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I thought on this more, and similar short-term rewards should be achievable without requiring people to give up any portion of future ownership stake in any business they start.

Charge a membership fee. If the payout beyond server and development costs is $5k a month, that's 200 people paying $25/month.

That's a bit high, but membership fee can be reduced as number of members scales. Or, alternately, the membership fee can be reduced from beginning (perhaps even optional, with some extra reward for people who pay) and the monthly competition reward can be increased as membership scales.

The ideas will flow. The selection process will hopefully draw attention to best projects (though perhaps there needs to be some criteria round who can vote, such as requirement to contribute in some manner to vote). The prize will get them their ticket, and the recognition of winning the prize can earn them the contacts.

There is no need for a permanent ownership stake in the users' future businesses. It could potentially be financially profitable on its own (though not spectacularly so).

The intangible benefit of being able to introduce yourself to these interesting people, and of being able to introduce the interesting people to others who are looking for a specific sort of interesting person, is not very calculable. But it would probably make the endeavor worthwhile in its own right, without closing yourself off to audiences that are turned away by the terms.

You can still invest your $5k/month into someone, and the winner of the contest still gets their prize, but it's on more mutually beneficial terms for everyone.




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