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I don't know about that. There's a lot of things I'd like to do that would be possible with $5b that wouldn't be possible with $500m. I could start a good ISP

I don't know about that. There's a lot of things I'd like to do that would be possible with $5b that wouldn't be possible with $500m. I could start a good ISP, or make a big stab at commercializing spaceflight, or attempt a viable and powerful mind-machine interface... Big Money buys Big Things, and if I were in Cook's position I'd care less about yachts and more about really damned cool things that I could do with that kind of cash.

RuadhanMc 15y ago
$500m would be more than sufficient to do all of those things you've outlined. If you can put up 25% (random percent) of the money then you'd be able to get investors to put in the rest. Only a nut would invest the entire amount themselves. But that aside, we're talking here about quality of life which does not equal being able to pay for the craziest most expensive ideas that you can come up with.
- redthrowaway 15y ago
  >Only a nut would invest the entire amount themselves. Not everything I'd want to do would have an immediate commercial payoff, which would rule out investors. That, in turn, would rule out anyone else doing it, which is why having a wealthy backer is necessary. >But that aside, we're talking here about quality of life which does not equal being able to pay for the craziest most expensive ideas that you can come up with. If I'm retired, the ability to do those things would be a huge influence on quality of life for me.
  - cabalamat 15y ago
    > Not everything I'd want to do would have an immediate commercial payoff, which would rule out investors. That, in turn, would rule out anyone else doing it, which is why having a wealthy backer is necessary. If something is a good idea, you can probably persuade some other people to contribute to it. If you can't persuade anyone, it's probably not a good idea. Even if $500M wouldn't get the job done, it'd be enough to fund a prototype or demonstrator that could attract more funding.

RuadhanMc 15y ago

$500m would be more than sufficient to do all of those things you've outlined. If you can put up 25% (random percent) of the money then you'd be able to get investors to put in the rest. Only a nut would invest the entire amount themselves. But that aside, we're talking here about quality of life which does not equal being able to pay for the craziest most expensive ideas that you can come up with.

redthrowaway 15y ago
>Only a nut would invest the entire amount themselves. Not everything I'd want to do would have an immediate commercial payoff, which would rule out investors. That, in turn, would rule out anyone else doing it, which is why having a wealthy backer is necessary. >But that aside, we're talking here about quality of life which does not equal being able to pay for the craziest most expensive ideas that you can come up with. If I'm retired, the ability to do those things would be a huge influence on quality of life for me.
- cabalamat 15y ago
  > Not everything I'd want to do would have an immediate commercial payoff, which would rule out investors. That, in turn, would rule out anyone else doing it, which is why having a wealthy backer is necessary. If something is a good idea, you can probably persuade some other people to contribute to it. If you can't persuade anyone, it's probably not a good idea. Even if $500M wouldn't get the job done, it'd be enough to fund a prototype or demonstrator that could attract more funding.