What part of this requires a 'DSP guru?' If it's as straightforward as you suggest, any competent engineer with some DSP experience should be able to pull it off.
BTW, the likelihood that you'll find a 'DSP guru' willing to initially work for nothing in exchange for a probabilisitically tiny chance of a large windfall is pretty negligible. If I were you, I'd shoot for 'hungry young engineer with demonstrated competence, no family to support, ino immediate need of health insurance or other benefits, willing to re-locate, etc...'
We have a general design on paper for a DSP product that has excellent commercial prospects. Patent application was filed in December. Prior to seeking financing to roll the product out through a startup company, however, we want to build a minimal working prototype.
We need a DSP guru on our team to do the prototype design and then to take over DSP engineering for the new company once startup capital is secured. In exchange for your part-time work over the short term to help develop the prototype you will have equity in the new company, and of course when it is funded your position would be salaried.
This is potentially a long-term relationship and ground-floor opportunity. The prototype development phase will be much easier if you are located in Southern California so we can collaborate as much as needed.
The prototype: Input to the device will be a standard NTSC video baseband. The device will make timing measurements on certain baseband components, perform some straightforward calculations on the measured timing data, and send the calculation results out on a serial data user interface. The final product (not necessary for the prototype) will go further by adding an RF receiver front end and demodulator.
This is a serious opportunity. We have a track record of successful startups and development of products based on TI and AD DSPs that our company sold worldwide. We need DSP talent for this new product and the startup that will own it: hence the reason for this ad :o)
If interested please respond to gmwemail-dsp@ yahoo.com. Further details can be provided to qualified parties under a non-disclosure agreement.
A patent tends to be an indication of trivial halfbaked stuff to be sold for steep prices. The so called invention height is more often than not infinitesimally small. This means if there is money pouring in, the first share goes to the lawyer.
Where is this company with the track record ? Doubious...
In practise, non-implemented ideas cost nothing. You may start to talk about your new product _only_ after you have completed a fully working prototype which other people can use ("beta testing phase").
Jeeez ... look at the above replies! What could cause such bitterness?
Seems to me that if you're predisposed to think negatively about new things, with no information on which to base such conclusion, you'll never be able to benefit from them. And dousing others' interest and opportunities for no reason is even worse. Get the facts, then judge.
That's my opinion, anyway. But then, what do I know?
"Roger Lascelles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...
able
for
if
buck -
deals
succeed
apply
I understand what george is going through. I myself am sitting on a great idea. I know that people screw other people all the time, and it makes them predisposed to refuse all offers. However there are those (like myself) that really would like to make an idea happen, but have little or no money to work with. I recently put an ad on here asking for estimates on a possible design project. (Since I'm not the sleaze and would like to pay people for their work.) However, I've got bids from 1k all the way to > 10k. My problem with that is, it will probably cost less than 100 dollars for the parts. I can program the PIC myself, and the reason I even asked on here is because I don't know all the technical aspects of how the parts interact with each other. (Such as: do I need a decoupling cap here? Or a pullup resister there? etc...) What I really need is a schematic and I can build the circuit and test it myself. This, however, has proven to be difficult. No one will give me a price on just the schematic. Everyone wants to build the circuit and test it, since they don't want to give me something that doesn't work. Now this requires they have a full understanding of what this will do, and also that they spend alot more time on it, coding and everything. I just need to know how to hook the stuff together, in the best possible way. And any good technical person should be able to do that in little or no time. If it doesn't work right, then I should be able to post the schematics on here, and someone will surely tell me what is wrong with the ircuit. -Chris
The reality is that very often schematics itself is only a part of whole design and may be even not the essential/critical one. There're many other important "variables" in the design process. Any good product is a highly integrated system.
I read in sci.electronics.design that Roger Lascelles wrote (in ) about 'Seeking Technical Partner', on Thu, 17 Feb 2005:
Well, it might not; a more charitable interpretation might be:
'Will tolerate and even cultivate Naive Technical Person as long as said person is necessary for the project. NTP may then, if it suits our plans at that time, be screwed.'
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
Quite a few people on the NG are posers and you wouldn't want to pay them anything- they have no business or profession and the ridiculously high estimate for a general purpose prototype is just a part of their costume. There are many very cheap prototyping kits for the PIC with which you can test proof of principle for under $100. From there you can take it to contract manufacturing.
What bitterness ? Why not just pick up the piles of money from the floor ? This ?
Most problems are simple. Most solutions are simple. The term "simple" may move for orders of magnitude though, depending on the problem. There are those putting a bunch of patents and trademarks onto a device consisting of three transistors to inflate childrens baloons. And there are others silently doing single electron measurements at 5 microkelvins, where the thermal budget is microwatts. From solving a problem in the lab to a product there may be a far longer way than anticipated. Some projects start to fail at the start by too quickly defining specifications without realizing the implications. Other projects fail because of personal overestimation of scientific staff. Naive ways to improve an already perfect design to claim ownership. Afterwards everyone has learnt something, but some knew before. But the money and the years are gone.
From a certain complexity up, sideview, bottomview and frontview are not sufficient to make a mechanical part. Same with electronics. From a certain complexity up, a schematic is not sufficient anymore. And not all approaches to a problem are equally fruitful.
There is a very good reason why you have experienced this. The part of the project that you are asking for is roughly
1% of the work that needs to be done. 90% is understanding the requirements.
There are many participants here who will be glad to do what you ask on an hourly basis. A fresh-ot-of-school junior engineer should cost you at least $50 USD per hour and an experienced engineer will cost you at least $100 USD per hour. In a perfect world with you having vast experience in specifying it would take
1-3 hours, but your lack of experience in specifying (as evidenced by your not already knowing that 90% of the work is in understanding and documenting the requirements) tells me that it will take 10 to
100 hours, which is why you have bids in the 1k to 10k range - 10 to 100 hours X $100 USD per hour = $1,000 USD to $10,000 USD. Those of us who have done this many times before *know* that you won't be happy with what you get from an hour or two of work from someone who doesn't understand your requirements.
May I suggest a cheaper alternative? Do the best that you can do with your present skills, post the schematic in ASCII here, and ask questions using this web page as a guide: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
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You have a free resource here. Read the page I just referenced and start using it wisely.
BTW, I get a couple of calls a week from people who want me to do work for them but who cannot afford to pay me. If the idea seems promising to me I usually give them a half hour or so of free advice, just on the chance that they might someday be in a position to hire me (I wouldn't want to blow off a future Steve Jobs or Bill Gates...) I always end up suggesting that they get on Usenet (with the usual advice about individual.net and newsreaders.com), come to sci.electronics.design and try the "cheaper alternative" I suggested above. So far none of them has done so, which puts you way ahead of any of them. If you feel like giving me a call I will give you the same courtesy for the same $0 price.
George, engineers get propositioned like this all the time. Its a stock joke. Think of if like this :
You have a technical talent you have developed by hard work. You are the kind of guy that makes something work when others give up, you do the documentation, you chase the special part, you attack the uncertainties. This builds character - you come to understand that the world yields what you put into it - if you are lucky.
Then business people proposition you. They have a great idea, they know little about the tech side, and would you share in the risk by supplying labour, equipment and often parts. This is almost zero input from them - if it doesn't work, they walk away. If it works, they get a reward. It is like betting with someone elses money. These people understand that the world yields to smart operators.
I find that these people are running multiple schemes to make a quick buck - they are scouting for cheap property they can sell on, they do a quick import on a batch of goods, they buy and sell. They know that not all deals work out - and you are just one of the things they are trying.
What these people don't know is that it takes dedication, time and real money to build a business based on a tech product. 5 or 10 years of work may be needed. These people are often not skilled in the tech business aspect, and so are likely to fail anyway.
I have had numerous people come to my office to offer me "equity" for development. After you have been done over a few times, you learn to refuse. It gets so that you can pick the sleazes straight off. You can also pick the genuine ones - they pay for your services and if they succeed they deservedly keep the profits.
I know a guy who got promised a share in a startup and worked hard. The business guy tricked him out of his share of the company and made $$. He got suckered a second time. On his third time, I told him what was happening and he got out. Very bitter man.
What the post really means is : "Will screw naiive technical person - apply here".
Now that individual.net want money each month, I switched to teranews.com. $3.95 one time, up to 50Mb/day - which is heaps for text only (though teranews carry everything).
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