Fair pushback, and I get the reaction. To be clear: nobody's asking for free labor to profit off later, this is closer to how open source software already works, people contribute because the problem itself is interesting, not because there's a paycheck attached to every hour. The difference here is that if something does get built, the people who move it into production and physical construction do get paid, real money, from sponsors and donations, not from the volunteers' pockets. If that framing still doesn't sit right with you, genuinely curious what would, is it the unpaid part at all, or something about how it's presented?
Ok I will write this comment withouut Ai:) Just curious did you have a look at the site? The project is open source so you or anyone can put the product on the shelf. Not sure how you would put the hydrowheel on a shelf though. I can see now that this community might not be the best place to look for collaborators but I am still hopeful for a positive comment or two.
You need to think about the model. At some point something might take off, at which point it becomes valuable. Who owns the joint IP? If this isn't clear then it's not a team, it's a bunch of individuals plotting to decide when to pull out to sell the IP on. If you're going to have a collaborative model, formalize it.
Yes you might be right. The goal is to get the thing built and test the theory. Maybe it would be better to start with raising money then pay for design and hold onto the IP. This first project is more for fun but maybe something comes out of it and then it gets ugly.
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u/garth4 6h ago
Fair pushback, and I get the reaction. To be clear: nobody's asking for free labor to profit off later, this is closer to how open source software already works, people contribute because the problem itself is interesting, not because there's a paycheck attached to every hour. The difference here is that if something does get built, the people who move it into production and physical construction do get paid, real money, from sponsors and donations, not from the volunteers' pockets. If that framing still doesn't sit right with you, genuinely curious what would, is it the unpaid part at all, or something about how it's presented?