[_t0du]

I am not an expert, but 75k seems disproportionate from the effort and time the requirements seem to be looking for. For the lofty goal of "Fix the internet", 75k seems more like "An extra few weeks of runway." What am I missing?

[lightninglu10]

Hey Alex, the $75k is just a start! We're funding projects who are just starting out / getting off the ground.

Imagine you have a big vision to build something that betters the internet and you have only your life savings. Or you've been working on something for a while but haven't been able to put full effort into it.

This $75k is to kickstart teams & projects in "fixing the internet".

[alexbanks]

Are there groups that have A.) A team assembled, B.) A product that's far enough along to have C.) Users, who 75 grand makes a meaningful impact? Is the expectation that those teams maintain other jobs while working with the incubator?

^ Probably a more succinct way to ask my question. I hope it's clear that I'm not trying to negatively paint the program, it's clearly more than most companies are doing to fix the internet. 75k is just the lowest amount of money I've seen with respect to incubators/funding (but again, I am not an expert).

[lightninglu10]

This is our first time running this Summer Incubator ($75k iteration), BUT we are in the middle of our Spring MVP Program. These teams each got around $8-10k.

We have some really good projects from this much smaller program, including https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/neutral/oagdejngkg... (Firefox extension releasing this week), https://ameelio.org/, and more!

So we're not entirely sure whether $75k is the right amount or not, BUT we do know that with $10k, we've had some really impressive projects.

[somishere]

Neutral looks cool. Look forward to trying it out once it's released (tho permissions on the chrome version seem a bit ominous, plus their website is broken!)

[marissajliu]

Hey it's Marissa from the Neutral team. Thanks for checking our tool out! Just want to mention that Neutral only accesses data on supported shopping sites like Amazon to perform carbon footprint calculations.

Sorry about the broken site! We're currently fixing it up along with the release of our tool on Firefox!

[retox]

$16k is a LOT of money for someone with an idea, don't think about it from the perspective of the expense to Mozilla but from the perspective of the people/groups receiving the compensation. Companies that have gone on to become titans have started with much less.

[PudgePacket]

Weeks? A startup looking for funding of this amount shouldn't be burning anywhere near that amount (tens of thousands a week!)

This should be months, up to a year for 1-2 founder team.

[alexbanks]

...How?

3 people / 75k = 25k per person. At a reasonable 100k/year earning potential, that means that 75k a year is 3 months of time?

[PudgePacket]

You pay yourself what you need to survive and use the rest to re-invest in the company, extend the runway, do marketing, etc.

You can't walk away from your day job at $BIGCO, start your own company and expect to get paid like you used to, it doesn't work like that (at least at the beginning).

Your pay is having a large % ownership in (what you think will be) a valuable company down the line.

[alexbanks]

It seems kinda wild to suggest a fair deal is making ever so slightly above minimum wage for an already established team, company, product, userbase, no?

My issue, I guess, is not with salary, but moreso the value add. 75k does not seem like enough to A.) Live on, really, B.) Extend runway, really, C.) "Fix the internet", really. I can understand trading in cash for agency, I would absolutely do it. But this doesn't really seem like that either, given that presumably lots of founders would need to either seek further funding or work second jobs.

[PudgePacket]

I don't think you'd go for this if you're an already established company. 75k is for 1-2 people who have probably launched less than 6 months ago or are launching with that money.

It's also not just the money. It's credibility by being invested in mozilla (and an investor who is invested in you having more successful funding rounds), it's the marketing and hype that come with it, it's the opportunities to employ people, it's the connections that come from being acquainted with investors and a tech giant, etc.

[majewsky]

What salary levels are your calculations based on? For a solo founder in Germany, 75k should be enough runway for roughly 2 years, more if their business is at least ramen-profitable, less if they have more employees of course.

[alexbanks]

My salary calcs are based on A.) Primarily west-coast based American SE wages, B.) The presumption that the group already has a "team" (aka more than 1 person) assembled and a product already launched (as per the requirements of the 75k program).

Two people living on 38k a year sounds like a great way to not have legitimate talent apply.

[majewsky]

38k a year is in the range of my actual gross salary as a mid-level software developer in Germany, although it should be noted that I work 70% part-time. It would certainly be enough to cover an entry-level developer or a founder who's willing to take a smaller pay in exchange for the freedom of working on their own project. And that's before we consider startups located in Eastern Europe where cost of living is lower, but you can still find competent developers there.

[alexbanks]

And that may be true, I am just pointing out that trying to "Fix the internet" by pandering to mid level developers seems like wasted effort.