Foundation Stage
Seed Money
Before looking for my formal endorsement, the project manager (PM) should have some idea on where to find about $20,000 in seed money. At this point, Consensus will not be a legal entity, so it will not yet be able to provide any security for this initial investor. The PM will need to make a verbal promise for preferred shares in Consensus in exchange for this seed money. Click here to learn more about this.
Writing the Articles
While this website provides the general design for governance of Consensus, this design needs to be taken to finer detail. We will need to write legal articles to define the exact relationships between the membership, low ring, high ring, advisors, and investors. This wording should not be conducive to multiple (yet reasonable) interpretations.
As these articles are being written, it should be expected that new ideas are discovered to enhance the system of governance. The PM will be the arbitrator of whether these ideas are implemented or not.
Because Consensus will be a global co-operative, it should be expected that many members will not speak English as their first language. For this reason, the articles should be written in plain legal English. Many members with an intermediate level of English should be able to understand the system of governance for Consensus with their limited English.
I will be available to help the PM write the articles.
Finding a Tax Haven
The PM will need to find a tax haven that best suits the needs of Consensus. The main company (called “Consensus Corp.” or CC for now), is to be incorporated in this tax haven.
In particular, this tax haven must allow for the unique system of governance Consensus is trying to build and allow for significant financing using preferred shares. There are many tax havens, and some research must be done to select the best one for Consensus.
Click here to learn more about tax havens.
Setting up the Management Company
At first, the PM will likely be working out of his home. But this home office should be seen as a precursor to the management company (MC) of Consensus. The PM should establish a management company in his home country, which will be subject to its corporate laws and taxes.
The relationship between CC and MC is as follows:
- CC owns 100% of MC.
- MC will be incorporated in the PM's home country.
- MC takes directives from the high ring (or initially the PM).
- Most financial transactions will be conducted through CC.
- MC shall manage these CC transactions.
- CC shall pay MC a monthly fee for its services.
- MC shall pay expenses to run the office: salaries, rent, etc.
As well as the legal articles for CC and MC, an agreement between these two entities needs to be developed.
Software Design
During the foundation stage, the PM should also compile a list of software features for Consensus.
I do have some opinions on what should be in the design for an SNS. You can view them here. However, I think Consensus is going to be much better than whatever I can speculate.
The PM should consult with Consensus' target audience: NPOs, NGOs, etc. in what features they would like to see in Consensus to fulfill their communication needs.
Consensus will need some features to enable its internal governance to operate in an online forum. Here are some of these features:
- Calculating the Influence of each member.
- Online voting for the membership to elect the low ring.
- Online voting for the low ring to elect the high ring.
- Online forums for the membership, low ring, and high rings to discuss various aspects of governance.
- Online process for the low and high rings to put forth motions and have elected members vote on those motions.
- Online process to upgrade profiles to dividend-earning profiles.
Part of the software design is to eventually buy software from another upstart SNS. In this foundation stage, the PM should let a few of these organizations know of Consensus' intent. The PM should identify and be communicating with one or two interested SNSs willing to work with Consensus.
