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

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

#31

Post by lightninglu10 »

_t0du wrote: post #24
lightninglu10 wrote: post #6

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 ha…

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?

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".

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

#32

Post by alexbanks »

lightninglu10 wrote: post #31
_t0du wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

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".

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).

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

#33

Post by ShamelessC »

Max_aaa wrote: post #30
cousin_it wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my "fix the internet" idea: build a search engine that is itself ad-free, and searches over only the ad-free segment of the web. More options: allow users to exclude sites with ads, sites with ecommerce, sites with tracking, or simply allow users to build and share lists of sites to exclude. Rationale: the unmonetized or under-monetized web was awesome, a lot of it still exists under the radar now, and it woul…

How would the project sustain itself? (Hardware and hosting costs)

I'd honestly appreciate this enough to pay a subscription for it if there was a policy that meant the subscription fee was explicitly to avoid needing revenue from shady business.

I believe fastmail is like that.

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

#34

Post by pwdisswordfish2 »

Max_aaa wrote: post #30
cousin_it wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my "fix the internet" idea: build a search engine that is itself ad-free, and searches over only the ad-free segment of the web. More options: allow users to exclude sites with ads, sites with ecommerce, sites with tracking, or simply allow users to build and share lists of sites to exclude. Rationale: the unmonetized or under-monetized web was awesome, a lot of it still exists under the radar now, and it woul…

How would the project sustain itself? (Hardware and hosting costs)

Begging and government grants, like Wikipedia?

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

#35

Post by pwdisswordfish2 »

cousin_it wrote: post #22
lightninglu10 wrote: post #6

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 ha…

Here's my "fix the internet" idea: build a search engine that is itself ad-free, and searches over only the ad-free segment of the web. More options: allow users to exclude sites with ads, sites with ecommerce, sites with tracking, or simply allow users to build and share lists of sites to exclude. Rationale: the unmonetized or under-monetized web was awesome, a lot of it still exists under the radar now, and it woul…

https://wiby.me

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

#37

Post by mlacks »

pwdisswordfish2 wrote: post #35
cousin_it wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my "fix the internet" idea: build a search engine that is itself ad-free, and searches over only the ad-free segment of the web. More options: allow users to exclude sites with ads, sites with ecommerce, sites with tracking, or simply allow users to build and share lists of sites to exclude. Rationale: the unmonetized or under-monetized web was awesome, a lot of it still exists under the radar now, and it woul…

https://wiby.me

this is such a therapeutic way to internet surf. No distractions - just content. thank you so much

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

#38

Post by gambler »

>Developers in a variety of domains were invited to apply, as long as they fit the themes of empowerment, privacy, decentralization, community and so on.

Funny. I'm seeing how the Web is being fucked over in exactly these areas, and yet I don't see Mozilla doing anything to stop it. Quite the opposite, they contribute to it and follow Google's lead on most of the issues.

Here is the simplest and incredibly impactful user empowerment idea. Assume I have a computer with Firefox and an internet connection. Can I open the browser, press "make a web page" button and create a page with a stable URL (probably a GUID) accessible to other people? Without creating an account some or doing some nerdy shit. Nope.

Well, the fact that this basic idea still isn't implemented in the age of "cloud computing" tells you everything you need to know about whether major player in the market (which Mozilla will soon cease to be) want to empower their users.

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

#39

Post by ta17711771 »

gonational wrote: post #11

Real talk, Mozilla; would you be interested in funding a privacy-oriented fork of Firefox with all the unnecessary extras (Pocket, etc.) stripped out? I’m thinking something just like Firefox, except unencumbered by Google or other corporate affiliations, etc. I think this would be the best first step towards any kind of “fixing the Internet”.

I'd be more interested in a fork with site isolation per process, no X11 exploits on Linux, etc.

We need a new Gecko - perhaps a fork of something else with all the resources Gecko gets put into it.

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

#40

Post by DevKoala »

gambler wrote: post #38

>Developers in a variety of domains were invited to apply, as long as they fit the themes of empowerment, privacy, decentralization, community and so on. Funny. I'm seeing how the Web is being fucked over in exactly these areas, and yet I don't see Mozilla doing anything to stop it. Quite the opposite, they contribute to it and follow Google's lead on most of the issues. Here is the simplest and incredibly impactful…

Who will host the webpage in your scenario?
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