Viral Replicability Criteria

We are moving forward on the first instance of a Distributive Enterprise – with the D3D Business Plan on the 3D Printer Workshop Model – a vision for innovation in the field of economics. The innovation lies in discovering a mechanism to displace factory production with social production, due to the benefits mentioned in the Executive Summary of the Business Plan –

The proprietary economy based on protectionism and competitive waste produces consumerism and is a threat to human creativity, progress, and autonomy. Our value proposition is substitution of factory production with more efficient social production. This involves substitution of proprietary production with open source social production by educating and involving the end user in the production process. This empowers individuals to build skills and to build the world around them, as humanity transitions to more integrated human skill sets than those characteristic of the industrial revolution. Moreover, this paradigm shift introduces the possibility of lifetime design, where users are capable of fixing their own products because they built the products themselves.

One condition for success is attaining Viral Replicability Criteria:

There is a lot of work that goes into this, but the scaling potential looks good on paper. Nearly 1000 3D printer builds in one month would make this into a decent 3D printer company about the size of Lulzbot– except all the wealth is being distributed to the numerous people running the workshops:

Is it really possible? To create a virtual $10M 3D printer company without employees in a year’s time, where collaborators run the world’s first significant open hardware company as a swarm? A federated WordPress or such – but done with Hardware? What are the things to consider beyond some of the key elements in the Viral Replicability Criteria? Clearly there is a number of standard business functions that must be covered, and the challenge is to address them in a distributed and distributive organization. Standards, education, and certification will be key – and as an education nonprofit, it appears we are well-positioned to fit that role with OSE.

Nobody has tried out the Distributive Enterprise concept yet – so we are in pioneering darkness – thought it seems obvious to me that such a model can produce unprecedented results of viral odoption. Since we are giving it all away – perhaps that’s the reason why nobody tried it before.

There are already 3 people interested in replicating the One Day 3D Printer Build Workshop in their home towns – so we are on track so far. We will just have to see how the first workshop turns out. This is a direct invitation to True Fans and other dedicated open-sourcers to take this as an opportunity to change economic history.