OSE Expansion Business Model

Status Brief

In 2014, we have demonstrated a financially-sustainable, potentially scalable, though not highly replicable - model of the Extreme Manufacturing dual-revenue business model for funding. This was still a great achievement for OSE, as we have successfully transitioned from foundation funding to bootstrapping operation. If the ultimate goal is to seed 70,000 full OSE facilities by 2035, the bootstrapping model is important for bootstrapping our replications.

The basic model shown in April of 2014 has resulted in $4800 from net ticket sales (immersion fabrication skills workshop) and $5000 in production earnings (after subtracting cost of materials) from the sale of a Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press. Earnings have been reinvested into OSE's development efforts.

Our immediate goals are to build upon these results to make our open enterprise model highly replicable. We call this Distributive Enterprise.

Given that ~$10k of revenue may be generated, we are building upon this model to add a third revenue stream - 3 month-long deep immersion training - for individuals interested in replicating and building upon this model - while contributing know-how into the public domain (albeit with coercion due to the Share Alike legal clause for derivatives).

Value Propositions

To the world, the value proposition is free and unrestricted access to all the material generated. We will publish open design of the hardware and of the organizational/business model under CC-BY-SA to promote open access.

To the immersion student, the value proposition is Distributive Enterprise: the opportunity to start an open source enterprise based on an integrated skill set acquired during the immersion training.

To OSE, the value proposition is creating developers who become involved full-time in developing open source appropriate technology, while promoting OSE's values and mission.

To collaborating foundations, this is a chance to leverage the impact of their funding for highly replicable work.

Organizational and Resource Model

OSE:. OSE provides deep immersion Curriculum and facilities at Factor e Farm. The full-time instructor will be Marcin Jakubowski, Ph.D, Director of OSE, who will run 1-2 hours of lectures daily, plus a weekly all-day lab. The syllabus will include a thick bible of seminal, applied, and background essential reading material, spanning open source appropriate technology topics, Extreme Manufacturing, distributive enterprise, open source law, economic history, computer literacy, peak performance, and other topics. Weekly guest instructors (2 per week) will contribute to seminal topics of research and development supporting the course work. The focus will be applied learning towards fundamental, practical solutions to pressing world issues - creating a culture of unleashed creativity.

Students: Students - to be accepted into the program under the title of OSE Fellows, will go through a rigorous application process. OSE's Board of Advisors will make selection suggestions, to be approved by the Director. Applicants will be required to secure funding, where OSE recommends collaboration with supporting foundations to underwrite the students. This applies especially to students without the financial means, such as guiding-light students from disadvantaged communities. OSE will collaborate with potential Fellows on leveraging OSE's network to find potential foundations that can underwrite the program in its inception. As the program evolves and scales, it will be designed such that endorsement by foundations will always be an option, but will not be a dependency for program scaling.

Metrics

Clear metrics must be established. See presentation above.

Q&A

• Are you working on the CEB Press or the MicroHouse as the revenue model?

A: First we are developing the CEB Press as a revenue model, because it is a product ready for release. The MicroHouse design still needs a lot of work.

• Do you have contractors available to construct the homes?

A: No. The core of the business model involves 'contractor training.' Specifically, we are providing a 3 month immersion course to prospective builders, whom we call OSE Fellows.

• Will they travel to other states for prospective clients?

Yes. Traveling to other locations is a requirement for building housing.

• Can the finished home be made available for people to walk through like a model home?

Yes. Currently, MicroHouse 4 is our model home.