Venture Mentoring Services

=Venture Mentoring Services conference call 2/22/08= Notes and action

Consortia interviews
Dawn suggested we conduct a series of interviews with several consortia to determine their business models
 * Identify a list of consortia to examine
 * DSpace (MIT libraries)
 * Things that Think (MIT Media Lab)
 * Digital Life (MIT Media Lab)
 * Center for Digital Business (MIT Sloan)


 * Compile a list of interview questions for consortia directors
 * What is the structure of the consortium?
 * Where does your funding come from?
 * What are your obligations to members?

Sustainability models

 * Build a list of 3 possible sustainability models each with a possible budget or budget requirements.
 * Consortium
 * Grant-funded
 * Donations + Advertising

Advisory board

 * What do we want from our board?
 * What might they expect in return for serving on our board?

Projects
Short-, Medium-, and long-term projects we hope to accomplish with OWW
 * 1) *Take some number of iGem 2008 projects from start (lab notebooks kept on OWW) to finish (publication of top 10 projects in a recognized medium)

Information sharing
Make decisions about what OWW business and financial information will be made visible to the community...
 * We already know that all information that is of a scientific nature will be made public.
 * What business information, by law, must a nonprofit make public?
 * What information should be made public on a need-to-know basis?
 * What information should not be made public (employee salaries, for example?)

Timelines and Milestones

 * What questions do we need to answer and by when?

Lorrie to take a stab at making a master schedule. (Dawn used the phrase, "Gant chart" which gave me a chill...)

Next VMS meeting on March 14.