POD Pioneers
We are now looking for "early adopters" - these are individuals and teams that have the pioneering spirit and who can collaborate with us during the development phase, when costs and risks are higher. However, with many pioneers working together and sharing results, the COOP can progress more rapidly with feedback and input from multiple POD Pioneers.
Yes, we might save some money by waiting on the results from the POD Prototype and a first POD Kit project, but if we can mobilize a number of POD Pioneers and establish several Beta testing locations that provide simultaneous data and feedback from various climate zones and with a variety of operational configuration and growing options we will learn more quickly what is optimum for the POD Kit standardization.
The slightly higher cost of each of these early stage projects can be equalized down the road, since the COOP can provide at a later stage a payment to the Pioneers that will equalize the cost of the POD Kit now with the future mass production cost. Additionally, many of the POD Pioneers will also be commissioned by the COOP to establish a POD Works enterprise and this activity will more than return the investment in a POD during the development phase.
Also, the best cost will be possible for POD Pioneers if we use a common design and building concept that can be replicated easily and will result in a good and reasonable cost of local production and construction/assembly labor. At this stage we would like to establish contracts for the POD Pioneers who are prepared to establish the basic POD Works enterprise activities, including sales and technical support, including construction services.
When we form the COOP and start accepting COOP Members, we invite any member(s) to register as POD Pioneers and to provide their proposal to establish a POD Works enterprise. We will commission probably one such development in each State and each of these sites will become a hub for further outreach and localization within the State. This process is envisioned as an organic growth and is intended support a rapid, exponential expansion of the COOP that will also seed a Sola Roof Enterprise Network (SE Net) that will flourish in pace with the COOP development, including the formation of the COOP Chapters.
Crowd Funding Campaign for POD Pioneers
I am very passionate about getting out the message (below) about a breakthrough collaboration, at a level of super-credibility, with many locations and several countries where the first "POD Pioneers" will be financially supported to co-create and build the POD solution, thereby planting far and wide the seed of POD Fresh Food - and out of this collective effort we are confident that the Sola Roof Coop will take root and will proliferate, organically with viral growth strategy.
Crowd Funding Campaign May1st 2013:
We are launching the Sola Roof Coop, which will be organizing a Crowd Funding campaign within weeks. We will provide startup grants to several POD Pioneers as the way forward through a demonstration stage, that will document the case for POD investment and lead to rapid replication around the world. Several countries will participate in this stage of collaboration to build a Creative Commons with information, plans and specifications that will answer all the questions and provide the confidence for our POD solution for local, regenerative food/water/energy to go viral and bring food security, safety and nutrition to families/communities everywhere.
Be the change; be a POD Pioneer!