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FWIW, I have a story of a better proposition. I currently do a lot of subcontract work for a consulting company. These guys have been around for a while, but to gain more exposure, so they have been wanting to publish some Open Source stuff. I've been working, on and off, on an interesting (to me, at least) project that I was planning to release under a BSD license and if it gains traction, turn it into a business. What the consultancy proposed was this: they would pay me to finish the project and publish it under their name. We would then market it as an OSS project, gaining more exposure for their firm and for the project. Later, if I choose to turn it into a business, I already have a potential partner who is intimately familiar with the project. If not, I get paid, and they get a cool OSS project to show off.

This is strictly a better offer than the OP's: I get paid for about the same amount of time, and I get to keep 100% of the creation (so does everyone else, since it's Open Source). In other words everybody wins.




> This is strictly a better offer than the OP's

Is it available to everyone, though?


Yes, anyone will be able to use the project for free and modify the code under a BSD license. Thus anyone can build a business off it if they choose. That is the risk I am taking. It is mitigated by the fact that the firm I am working with and I will be the ones most familiar with the code and free usage of this project will simply validate the idea.

Edit: or do you mean the offer? If so, then no, currently just to me. Though if others could negotiate similar terms.


I meant the offer. It does sound better, but there are lots of better offers out there, this one has lower barriers to entry though. I see it less as the route to go if you are an entrepreneur and more a good way of giving people the kick up the pants they need to start their journey.




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