Alex Socolof

Sat Nov 17, 2018

• Alex got PV from scratch person. Got panels from sctratch.
• Water purification side is done
• Water and energy are 2 most important things
• Ex. Chinese move in, build, but do not educate people
• There is a need to train people in many areas so people can service things themselves
• "You could grow into a large enterprise with education". In training and service component. People on the ground must be able to do it - not an exploitive cycle
• $5M round for example - training for service?
• First and foremost a training operation
• With a teaching model - in one vertical - such as CEB or tractor or 3DP.
• USAID, etc, etc. Yunus is scalable though
• We get paid to train people. -> I can reform it to XM events - right on.
• "Whether we work with this guy or not is immaterial." All companies are building in a distribution model
• We are interested in more green
• Train and service - is an enormous opportunity. Every country will throw money at this
• In our world, we bring forward products.
• Teach people how to build, service.
• L'atelier paisans model + kits.
• "Kits will be a major part of model"
• Production engineering - Alex understands or agrees to - production engineering in swarm build is different than kit
• 7 people make 20 panels per day. They get the imperfect cells. And build panels.
• In america, everyone expects something out of the box to be perfect
• It's about having sufficient runway to make this for the long term
• In Africa, we compete with Chinese type stuff in Africa
• Chinese will not train Africans to make things. Chinese bring their own people.
• "In our world we come from an empowerment process"
• Capacity building for Africa. Womens' empowerment. Guess what. We will be a women centric empowerment thing.

Fri Nov 2, 2018

• Water - Alex has ways.
• PV - can small fab happen. Even in small shops.
• Big idea - to do 1 million dollar facility to make PV from sand
• Very inexpensive solar power.
• Can we do cheap power.
• Hoses - 3D printed - we can do it.
• Printing pipe
• Connect plastic recycling to this
• If open source, we do 50/50 partners
• All of revenue models would have to be 50/50 model for the world, or exclusive for Africa. 50/50 interest worldwide.
• Roles - MJ does R&D. Alex finds the money and finds the marketing and business models
• How do you create the education, kits, etc
• What comes out of the initiative is a 50/50 thing that we known
• DIY community - ok. Vast majority 10:1 or 100:1 - need support - teach me. Certify me (certification plan).
• I do R&D - someone else teaches - someone else finances.
• There would be a couple of organizations. When you do OS software - it does or does not do what you want. But for a CNC machine- you can get hurt. In a litigious world, this is an issue. There have to be layers of insulation. Ex. Why does a teaching company be separate?
• Teaching (just DIY) - R&D - Kits - Financing. Whole thing across the board. Forces us to harmonize interests.
• Revenue is just Kits + Education
• In every market including teaching - we are teaching for production and OS Microfactory. Sit down with villagers and focus group.
• Whole model is based on listening to true peoples' needs
• I'll get you 1000 acres here, 2500 acres there
• Microfinance bothers me.- Alex. Because they lend at sharkloan rates. Loanshark rates, not.
• 10% fund costs?
• Alex - Yunus - open to it.
• Do we want to get into it? Yes. But
• Social justice, social enterprise, SDGs of UN, etc.
• Kits, owning shops (sell kits, training), education/certification.
• Financial institutions would be able to do this.
• Open to talking but concerns but bandwidth will be limited.
• I am Humble and very openminded. Let me roll out this wacky idea, let's talk about it."
• Social skill set - People have to be comfortable.
• I am in an ideal spot to do this - in touch with world leaders. Ex. Friends with the Ambassador to 12 countries.
• What do you think is your strength that you bring?
• I can take you to many universities right now.
• Set up financial. organizational, and sales, marketing, kits fulfillment
• We're in the fulfillment business.
• Educational load off my shoulders.
• Strenghts on social side
• Ethical question - do we protect the community.
• Must be an agreement - here is what happens when you don't cooperate
• Digital framework - rail for someone to allow to give back and share - DIY are early adopters. Any issues with open source DRM.
• Another possible model - could be consistent. Set up a foundation. Foundation gives back - for free. (Welfare model). Pay it forward model - pay something back from your work. Pay it forward is publish plans, but if you commercialize, pay something forward to the foundation. That would be an off-the-hook financing mechanism. This must be voluntary, even if it's optimal.
• Flag here.
• Story of agriculture guy - got an open source idea - 1-2% royalty. But anyone else doesn't have to do the royalty.
• Commercial is defined as not a hobby thing.
• Ex food construct. We give blueprints. For food production machines.

Day 3

• Contact has 2700 acres of land in Ghana
• POC is the first thing
• 50 person build - risk is will it work?
• Issue is believing that the team will execute

0

Day 2

Summary

• Alex wants people to build their own equipment where we train them in mass. This is the first time ever that someone offered to support DIY production - could be a historical milestone for earth.
• Business model is financing

Notes

• Discussion on 3D printer - why? Industrial parts, rubber tires + tracks, and plastic lumber
• Ag equipment + Power
• Who are other player who can do this?

• Open Source no NDA. Not worried about NDAs. Spirit of coordination. Document that memorializes what we need. Next 30 days.
• Time in Africa?
• Doable: training people
• Energime University - training operation.
• 25-50 people trained to build machines
• Africa -
• R&D under education program.
• Site that is a training center.
• Product is a microfactory. Teaching people to do this.
• Container of steel comes in
• Make as much as we can locally.
• Light power. Charcoal and biomass.
• $200k budget. Target date of Jan or Feb. Ghana, South Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea Bisseau, Senegal, Sierra Leone.
• Timeline. Training center. Train people in groups. Train the leaders. Builder of machines.
• Define a 12 person team that would train a group of poeple. How many people would replicate a facility - 4.
• Where is There.
• Build here and ship to there.
• Small demo here. CNC torch table.
• R&D in the USA.
• Define what is necessary. Job 1 and Step 1. Define $200k demo.
• $10k ship, $20k materials, $20k my time, and $150k
• 1 day extreme build with 50 people.
• Right now most food is subsistence farming. One of the largest problems - with heat - food spoilage. So much of crop is wasted.
• Revenue model - principally - financing the people who build equipment. They will not have money. Financing of people who mechanize. Businesses that produce the equipment and produce at scale. Beyond that - the training model - training will have to be financed. Financing business model. Perpetual training model - need to train about 1M people.
• Sequence and timeline. Financially what it costs.
• Next step - working blueprint for $200k budget.
• What is the business model? Financing.
• Who are other groups to do ag aquipment? Others make equipment in scale. Will cost significantly more money. There won't be any interest in teaching the means of production.
• Not "buy tractors" but people making them.
• Users will be the builders - they just need to be able to produce.
• Just do a simple machine.
• Plant, plow,
• Pack containers, ship to Ghana
• People build it.
• Aquaponic facilities. Showed our greenhouse.
• And https://www.facebook.com/groups/398759490316633/permalink/932245250301385/
• Budget for $200k.

Day 1

• https://energimeuniversity.org/about/ - partner; not open source
• Got to go over one country under government auspices, that it works, and doesn't fail. Scalable, etc.
• 2 issues - open source.
• "Taking machinery to scale"
• We could do something meaningful.
• If you can demonstrate you have enough now, then we can go forward.
• "How do you convince your funders if this stuff is open source?" -M. "That is the problem."
• We just need the equipment to roll it out.
• What is the effort for commercialization compared to first prototype?
• Light mechanization. Vs heavy mech - we need more pro
• Move a little bit to the middle? -
• "Assuming we have a team and we can get it done"
• "Capital makes everything go faster". Not come and go, but more.
• "I've got people that trust me and know I can get stuff done, and some have real capital".
• Power is a great issue. Etc.
• Dig dirt, harvest, move things, etc.
• Are we ready for prime time or is it not complete enough. Is there enough there.

Questions:

what is *Move a little bit to the middle?

• "Assuming we have a team and we can get it done"

Proof of Concept

• 1 day build.
• Proof of Concept Project
• Trying to figure out if we can do it.
• Demonstrate that we can do it.
• We will build it in front of you. Labor by poor people.
• Site, piece of land.
• Sooner than later. Here's what we can build in front of their eyes.
• Take a container of equipment.
• We need to come to an understanding that we can get to collaboration. What I'm proposing and what to do about that. He represents more or less what I do.
• One thing to do this, one to train people, one to finance.
• Marry out expectations, meet in the middle. If compromise OS.
• There is a difference in becoming OS, and coming in to wreck my shit. Non-compete clause with open source equipment.
• Non-compete clause for All of Africa.
• Here is the issue I have with open source. Issue: when you commit capital, you need protection. "As long as I can get my lane, and you can get your lane". Why would you fear me if I have no capital.
• "If I finance your shit, I don't want you to get capital from someone else"
• "What appeal - heart, spirit, etc. But I'm not as far along as I could be."
• "If I become your advocate, I will come at it with everything I got" - "If you can execute, then you are good."
• Initially - 14 countries - Chad, Mali.
• Jan or Feb demo build. If demo goes well - different than anything else. First go-around is executing. One thing about Africa - for lack of a better word - "it's almost like when you say something, they want to call bullshit on it - show me that you can do it".
• Pilot - we make a presentation on something that I would like to do.
• We have a high confidence of what to do. Teaching - if I want to run a teaching enterprise.
• Front end piece - training people. Also back end - continuing support.
• Competitive advantage of Alex - is having capital - large pool dedicated to the area. Second advantage: if the training is linked to Alex - then it's.
• It's all open source. Why.
• Sometimes meeting in the middle may do it.
• I do know that when your subconscious massages it - then you will have an answer. Help me the same way that I can help you. You can be my partner if you want to. I can protect you on the training side.
• If I weren't open source, I'd get there faster.
• No question if it can be done - but how fast.
• If I can be harnessed - without harming the capital that supports it. Can't wreck your partner - it's bad business.

Advisory Content

• What I want you to do is think about it. If it is good - or antithetical. If not - that's all it is.
• Let's see if we can figure it out. Then go another round.
• Jan or Feb - they are ready. They may need to bring other people in, or we pivot to support Alex fully.
• It comes down to if it's ready for prime time.
• Whether we can do CEB, we can still do warehouses for refrigeration.
• If we can build it, great - if not - we do something else.
• https://energimeuniversity.org/executive-staff/

Communications

Oct 16, 2018

Yes, I was planning to submit a pilot writeup today. I've been swamped getting our California operations off the ground - we are planning five 3D printer builds there in November - in survival mode as we have no runway.

In short, I'm thinking of basic tractor with power take off and a spader implement, which is the most advanced soil prep technology available. But including 3D printed tires, as including 3D printing from waste thermoplastics could be a great synergy as the tech is available. We can deliver waste-to-usable 3D printing filament.

The idea here is a simple 50 person build - in one day - of a complete tractor from scratch using 4 of my staff, and 50 unskilled or semiskilled Africans. I understand that Ghana has a significant shop culture - so this actually works to our advantage.

Second, I will include a more ambitious package that I believe we can get the technology for as well - gasifier where farmers harvest biomass, pelletize it, and burn it partially to make pelletized charcoal as a flowable fuel. This goes against the prevailing religion of electric vehicles, but I don't believe that there is any more sustainable way to power machines than charcoal - if the biomass is grown regeneratively and is part of an integrated ecosystem. For the pilot, it would be impressive to stake that farmers can not only build their machines - but produce the fuel for it. If this works, then we all will have achieved a major milestone in the economic evolution of humanity towards resilient economies, which is Nobel peace prize material.

The timeline for basic tractor can be March, 2019, pending 4 months of full time development with a staff of 4, including posting an incentive challenge for ancillary technical contributions via HeroX (offshoot of the X Prize). This would work with our schedule as I need until end of November to stabilize the California operations. This is synergistic with our current development priorities of both the microtractor and waste-to-filament 3D printing.

What are your thoughts? I think just the microtrac + spader is a killer already - and the charcoal part would blow this out of the water. I'll see how the numbers look for this when I get you the details tonight.

Marcin

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