Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

This seems somewhat myopic. I get that the culture of the valley is very entrepreneurial and the solution to every problem seems to be another free market competitor, but even if you buy into that ethos completely you have to see how this will fail.

The tech giants are now trillion dollar companies. Soon to be multi-trillion dollar companies. They have all the data, because they own all the platforms. They have bent the very protocols the internet is built on to their needs. They can see good ideas or dangerous competitors coming before the competitors themselves even realize what they're onto. There is little to no innovation left at these tech giants, they simple acquire and shut down anything that might turn into a real problem for them.

You cannot startup your way out of this quagmire. We need massive government intervention and a breakup of the tech giants, with strong new antitrust rules around future acquisitions. We simply cannot grow or innovate our way out of problems until that happens.

Showing your carbon footprint of Amazon purchases is cute and will give you a ton of stuff to virtue signal about at the right cocktail parties, but ultimately it's completely meaningless. You're not changing the internet, you're not changing Amazon with token projects like this.

Re: Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

#6

Post by lightninglu10 » Fri, May 15, 2020, 5:27 PM UTC

Hey all, Patrick here & one of the mentors for the Mozilla Builders "fix-the-internet" incubator https://builders.mozilla.community/.

We have 3 different offerings for this Summer. All incubator style, meaning you meet weekly or biweekly with mentors and we really try to help drive you from point A to point C.

1. $75k investment in a startup. MUST be serious about wanting to build something awesome and put in the hard work it takes to do so.

2. $16k funding in a much earlier stage project (idea stage / MVP stage). MUST be serious about commitment it takes to get to launch.

3. OPEN LABS: these are open to the entire community and you have access to the mentors. 10 min checkins each week & peer sessions. We've had TONS of amazing projects for our Open Labs in the Spring and we hope to see TONS more for the Summer.

In terms of MISSION and what we're looking for:

We started this new incubator out of Mozilla in order to work with & invest in developers, startups, and technology enthusiasts who are building things that will shape the internet and have a positive impact without needing to hyper focus on the bottom line. We call this our ”fix-the-internet” incubator.

Re: Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

#7

Post by hartator » Fri, May 15, 2020, 5:30 PM UTC

I thought Mozilla was a non-profit fundation?

Re: Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

#8

Post by jameslk » Fri, May 15, 2020, 5:35 PM UTC

hartator wrote: post #7

I thought Mozilla was a non-profit fundation?

I'd assume this is offered by Mozilla's corporate side https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation

Re: Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

#9

Post by est31 » Fri, May 15, 2020, 5:36 PM UTC

hartator wrote: post #7

I thought Mozilla was a non-profit fundation?

There is Mozilla Corporation and Mozilla Foundation. The foundation owns the corporation.

Re: Mozilla goes incubator with ‘Fix The Internet’ startup early-stage investments

#10

Post by astlouis44 » Fri, May 15, 2020, 5:36 PM UTC

lightninglu10 wrote: post #4

kristopolous wrote: post #2

I missed this... Is there still an opportunity, anyone know?

hey @kristopolous! yes we are JUST starting our new summer program. Applications are due June 5th. https://builders.mozilla.community/ LMK if you have any questions!

Hey, so our startup is building the future of games and interactive applications in the browser using WebAssembly. Definitely going to apply!