> they should treat it like a serious business and not a nonprofit. A non-profit organization can be as "serious" as any for-profit business. The only differen

> they should treat it like a serious business and not a nonprofit. A non-profit organization can be as "serious" as any for-profit business. The only difference is the non-profit might, for example, be required by their charter to re-invest income back into the business instead of paying it out as profit to the owners/shareholders/etc. The level of "seriousness" of an organization should be determined by their business plan (is it profitable? And sustainable?), not their profit motive or financial footprint. > if they're going to invest significant amounts of their personal time/engineering resources First, it's their time and resources to spend as they wish. Additionally, a suggestion I've heard is that pursuing anything that requires a serious investment of your time and resources (e.g. a job/internship, school, non-paid opportunities for "exposure") is worth pursuing if and only if it at lest two of these are true: [pays well/profitable, will improve future opportunities, you really enjoy it]. (If you love doing something and you're learning a lot or gaining experience that looks great on a CV, it can be worth a serious pay cut) > build a network that actually does meet five nines through sufficient diversity in topology and routing That is a good goal, but it isn't strictly necessary at first. Limit growth to what is possible at the time, and grow into a larger organization if it's successful.