Comment by marze
9 years ago
If someone wants to give you 100k euros and develop some interesting technology, it seems like it would make the project more fun.
What does anyone else think? Should Jacques open it up for investment?
9 years ago
If someone wants to give you 100k euros and develop some interesting technology, it seems like it would make the project more fun.
What does anyone else think? Should Jacques open it up for investment?
I doubt anybody would give 100k euros. What is more likely to happen is that they would want equity in some company, a seat at the non existent board table, some wild eyed exit plan 3 years down the line and if they don't get their 20% ROI within the first year they'll be staging a minority shareholder revolt and possibly a lawsuit due to mis-management.
For 100K I will gladly sidestep all those problems and self-finance.
The problem is that 100k is nothing when building machines for professional/industrial use. Cost of material and various prototypes adds up quickly.
True. But there are a number of business models that don't require that.
If it were me, I'd position it as an AI startup. I think Jacques might overestimate how awesome existing solutions are for sorting. Customer provides belts and bins, he provides software. The lego is a proof of concept and prototype.
Or he could do a lego website startup, and expand his project and purchase inventory, and operate a warehouse of lego. Bootstrap this way until the software is ready for general use.
Or he could construct systems like the one he has built and sell them to other lego resellers, and expand into industrial or agricultural sorting in time.