Open Source Wireless Mesh Extenders

[15:10:15] Paul Gardner-Stephen: Quick update from Oz: We are pushing towards running an Indiegogo campaign in July/August to raise capital to productise the Mesh Extenders and hopefully get enough to finish off everything Serval Mesh. Primary goal will be around $300k, but with stretch goals to at least $2m. Working on script for some more outback filming for a 90sec intro video for Serval which will also be a key asset for the Indiegogo campaign. Filming will be Tuesday morning local time, so I need to get cracking. Basically we are using the last of our discretionary funds in Serval to do all this. Interesting but surprisingly painless process to get the University to approve me to go fund raise for an external organisation (Serval Project Inc.) while getting paid by the University. We will be aiming to get some good media and blog/tech coverage, and will talk to you all again soon about whether any of you are able to help with promotion through your various networks. Anyway, it is fun to get back into media mode after a long stretch of (vital) technical work.

[15:13:45] EAS: PG I meant to suggest you need to discuss funding opportunities with Hivos / Digital Defenders Fund, I think your work fits squarely into what they're looking for - http://www.hivos.org/activity/digital-defenders-partnership

Happy to make an intro if you think this is helpful or whenever you're ready [15:21:55] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Paul and Esra - I am thinking of positioning OSE in the particular space of 'manufacturing support for open source projects.' Does this exist yet? I am thinking that the microfactories we create position themselves as for-hire facilities but only to open source projects. Paul, let's hit up the Hivos or any other Venture Philanthropy source (ie, not-for-exit), or, let's join your campaign - and I would suggest Kickstarter instead of Indiegogo if we believe the funding will succeed. I suggest we position this as fabrication of mesh extenders - ie, general Open Source Pick and Place Circuit Fabrication, etching, milling, laser cutting, 3D printed cases, etc - both for industrial and DIY applications. Localized microfactories. My timing on this is to stabilize OSE so I can play like this within 3 months - so July/August is too early, but in a month or 2 from that, I'm game for pushing the Open Source Microfactory all the way.

[15:23:18] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - Kickstarter is a pain if you are in Australia, but I am open to hearing why you feel KS is better than IGG. IGG's flexible funding looks quite attractive to us right now. [15:26:32] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: I don't have data to show, but does not KS have much greater following? Plus, the All or Nothing is a sign to your supporters that you intend to succeed, so it appears to produce more commitment. I would choose KS because IGG is simply less visible.

[15:26:32] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: I don't have data to show, but does not KS have much greater following? Plus, the All or Nothing is a sign to your supporters that you intend to succeed, so it appears to produce more commitment. I would choose KS because IGG is simply less visible. [15:27:35] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - Here is our challenge: We MUST succeed if we are to continue our current level of progress. This makes me want to have a safety net, but I agree that this can be counter productive. [15:28:16] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: When do you NEED to do the Indiegogo? Can you delay by 2 months? [15:28:33] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - On the visibility angle, our goal is to generate the traffic to IGG ourselves through media coverage etc, but I do agree that KS is more visible and would make this job easier. However, our short time-frame makes it impractical to incorporate in the US in time. [15:29:01] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - We run out of cash in late August, and I am supposed to be teaching in late July, so delaying by 2 months is not practical financially. [15:29:48] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - We need to lock in ~$200k - $300k by late July, ideally. The campaign can still be in progress at that time, of course. [15:30:27] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: How much time will you spend teaching? Will you have time for Serval? [15:30:50] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - About 1/2 my time will go down the toilet. [15:31:21] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - The main problem is that it will reduce my mental space, and ability to drive new opportunities. [15:31:29] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Why did Shuttleworth not fund you the 3rd year? Did you get 3 years? [16:32:43] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - Only funded for 1 year for reasons I understand. Nonetheless, it is inconvenient ;) [16:34:06] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Were you not able to convince them that it's a matter of time before it succeeds, or do you think there are valid reasons why the technology will have limited use? [16:37:38] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Transparency baby! [16:39:20] Paul Gardner-Stephen: MJ - I think the main concerns the ability of me+Serval to generate and sustain a viable profitable business. There didn't seem to be concern about the potential of the technology. [16:40:17] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Can we say honestly that point-to point line-of-sight towers and local meshes can cover full internet connectivity if the main internet backbone did not exist? [16:41:06] Paul Gardner-Stephen: I don't think we can say that, but that doesn't mean that the mesh doesn't have tremendous range of applications. Just like bicycles won't replace cars everywhere. [16:43:20] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: Can we build phones that have the same speed of communication as standard wireless routers? Is that technology available off-shelf? [16:45:25] Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D.: So is this possible: 2 communities 20 miles apart - collaborating realtime on 3D Cloud CAD (4M speed required), or 2 communities 20 miles apart doing video sharing at 10M connection - can this happen with mesh with 2 point-to-point towers? And can we have 150 people on each side of the tower - for a small-scale 2-point internet?