Pioneer - An online tournament for productivity.

Pioneer

•8yr ago

Apply to Pioneer with any type of project you need help with. It could be a company, physics research or art. Play the tournament. Become a Pioneer.

Pioneers receive a $5,000 investment with an option for a $20,000 follow-on, a ticket to San Francisco and much more.

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Pioneer

Maker

Hi PH! A friend and I launched AI Grant last year (https://news.ycombinator.com/ite...). The idea was to give out money to promising AI researchers around the world. To date, we've funded 50 researchers, from high school students in Hawaii to aspiring researchers in Africa. We’ve been inspired by the fellows we’ve funded all over the word. I’m following it with a new project called Pioneer. Pioneer funds ambitious people around the world working on interesting projects. Unlike a startup accelerator, this is focused on small projects, not companies. A project could be anything -- open source work, research in physics or biology, or creating art. If one does start a company, Pioneer gets 3% of equity in it in return for the network, community and guidance it provides. But it's by no means a requirement or a goal. We're merely hoping the small fraction of companies help us fund this experiment in perpetuity. I think the largest gift we'll give our Pioneers isn't money. It'll be non-intuitive things like a network of friends (other Pioneers), a forcing function to get that thing done and mentorship from inspiring individuals. Unlike other grant programs, we’re trying to do most of the screening in software. Becoming a Pioneer requires winning the Pioneer Tournament -- a (hopefully) fun and interactive application process. More on that on the site. I'm passionate about this work because I'm the benefactor of a similar system. I wrote about my story here, if you're curious: https://pioneer.app/blog/hello.

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8yr ago

@danicgross I have the best StartUp of 2018. I have something that would be a hit, something that will turn into a unicorn in 6 months. I believe i’m the next Mark Zuckerberg. I want to know how I can contact you privately Daniel Gross and show you my startup website and lay down my project idea. I live in Montreal, Canada.

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8yr ago

@msibanda6 Can you present me that person, that seems interesting, that sound like a social value network! I hope he can show me reflexivity theory at the same time since a blockchain is a reflexive database.😎

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7yr ago

Product Hunt

Love this and generally a big fan of anything that supports entrepreneurs and makers. From the NYT article: Silicon Valley has created a model for identifying and nurturing high-potential young companies. The Pioneer Fund hopes to do much the same thing for high-potential people. What's the business model, @danicgross?

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8yr ago

Pioneer

Maker

@rrhoover We think that extremely successful people in many lines of work make the world better, but that extremely successful entrepreneurs have a comparative advantage at making a lot of money while doing it. We hope that a small stake in their companies can fund future generations of Pioneers. Pioneers are under no obligation to start a company. If they do, Pioneer retains 3% of it in exchange for the investment, mentorship and network it provides. Pioneer will also have the option of investing an additional $20,000 for 5% in any of those companies. These conditions apply if you already have an incorporated company. Many of our best Pioneers will be researchers, painters or musicians. We're hoping that the fraction of entrepreneurs will help us support the rest.

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8yr ago

Emojify = You + Emoji

@rrhoover @danicgross I was interested in the venture until I saw the terms. investment of $20,000 for 5% ?? Seriously? That's not investment. That's piggybacking on the dreams of others.

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8yr ago

Pioneer

Maker

Introducing the first winners of the Pioneer Tournament: https://pioneer.app/blog/meet-th...

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7yr ago

мы неправильно используем iq

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8yr ago

inCharge 6

This is a great idea!

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8yr ago

" Thank you so much for participating in the October Pioneer Tournament. Unfortunately, your application was not selected as a winner.

Please don’t take this personally — the selection process was extremely difficult. We had to turn away a lot of promising applications. "

That was the response that I received after the competition.

Is this how you support and help improve and further develop the next ambitious leaders of the world?!

Jesus.... I'm not happy!

Pros:

My hope was that I'll receive professional feedback from experts that have indeed the necessary competence to do so. I was wrong.

Cons:

The entire initiative is a cheap PR stunt that aims to position Daniel Gross as a supporting entrepreneur. It's all a big, fake mascara!!!!!

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7yr ago

Public Art

Pioneer is in the early stages. Led by a small handful of people. I'm just seeing the beginning of this project, but I can wholeheartedly say - they are on to something. I dont agree with the con-points above for Pioneer. I think the execution behind the project was 100% to make sure there was as large of a surface area for the potential participants to be exposed to the project. From my own interactions with @danicgross and @narang_rishi, I have found them incredibly humble and selfless. I gather nothing but their own willingness to work hard, and leverage what they can to help all the Pioneer participants get the exposure they need. I have been following the project since August and I think their launch was a huge success, with the right amount of P.R.. They have continued to execute relentlessly, month-after-month releasing new features and keeping it going week-after-week. I can not strongly recommend enough that if you have a side project and want to hold yourself accountable, sign up to the next cohort!

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7yr ago