Is this for real?

Absolutely. We will be giving at least one grant of $1000 (or more) to a business idea chosen by the trustees, no strings attached.

How will winners be chosen?

Each trustee will get one vote per $100 contributed. Each trustee will vote, and then the teams having the highest number of votes will be selected.

How many winners will be chosen?

This depends on the amount of money we will be able to raise. You can help by becoming a minnespark trustee.

What do you mean by a “scalable” business?

The idea behind MinneSpark is to fund businesses that can build a product and sell it for more than it costs to make (simple, huh?). The product can be nearly anything — the winner of the first ScaleWell built an optical theremin. But we are not looking to help you start a consulting company, for example.

Will my idea be kept confidential?

We will not publicly share the submissions to MinneSpark beyond the trustees. However, neither we nor the trustees will sign an NDA.

Can I apply for minnespark and be a trustee?

No, trustees are expected to mentor the grantees, so that wouldn’t work very well!

$1000 isn’t very much money!

That’s not a question. But you’re right, it’s not. However, for most people just getting started, it is a significant amount of money. We feel that $1000 will help entrepreneurs get over the initial hurdles of starting a scalable business.

In addition, we will combine the cash grant with some useful services and mentorship from the trustees.

What is expected of trustees?

We would like trustees to act as mentors for the chosen team(s). However, your level of involvement is up to you. At a minimum, we will have a few dinners with the trustees and team(s).

This is just like ScaleWell.

Yes, we were inspired by ScaleWell in Chicago in creating minnespark.

I have more questions.

Please contact Luke Francl for more details: look@recursion.org.