[kaptain]

Mike,

Can you comment on Ben Barreth? I read the article but I don't understand how this could be sustainable. Mortgaging your 401K in the hopes of getting donations on a charity project seems like a no-win situation. And I'm not speaking strictly from a financial perspective. Can you give us some more perspective on this? Or if Ben is out there, maybe he can comment. Thanks!

[mikedemarais]

I'll get Ben on here tomorrow, but he has a few ideas to make this sustainable. The housing market here is really affordable and there are already some companies interested in sponsoring the house, so its not as crazy as it sounds. I believe his current focus is finding investors to buy other homes in the area who are down for the cause.

[bogrollben]

I'm open to any ideas. So far:

1) rent one of the rooms on airbnb? Need 16+ days a month rented to break even. Maybe push Fiber tourism? 2) get corporate sponsorship. Ask 10 small-mid businesses to sponsor $100/month for the house. Stick their logo all over the walls and the website 3) when google comes out with the business plan, install a new fiber drop and host a mini data center in the home for non-production clients (I imagine I'd have to compete with a bunch of ppl in KC for this service, once Google opens those doors).