Entrepreneurial Project Opportunities as of April 2017
1. Humanity House
Humanity House, which will provide a home for 4 Reed students interested in the future of humanity, is the minimum viable product (MVP) of a more ambitious student housing venture. Humanity House has made good progress since its conception 6 months ago. We have purchased an ideal house close to the Reed campus, which will be ready for students to live in starting this summer. Humanity House is expected to succeed for both key stakeholders. First, it will provide outstanding accommodation for a few Reed students, along with exceptional academic and entrepreneurial opportunities. Second, it will financially reward investors sufficiently to make the case for further investment in a growing student housing enterprise.
Student housing is a notably attractive real estate market niche. The feasibility of profitably providing student housing is illustrated by the success of enterprises such as American Campus Communities and Education Realty Trust, both listed on the NYSE. Smart Essentials For College Rentals and University Wealth: 21 Success Secrets to Buy & Manage Student Rental Property describe the fundamentals of investment in student housing, as do articles such as Real estate investors’ best kept secret: College towns and Investors get schooled in housing.
Humanity House can serve as a model for a boutique student housing venture that specializes in accommodating liberal arts students, initially focusing on providing excellent housing for Reed College students.
2. Marketing Argon Desaki’s Report from Earth
Report from Earth has been well received by people who have read it, but has not been marketed. An entrepreneurially inclined student might like to try marketing it, for example by the traditional route of sending query letters to suitable literary agents. A substantial share of any resulting revenues will go to the student who successfully undertakes this.
3. Development and Marketing of The Imps
The Imps is a shared library of items related to study of humanity’s present and future. It can be improved with the collaboration of good students and perhaps marketed as a freemium service.
4. Refinement of Humanity’s Future video
We have a video of a talk based on a slide deck that could be improved and perhaps made into a popular presentation of interesting ideas related to the future of humanity.
5. Development of a Future of Humanity textbook
We have 4 draft chapters (available at Future of Humanity):
- Is the World Going to Hell? (an introduction)
- Mismatch Problems (on maladaptation to the modern world)
- A Singular Misconception (on artificial intelligence)
- Why Is There So Little Serious Study of the Future of Humanity?
Much more needs to be written, but once a few sample chapters are in good enough shape we will approach Stanford University Press to see if there’s interest in publishing it.
6. Development of a Future of Humanity course syllabus
We have a draft that can use refinement.
7. Development of our incipient tutoring service
There is a demand for tutoring that Reed students and graduates can supply. Tutoring can be quite lucrative, and the work is rewarding in other ways. Development of a tutoring service may be an attractive undertaking.
8. Strategic development of YouSA Meetup groups
There are currently 3 YouSA Meetup groups: Stanford YouSA (83 members), Paris YouSA (17 membres), and Dublin YouSA (17 members). These groups provide an opportunity to engage people worldwide in various activities related to the future of humanity.
9. Creation of a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation
This can be a good summer project for a student interested in law.