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Q:
Tell me about the two projects, please?
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R:
Publicly disclosing the nature of either of these projects would, at
this time, not be prudent on my part because one of them is so simple
and so easy to create that it's not in the lunatic fringe at
all. It's simply a marriage of two existing technologies
that, once combined, will create a product of great service to the
world and will return millions of dollars to the
foundation. If I publicly state that idea, someone who
presently has the money to invest would have it on the market in in
very short order.
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.
Q:
What about the other project?
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R:
This one is squarely in the lunatic
fringe. It's about completing an existing
project. The original creator died before his creation
could be proven to be either valid scientific wonder of simply a
lunatic's pipedream. The foundation intends to offer an
opportunity to find out if the creator was a lunatic or genius whose
project was left unfinished.
But,
to be more specific in answering you question, I am willing to offer
you an historical example of a relatively recent creation that is
exactly the type of project that the foundation intends to seek out
and fund.
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Q:
OK, I'm listening.
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R:
Do you recall the circumstances
surrounding the creation of the Cat-scan?
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Q:
No, but I suspect I'm about to find out.
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R:
Indeed you are. While
this hospital diagnostic equipment was being developed, the inventor
went through hell. He was repeatedly ridiculed and
condemned by his peers, and funding was very difficult to
find. And yet, today, the Cat-scan, or a
modernized derivation of the Cat-scan, is standard equipment in
every major hospital in the world.
Imagine
how much faster and how much easier the development of that equipment
would have been if The Of-Course Foundation®
had been around at that time to assist in its development.
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.
Q:
How do you envision that the Foundation will function?
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R:
The Foundation will provide:
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*
The lab and/or workshop space for
product or project
development, *
Any special tools or technical specialists required,
*
Financial management such as a monthly stipend for
the
idea person [the developer], and
*
Payment for anything needed for the
development of
the idea.
|
Our
intention is to take care of as many details as possible so that
the idea person can focus his or her full attention on developing
his/her creation.
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.
Q:
How is what you intend to do different from what is offered by
those who run TV infomercials asking for inventors to bring them their
ideas?
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R:
The infomercials are run by business people looking for
projects that will make them money. In terms of what they will
fund, they are little different from your local bank. If
they are not sure they will make money, they are not interested in the
project.
The
foundation, on the other hand, is intentionally looking for projects
that are too financially risky to obtain traditional
funding. Some of the foundation's projects will be public
service projects with little financial return and some of them will
turn out to be fruitless, but some of them will make major
contributions to the future of humanity and some will bring in
significant profits.
We
are looking more at the potential social and humanitarian contribution
and less at the potential profit. None the less, some of
our projects will return millions of dollars, and, in the long run,
the foundation's financial returns will very likely exceed those of
the inventor-seekers and the banks.
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.
Q:
What about patents?
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R:
The Foundation will provide all types of legal services and
coverage, including creating contracts, negotiating agreements, and
everything else required to create and to insure appropriate legal
status, including patent protection.
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.
Q:
So when you find and successfully develop a project, who will own the
patent and where will the money go?
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R:
For every project a trust will be set up, and the trust will legally own
the patent. A
second trust will be set up which is responsible for developing the
product.
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.
Q:
Why use trusts?
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R:
To limit liability and to avoid excessive taxation.
In case you are not aware of it, the wisest wealthy people
don’t actually own anything.
They set up trusts and the trusts own everything.
They simply manage the trusts.
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.
Q:
OK, so who will control the money?
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R:
We have to distinguish between the money that is donated to set up and
initially run the foundation and the money that is later generated
from the projects and products it develops. The initial
money donated will be used to set up and run the foundation until
completed project bring in enough money to sustain it without further
donations. These moneys will be handled in the traditional
manner by which foundations are financed and managed.
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.
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Q:
And what about the money generated form the projects?
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R:
First of all, the project's development costs will
considered, along with administrative costs and
the other expenses involved. Development
costs will be calculated in the same manner that a
typical corporation uses to figure its costs for
developing a new product.
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.
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Q:
So the successful projects will actually pay for themselves.
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R:
Yes, the successful ones that are focused on a new
product definitely will; however, the social
service projects won't be undertaken for their
financial profit. Because The
Foundation won't have stock holders taking money
back out and because The Foundation will not
have a tax liability, it will have a significant
financial advantage over the traditional
corporations.
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.
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Q:
Then where will the profits from projects go?
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R:
After deducting the development costs which will
go back into The Foundation treasury, the residual
moneys will be handled in this fashion:
Sixty
percent of the profit generated by whatever is
created belongs to the idea person.
Within the context of the trusts and the
tax laws, it's his to do with as he so chooses.
The
idea person is also required by contract to give
away another ten percent of the profits to anyone
he so chooses.
This applies to the profits for entire life
of whatever has been created.
He or she is encouraged to give the money
directly to those who will use it and not simply
hand it over to an existing charity.
He or she is also encouraged to give the money
away with no strings attached; however, the idea
person makes the final decision as to whom and in
what fashion the money is given.
Twenty
percent of the profit generated by whatever is
created belongs to The Of-Course
Foundation.®
This also applies to the profits for entire life
of whatever has been created.
The
remaining ten percent of the money that a project
generates goes into a fund that can be used
for any purpose for which The Foundation staff and
the idea person choose. For example,
the project developers may offer the ten percent
as an incentive such as a return on an investment
in order to encourage financial participation from
people who would otherwise not fund one of our
projects.
|
.
|
Q:
And what about the money generated form the projects?
|
R:
First of all, the project's development costs will considered, along
with administrative costs and other costs involved in the same manner
that any corporation figures its costs for developing a new
product. The residual moneys will be handled in this fashion:
Sixty percent of the profit generated by whatever is created belongs to
the idea person. Within
the context of the trusts and the tax laws, it's his to do with as he
so chooses.
The
idea person is also required by contract to give away ten percent of
the profits to anyone he so chooses.
This applies to the profits for entire life of whatever has been
created. He or she
is encouraged to give the money directly to those who will use it and not
simply hand it over to an existing charity. He or she is also
encouraged to give the money away with no strings attached; however,
the idea person makes the final decision as to whom and in what
fashion the money is given.
Twenty
percent of the profit generated by whatever is created belongs to
The Of-Course Foundation.®
This also applies to the profits for entire life of whatever has been
created.
The
remaining ten percent of the money that a project generates goes into a
fund that can be used for any purpose for which the Foundation staff and the idea person choose. For example,
the project developers may offer the ten percent as an incentive such
as a return on an investment in order to encourage financial
participation from people who would otherwise not fund one of our
projects.
|
.
Q:
So why isn't the Foundation functioning now?
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R:
MONEY! Funding is the only thing keeping it from
flying. The Life Center, our already existing non- profit
organization, is functioning as the birth mother. We
are expecting and accepting funding to set up and operate just
such a foundation.
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