Funding Ideas

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This is a project list we've discussed throughout our May 2013 Meetings

Please add your name next to projects you're working on or would like to work on. If you have an idea that's not listed, please add it in!

Food

• Sudo Mate - Max & Ray & Morten
  • Iced, carbonated, DELICIOUS mate soda beverage (exquisite, yum!)
• Sudo Beer (Subiir) - Morten & Marc
• Sudo Gravy (marinara sauce) - Ray - Last week's $40 went to Sudo Room rent. Sold all 4 pints (all that was left after dinner) Yay!
• Sudo Lunch / Grab-n-go option - ? [DOES NOT YET EXIST]
• Rusty's "Savior Bars" - Rusty
• Eddie's "Dope" Popcorn - Eddie

Cottage Food Law

In January, 2013, the State of California passed our very own Cottage Food Law. This law allows the existence of food operations out of one's home after a kitchen inspection, a short food handling course and the payment of processing fees. Acceptable food items are basically anything with a long shelf life and no meat.

On a related note, we could potentially form a cottage food producers' cooperative and save on the processing fees.

Learn more at the Sustainable Economies Law Center website.

Schwag

• 3D-printed stuff
  • magnets - Jordan
  • bike mounting accessories (easy to print, can adapt to any device mounting!) - hol
  • jewelry
  • stickers packs (some cleverly subversive (see crimethinc) & some branded)
  • on-demand printing
  • making other 3D printers
  • 3d printed exoskeleton
  • DIY handheld 3D printer pen based on a hot glue gun Cheap as hell
  • "Captain crunch whistles" - Le Oficial Ray
  • Bike beverage holders
• T-shirts - Dan Finlay (already an action item)
• Buttons (moar)
  • Dependent upon logo
• LED cubes - hol??????????

Membership dues

• sliding-scale, voluntary (current)
• better advertisement
  • --> Scrounging for MOAR
  • Flyers, put things around the area, galleries, cafes, etc.
  • Could be extremely effective
  • Could do a bike-about
  • better price-]points (concrete options beyond general $60 discussion)
  • will be informed by member survey (already an action item)
  • Do we accept BITCOIN/other electronic currency????????????
  • Automatic reminders

Repair & Other Services

• Fix-it clinic style (especially electronics, etc)
• Could also do custom bike stuff, bike repair!
  • Specifically could get $ from burners
• Internet security services (in NY times two days ago)
• Not necessarily easy while in our current, less-developed state

Donated equipment

• Repair and sell, e.g. on Ebay - suggestion by Eddan
• Re-use and sell or sell as services
  • Similar potential to http://spokeland.org/

DIY ISP ++

• a la http://ranchwifi.com/
  • Laci Videmsky has offered to host a workshop on how to do this, like he and his business partner did with Ranch Wifi

Kits

• electronics - (i won't be at the meeting tonight but if we come up with a few and order the components in bulk and package individually together, we can sell at events - Hol)
  • SudoRoom Mystery Kit User:RomyIlano
• Home PCs for cheapz
• Art kits
• Writing kits
• Kits of kits :D ^.^ ^.^
• Kits of 3D printers that create other kits

Legal entity status

Tax-deductable Donations as a 501(c)3? Mutual Benefit Corporation? What do we want?

• Noisebridge and School Factory have offered to provide fiscal sponsorship
  • School Factory has a lot more experience than NB in fiscal sponsorship
• Grants
• Possibility of a legal clinic advising session with the Sustainable Economies Law Center? - Vicky

Grants

Our status as a legal entity might have a major influence on our ability and/or success in getting grants.

• Burning man projects, Black Rock Arts
  • Awesome opportunity to meld arts and the sciences, for fun, but also to communicate and make scientific knowledge accessible.

Regular events

• Raves
• Speaker events - of particular relevance to our projects
• Covers? No covers? (We discussed paywalls as a group and there seemed to be an informal consensus against this. Would we like to revisit and finalize a formal consensus item? - Vicky)

Most Important things for a Project

1. Pitch video
   • Depends on what you're doing, but it needs to be clean.
   • "Cool" cause buzz, maybe viral marketing. Present images of the kind of thing going on.
     • We host events, doing things that would show up in the space.
2. Media ready, e.g. photos, logos, external website, social media, press release, blog roll.
   • Work the connections, reddit, techcrunch, boingboing, gizmodo.
3. Setting a goal, and an accurate budget. More about being clear.
   • If you reach your goal, you're likely to exceed it 31%, shoot a bit lower!
4. People need to like your cause, they can be involved and feel like they supported something substantial.
5. Need some seeders, even encouraged!
6. Gauge your goals based on your network, and how big it is.
   • Build heuristics for how much you can get (e.g. $40 / person).
   • Average is $75
7. Need to have good perks (read ideas below)
   • $25, $100 are the most important price points, in that order.
8. Keep posting media after campaign launches --> you earn 81% more money!
9. If you're working with a team, you raise 80% more money.

Perk Ideas

• Sponsor a square-foot-month (actually write their names on the square feet)!
  • e.g. $25 gets you a 1 sq. ft. for 6 mo.
• Groups using the space for meetings, a big amount!

Links

• http://kickstarter.com/
• http://indiegogo.com/

Fundraising

The main concept here is to get the word out, publicize, find opportunities for major support, while also bringing in a bit of money for the space. Should be fun, fairly easy, valuable to supporters and above all: do-able.

Item Ideas

• Some useful little gadget
• Stickers
  • "Hacking is Not a Crime"
  • "This Machine Kills Fascists"
  • Official seal / support sticker (e.g. like "police support" stickers that get you out of traffic tickets)

Service Ideas

• Some sort of web hosting / application service.
• Something cute like a "free consultation"
• Personalize services to a range of skills members have.

Other

• General Business Development notes from Len

   * from a business standpoint there are two different funding mechanisms at play here: one is internal funding, the other is coming from external sources. You can also look at things as "products" or "not products" the technology may or may not be there. Examine the who / what / where / when / why, and the time / effort involved. examining this will rule most of the options in the brainstorm out.