Ben, On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 2:58 PM, Ben Goertzel <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >> >> >>> >>>> which is TOO BIG to fund without an established cash flow, unless you >>>> can demonstrate magic like Facebook has done. Anything over $10M MUST be >>>> done as a public offering that requires SEC scrutiny that is there to BLOCK >>>> companies with big dreams but nothing to show. >>>> >>> >>> That's untrue, actually... >>> >> >> I'll watch. >> > > > Silicon Valley companies routinely raise more than $10M in private venture > funding (e.g. Vicarious Systems' last round, to name an AI example), so I'm > not sure what you're talking about... > Yes - there is a narrow exception to this rule, derived from the 1st Amendment (where money is a form of "speech") and enshrined in SEC regulations covering "sophisticated investors" as defined as those who have "won and lost money" in the type of business raising the money. You are only allowed to approach 20 such investors. To cover their butts, Vicarious Systems actually lists their investors in their Wikipedia article. I once went through this same process with my own startup Remote Time-Sharing Corp. To make this work, a company MUST have someone on board whose friends collectively have >$1B. In my own case, I had two key board members - one of whom owned a local chain of banks, and both of whom were partners in a local stock brokerage firm that had a seat on the NYSE. This further makes my point that you can NOT raise such money from crowdfunding (to NON-sophisticated investors by SEC definition) or though any sort of public publication (that might be seen by non-sophisticated investors). Instead, if you want to raise >$10M without going through a public offering (that the SEC would probably block where it involved AGI R&D), you MUST do it by *approaching* <20 very rich people. To avoid exhausting your 20 on non-investors, "initial" discussions are usually "hypothetical". Note that for Vicarious Systems, several of those people own/control major corporations, but that those corporations were NOT investors - as this would have violated SEC rules because the investors in THOSE corporations were NOT "sophisticated". My statement was slightly over-broad, but my point is unchanged. If you are expecting to cross the $10M threshold, you had better have a REALLY GOOD plan. If you knew people who have billions of dollars, I presume this field would now be MUCH better funded. I suggest expanding your circle of friends. Steve ================================ > > > >> But Linux has prevailed without selling out to big companies (and without >>> Torvalds getting insanely rich, for that matter). And so may an OSS AGI >>> initiative, if things go well... >>> >> >> Linux is <<<1% of AGI and so makes a horrible model. There was nothing to >> do in Linux but code, because there was UNIX to copy, and UNIX is SO much >> simpler than YOU are. >> > > > An OS is very different than an AGI, but still the Linux development model > has things to teach us. > > The research aspect of AGI is different, but to help grapple with that we > can reach out to academics who can help with an OSS project consistent with > their university jobs, but couldn't join a commercial endeavor more than > very-part-time without quitting... > > > >> >> I suggest writing a business plan and putting it out there for people to >> pick at, and then including an addendum addressing people objections that >> you don't directly address in the plan. >> >> > > Well, we have put together a 3 year development plan for OpenCog (not as a > business, as an OSS AGI project) and will be doing a corresponding > fundraising push probably in Q2 next year, after we get our demos, > documentation and tutorials cleaned up also..... But putting it out there > for people to pick at doesn't seem productive at this stage.... It has > already been critiqued by a number of experienced people, and tweaked a bit > as a result... > > > Until then, it is all smoke and mirrors. > > If you wish to perceive it as smoke and mirrors, that's just fine with me, > my friend ;) ... > > -- Ben > > > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/10443978-6f4c28ac> | > Modify > <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> > Your Subscription <http://www.listbox.com> > -- Full employment can be had with the stoke of a pen. Simply institute a six hour workday. That will easily create enough new jobs to bring back full employment. ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
