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Ask HN: Who funds important tech with no business plan?
I know there are people with money who want to save the world. I think a higher-order knowledge base like Hode[1] could be useful in search, in AI, and in social networking. But I have no idea how to monetize it. It's more of a science project than a business. Am I out of luck until I do have such idea?
[1] https://github.com/JeffreyBenjaminBrown/hode
- PaulHoule 5y agoIf you can't point to "there is $X of value behind project Y" then isn't X=0? That is, how can it be important if you can't put a value on it?
- Jeff_Brown 5y agoI don't know how to put a value on it, nor how to capture that value, but basic science does seem to get funding ... sometimes ...
- PaulHoule 5y agoStart with putting a value on it, even a crazy high value. Why is it necessary at all? How much are people spending because it doesn't exist?
- muzani 5y agoScience has always been valueless for very long periods of time. Look at quantum physics. For decades, it was just observing a weird phenomenon. Then they invented transistors, diodes, lasers, and cheap lighting with it.
- PaulHoule 5y agoThis is not science, it is engineering.
- tofukid 5y agoX=[0,∞] "Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective" by AI researcher Kenneth Stanley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQPL9GooyI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQPL9GooyI
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- codingdave 5y ago> It's more of a science project than a business. Then you should be seeking grants, not investors. I have no expertise in the area, but there is a clear line between investors who fund for-profit ventures, and grants that support non-profit projects. It sounds like you fall on the non-profit side of the fence and should be researching grants and other non-profit fundraising techniques.
- runawaybottle 5y agoGovernments, if you have to ask. That is the only correct answer. Chomsky usually harps on this point, that a lot of our tech innovation came from govt funding with no clear objective (deriding the notion that only the market can innovate).
- cpach 5y agoY Combinator sometimes do that
- muzani 5y agoThere's literally an "Apply as a Non-profit" button
- ThePhysicist 5y agoCheck out Prototype Fund [1], they fund public interest tech, although only with small (50 T€) grants. 1: https://prototypefund.de/en/ https://prototypefund.de/en/