A proposal from the Minciu Sodas laboratory. 2003.04.11.
Business Problem
Business Resources
Business Opportunity
Business Pre-Opportunity
Business Pre-Pre-Opportunity
The European Union has a policy to stimulate regional growth through bureaucratically organized projects, grants, contests. In 2004-2006 the EU will channel enormous sums of money into Eastern Europe. For example, in Lithuania the amount will be about $1 billion per year, roughly 3% of GDP. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic hurdles keep the money from reaching the individual innovators who might actually introduce change, stimulate growth and transform society.
We propose to organize an "open conspiracy" in which individual innovators of different economic standing would openly network with each other to overcome the bureaucratic maze and win as much funding as possible for each other's projects. We think that a blatantly open network of innovators can run circles around any bureaucracy. We want a progressive investor to benefit.
Minciu Sodas, our open laboratory for independent thinkers, now has 50 active and 350 passive participants who share the value of "caring about thinking". Roughly one-third of us are in the United States, one-third in Lithuania, and one-third in the rest of the world. We are leaders in interconnecting software tools for organizing thoughts and organizing an economy for working openly.
We know how to sort out constructive people by having them show us that they work for free in ways that contribute to the public wealth. We are discovering that a fractal approach to work allows us to enlist the widest network of self-directed helpers. Our laboratory has integrity that allows us to transmit and amplify any vision to the extent that it is compatible with "caring about thinking".
We are completing the development of our team-building service by which for $2,000 per year we provide a corporate thinker with 1 coach for working openly, 5 instigators around the world, and 25 prizes (free licenses to TheBrain) for thanking helpers. We have just sold a very comparable service to attract XML expertise to the XpertWeb Trust led by Britt Blaser, Mitch Ratcliffe and Flemming Funch. We expect this to be a self-supporting service, but we would love to project visions on a wider scale and with a finer touch.
We therefore envision that our laboratory might optimally consist of the following layers (each at $125,000 per year) that might serve an enterprise, institution or investor:
Over two and a half years, the total cost for this team of 19,531 is $2,200,000. Such a team of innovators could draw and serve an alliance of independently thinking investors, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, activists, researchers and customers. We project that such a team could write 2.5 x 125 = 312 grant proposals for European Union projects, and win at least 2.5 x 25 x $400,000 = $25,000,000.
Our participants are self-directed, but we could focus our team on benefiting investors who provide for $1,500,000, which is 70% of our total cost (with another 15% coming from corporate purchases of our team-building services, and 15% more in the form of free gifts).
Our laboratory might best serve you and your favorite investors so that together you:
Above and beyond these benefits, we note that given any wholesome vision that fosters "caring about thinking", we may project it with ever greater reach as we expand our fractal organization to ever subtler ways of participating. A wholehearted movement may allow us to enlist widespread support for the right causes. For example, with the blessing of our network, and a purity of purpose, $125,000 might be spent in a way that 125,000 people appreciate as a gift prompting them to express an opinion, or listen to an opinion, or choose one product over another, or one candidate over another. We expect that as our integrity grows, so does our ability to interact and reciprocate with ever subtler participants through various forms of alternate currency. We can allow constructive investors to buy, sell and invest in blocks of such currency.
In order to develop such capacity, we have much to investigate. We therefore invite you and your favorite investors to fund an investigation What may independent thinkers yield for us? We will develop our:
We would write a wide variety of grant proposals to learn how we might creatively adapt them for the benefit of your enterprises/investments. We would become expert at the opportunities in Eastern Europe, but also elsewhere in Europe. We would check out other opportunities such as Small Business Innovative Research grants in the United States. We would especially focus on harnessing our team in Lithuania, and organizing further across Eastern Europe. In Lithuania, we would organize wider public support for our approach, with the help of independent thinkers in politics, business, academics and culture. We would draw heavily on our network of experts in computer science. We would look for partners for large proposals, such as the work to shut down Lithuania's nuclear plant, and also for making templates of small proposals, such as for organic farmers to buy seeds and tractors from Western European corporations. We would analyze our failures, successes and deliver our findings in a report. Our goal is to consider every way that your enterprises/investments will benefit from our alliance-building, partner-building and team-building.
In ten months, July 2003 - April 2004, we suggest the following layers, each at $25,000:
The total cost for this team of 781 is $125,000. Of this, 8% can come from corporate purchases of our team-building services, and 12% from free gifts. We would focus our team to serve a group of investors providing for $100,000, which is 80%.
We would expect to win $200,000 x 5 = $1,000,000, and of this $250,000 of work for your enterprises/investments, along with most of the other kinds of benefits described above. The work may be of special importance for your start-ups that are yet proving themselves.
We will apply in July, 2003 for up to 100,000 euros of matching funds from the PHARE program. We have spoken with two European Union officials in Lithuania who are sympathetic to our approach. It is possible that we might receive funding, but we do need to bring matching resources.
We believe that you will most benefit (and enjoy) these opportunities if you share them with your fellow investors who you esteem and wish to spend more time with.
We therefore invite you to fund the preparation of a set of proposals that would analyze for you and your 5 favorite investors a variety of grants, opportunities and synergies that our network might pursue for you. We would use the information that you or they provide, and any that we find publicly available. Our proposals would emphasize the synergy that each of their portfolios might have with yours.
In the spirit of our proposals, we would make good use of our team:
For $15,000, we would present to you by June 30, 2003 a set of proposals for you and your 5 favorite investors as to how your enterprises/investments might especially benefit from an open network to win European Union funding.
This is a unique and historic opportunity to profit from the growth of the world's most sophisticated bureaucracy.
I am glad that you are able to appreciate and respond.
Thank you for your good thoughts.
I wish this might be our opportunity to work for you!
Peace,
Andrius
Andrius Kulikauskas
Direktorius
Minciu Sodas
ms@ms.lt
+370 (5) 2645950
Vilnius, Lithuania