the 3rd Reich and funded Auschwitz in exchange for safe passage to America.

This program is from the 1983 Columbia game. If you look closely, there is nothing between the eight Ivy League football squads and Mainland China (marked in the back behind) Hawaii.

The Harvard player at the back of the line holding the bank happens to be Greg Gizzi. Gizzi was Harvard's quarterback that season. After Harvard, he went on to become a highly regarded bond trader at Leyman Brothers. He went on to orchestrate the sub-prime lending scandal that collapsed Leyman and nearly bankrupted the nation.

Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting

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Wrangling Fear

12/5/2021

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Wrangling Fear Outlaw with a gun venture capitalist shooting entrepreneur

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
---Franklin D. Roosevelt (March 4, 1933)

I grew up in a blue-collar town and my dad was a vile and abusive man. He abused both my mother and me, and she turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Fear and uncertainty were staples during my formative years because life at home was a nightmare.

One of my greatest fears happened to be financial insecurity. I never knew where my next meal was coming from; and I imagined I might end up homeless. I’ll share about that in this article.

WRANGLING MY OWN FEARS
My dad’s job required him to travel three weeks out of every month for eight months of the year. Every time he took to the road my mom would pick up a liquor bottle as soon as he was out the door. Many a day, she would pass out drunk sometime during the afternoon, which left me to fend for myself. Consequently, I spent a lot of time on the streets as a youngster; and I devised schemes to keep my pockets full so I wouldn’t go hungry.

I was blessed with an above average intellect, and I viewed my education as a way out of my awful situation. As a result, I buckled down in school. I also competed athletically to improve my chances at earning a scholarship. Through the grace of God, scouts took notice and I made my way into Princeton. Once there, I thought I’d never look back.

After graduation, I made a decent living. I built a nest egg and planned for my retirement. That said, the feelings of fear and uncertainty relating to money followed me for years. They clouded my vision and impaired my judgment. So much so, that I was oblivious to very real dangers my business interests had surfaced.

I ran afoul of some very wealthy and powerful men, and they contracted killers to terminate my existence. In June of 2013, I was attacked by two men on an elevated bus platform at Denver International Airport while traveling on an assignment. They threw me off the four-story platform, and it nearly cost me my life.

The attack put me into a coma, and I spent over five months in the hospital. My insurance eventually ran out and the bills started to come due. Before the accident, I had begun a new business venture and my savings were already stretched. I was unable to work, and I had little money coming in.

After I was discharged from the hospital, I had a year and a half of physical rehabilitation ahead of me. At one point during that period, I thought my situation was hopeless. Things became so bad that I imagined I’d never be able to work again and might even wind up living on the streets. Many a night, I cried myself to sleep and called out to God in despair.

In that period of darkness, Jesus took the reins. My expenses were miraculously covered; and shortly afterward he opened the door to a couple of new consulting engagements.

Our firm was reborn, and my career headed in a completely new direction. In addition to branding, business analytics and strategic planning engagements, we started assisting entrepreneurs in their efforts to secure venture capital. This has become our core practice area in recent years, and we find these assignments to be our most fulfilling engagements.

As odd as this may seem, the attempt on my life happens to be the greatest blessing of my life. My reliance on Our lord and savior has grown by leaps and bounds since that day. I’ve been set free of the fears of becoming homeless and going hungry; and I have a much truer sense of purpose.

The adversity I’ve faced has now become somewhat of an asset much like Proverbs 17:17 describes. I now realize that all I am afforded has been conferred upon me through God’s grace, and I’ve earned a degree of humility. For Christ alone grants us pardon so we may carry out His will.

Meditation and prayer have become staples in my life in the years since the attack. I turn my care and will over to Our lord and savior Jesus Christ every morning and ask for his guidance and direction as I plan out the day ahead.

During these quiet times together, the Holy Spirit has revealed much to me about myself. I’ve channeled back to lessons in life that I had shelved in the back of my mind; and I have recalled the tutelage of mentors and instructors who honed my skills and helped forge my character.

One of the greatest lessons I have recalled is that you can train yourself to recognize fear. Both within yourself and within others. When you're under fear, your survival instincts begin to kick in, and your body gives off telltale signs when they do.

That said, there are two distinctly different types of fear. Some fears are sheep, and others happen to be wolves. The keys are first knowing which you’re dealing with, and then roping those fears into submission.

When I start to feel fear, my mind begins to race; and my pulse begins to quicken if I don’t nip the racing thoughts in the bud. Before I know it, I’m fidgeting in my seat and the world around me becomes cloudy. At that point, fear has the advantage. And like wagon train settlers on the American frontier, I become easy prey for outlaws, marauders and desperados whenever that happens.

When fear takes hold of me, I must remind myself that I've been afforded a sheriff's badge, and that’s it’s my duty to confront the perpetrator. That means tapping into the fear and shining light upon the source with the truth.

Wrangling fear entrepreneur sheriff sheep roping in venture capital

This isn’t as easy as it sounds because fear happens to be a shape shifter. It takes many forms, and most of them are slippery suckers.

Sometimes my fears appear as a strongman outlaw with the gift of gab. If I happen to be hungry, angry, lonely or tired when the strongman disturbs my peace, I’m in for a fight. If I manage to wrestle it down, it starts to plea bargain with me. It reminds me that it’s a long ride back to the jail and offers me a bribe to dismiss the criminal offense.

If I take that bribe, I’m in for a world of hurt. Because that strongman outlaw usually doesn’t travel alone. It’s generally tied in with a gang of marauding fears hiding all along the trail. The strongman has a horse that’s lot faster than mine, and it knows where its compadres are positioned. Before I know it, they’ve got me encircled; and they begin to pick me apart in short order.

They go after my scars. Wounds from the past that haven’t quite healed. They’re armed with sharp tongues and they’re deadly accurate with their aim. If my anger flairs, they smack me upside my head with resentments and leave me to rot on the trail. A tasty morsel for roving desperados that often follow in their wake.

When that strongman starts to offer the bribe, I’m learning to simply go about my business. I do my best to keep my mouth shut and not say a word. Instead, I hog-tie the strongman with my rope, blindfold it, stuff a bandana in its mouth, and drag it straight back to the jail behind my horse.

It isn’t my job to dispense justice. Rather, it’s my duty to keep the peace. I say a prayer for the outlaw and hand him over to Christ for redemption. I try not to look back once I have. Instead, I return the trail and go about my business. I know the verdict will be swift and that’s sufficient. The truth always prevails. Light always vanquishes the darkness.

CONFRONT YOUR FEARS EARLY ON
Confronting fear is an imperative, especially for entrepreneurs. Business is oftentimes warfare, and it’s necessary to keep a clear head in order to remain true to your mission. If you avoid your persistent fears, they tend to surface at the least opportune times. Our unholy enemy senses fear and uses it to his advantage.

You jeopardize everything you’ve worked for unless you rope your own fears and hand them over to God. For example, employees can sense doubt and uncertainty. It often breeds worry and concern. When patterns of the two begin to emerge, your top performers are likely to jump ship. Oftentimes, to your competitors.

Similarly, investors can sense desperation. Most won’t touch you when you smell of it. You’re simply a bad gamble and the risks to their portfolio are too great. And those who will entertain your ideas when you smell of desperation are oftentimes wolves. Some will listen to your pitch just to pick your brain. They’ll steal your ideas in order to sell them off, or even start a business of their own that mirrors yours.

Other wolves will intentionally wrangle you into a deal that becomes a no-win situation for you. They’ll deliberately structure the terms of the contract so that it’s nearly impossible to diversify or retool. Perhaps worse, they may plot to dilute your holdings over time; to a point where you have no say in the company.

Last but certainly not least: you’re likely to make unwise decisions if you’re not cognizant of your own fears. The Enemy is cunning, baffling and powerful. Before you know it, you’re responding to his minions rather than the voice of reason. If that happens, there's a good chance you'll wind up getting cocky, going bent, turning flaccid or becoming greedy. You may even compromise your company’s mission without even realizing it.

ENTREPRENEURS: FOR YOUR JOURNEY AHEAD

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
---Psalms 40:1-3

Wrangling fear entrepreneur kneeling at a cross on the American frontier

May God grant you clarity of vision and purity of thought as you move toward your purpose. Confront your fears, rope them down, and turn them over to Our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Like the mustard seed, your vision will take root.

Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting

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Counting Sheep

10/14/2021

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Why You Should Add Prayer and Meditation to Your Arsenal of Weapons

“The temptation to take the easy road is always there. It is as easy as staying in bed in the morning and sleeping in. But discipline is paramount to ultimate success and victory for any leader and any team.”
---Jocko Willink (Author & former U.S. Navy Seal)

Over the course of my career, prayer and meditation have become great assets. The blessings He has bestowed are beyond measure. Jesus Christ is the foundation of our firm. We owe everything to Him. Truly.

In 2013, I was intentionally thrown off an elevated bus terminal at Denver International Airport. I broke numerous bones including my skull; and severely damaged my internal organs. Miraculously however, despite falling from over 40 feet, my spine and my neck received no damage.

That’s because angels sent from heaven guided my descent into darkness. In fact, they protected me from further harm before the paramedics arrived.

The emergency care team rushed me to Denver Health Medical Center in an ambulance in the dead of the night, where the trauma care team decided to induce a coma. I was in the coma for nearly two and a half weeks, and it was a hellish ordeal.

I do not recall going to the hospital in an ambulance in the dead of night. My body may have taken that journey, but my soul went elsewhere.

They flew me to a serene looking treatment facility by helicopter on a bright sunny day. They’d strapped me to a gurney much like a wounded Vietnam combat soldier being evacuated off the front lines. The door was open, and I looked out as we descended.

The facility itself was far from serene. The sins of my life had caught up with me, and they were taking me to what Italian author Dante described in The Divine Comedy as Purgatory. Quite literally, they were delivering me to the very Gates of Hell.

I was isolated and tortured for those two and a half weeks. The pain was excruciating, and the mental anguish almost unbearable. During my last hours there, the devil’s minions tormented me as they prepared to open the Gates and send me into the depths of Hell.

As I lay there cowering in fear, a human figure approached my bed. At first, I thought He was death personified: a sinewy muscular figure most awesomely terrifying. So much so, that I turned away from Him and curled up in a fetal position.

Some time passed without incident. So, I glanced back at Him not knowing what to expect. There and then, I found Him sitting on the floor near my bed, and my fears subsided.

After that, I woke up in Denver Health’s ICU unit. I spent the next five months at that hospital, and another year and a half in outpatient rehabilitation.

This tragedy turned out to be one of the greatest blessings of my life. Jesus Christ had delivered me from Satan himself; and my relationship with Our lord and savior has grown closer since.

In this time of healing, I have begun to realize how impactful our thoughts truly are. Every thought we spawn goes out into the universe to some effect. Meaning that every idea we have produces energy through the Holy Spirit.

Consequently, meditation and prayer have become invaluable tools in my daily regimen. Through meditation, I’ve begun to distinguish my wild thoughts and my crazy thoughts from my sane thoughts. And through prayer, I give thanks for the blessings in my life and ask God the Father for clarity of vision, purity of thought and a true sense of purpose.

When meditating, I begin with a prayer and then clear my mind of all thought for as long as possible. As my thoughts manifest, I start to picture a narrow mountain top pathway. To my left is a cliff, and to my right is a thicket. Upon that pathway, I imagine my thoughts as sheep.

My goal during these sessions is to guide every sheep gently down that narrow pathway into the loving arms of the Shepherd who awaits His flock. From there, He’ll tend to them and take them to market.

That said, it’s a difficult exercise to master. All sorts of temptations creep in, and I eventually wind up breaking my concentration. That’s when wild and crazy thoughts occur.

Every wild thought I have fattens my sheep. The longer I hold on to them, the fatter they become. Eventually, they waddle off the cliff, blurting out a hopeless last “Baaaa!” before falling into the vast unknown below.

As harrowing as that sounds, the fate of my crazy thoughts is often worse. Those thoughts send my sheep running into the thicket. If I become panicked and set off after that sheep without stopping to ask God for guidance, my lamb will become tangled up in the underbrush.

More and more, I am learning to rely upon Jesus to guide my sheep safely down the path toward their happy destiny. He alone ensures that my flock doesn’t wander off the cliff or end up prey for wolves in the thicket. And when my efforts are fruitful, he expands my resources to grow more sheep.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or an investor, the same should be true for you. Abandon your ambitions and channel your hopes, dreams and goals toward Our Father. Set your sights on Godly pursuits and follow the path Jesus walks. He’ll guide us well beyond what our limited imaginations ever thought possible.

“And He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
---Matthew 17:20

Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting

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