The "Air Gap"

Definition: “Air gap” is a term from the world of computing. In its original sense, it refers to a situation where a machine or group of machines, such as a computer or a local network of computers, is not connected to a broader network such as the internet. However, in this discussion here, we are using the term air gap to refer to a separation of a company from the broader economy, or a separation from a creative project’s talent from the administrative efforts that support the team, rather than to refer to a separation of machine/s from the internet.

Its always tragic when “Company A” collapses and hundreds (or even thousands) of people suddenly lose their jobs. The people who were most responsible for the crash (by being irresponsible due to greed) are usually in executive roles, and as such they probably will have minimal difficulty finding their next job. And even if that were not the case, they can almost certainly afford to retire at any time they please. But many of their subordinate staff members will not have such privileges. The captain and his deputies have escaped on the lifeboats, while the crew goes down with the ship.

But it is doubly tragic when “Company B” is taken down, as collateral damage, as a result of the collapse of “Company A”. The most obvious reason that this might occur would be that “Company A” owes a significant debt to “Company B” that now can never be fully repaid. That is, as soon as the management of “Company B” realises that the debt must be written off as a loss, it would become apparent to them that all of their financial and strategic planning also has to be written off. They simply can no longer afford to continue their operations because there is no amount of assets that they can sell, and no amount of expenses that they could cut that would allow them to remain operational and get back to being profitable. No bank will lend them money, and no investor will buy shares or bonds, because the risk is just too great.

Divide By None, however, is different from both “Company A” and “Company B”. We have a strict policy of maintaining an air gap that separates us as much as is both possible and reasonable from the broader economy. Some of the ways we achieve this are confidential trade secrets, but the strategies that can be discussed are listed below. All of these strategies are employed by companies that we have launched but we won’t necessarily force these rules upon any companies that we might acquire.

• We do not fund any of our mission critical operations or investments through the accumulation of debt.
• We offer loans only to entities that publish content via our platforms and therefore, we are in control of their cash flow and subsequently can dramatically minimise any risk of fraud committed against us.
• We do invest in the projects that are created by our users, but we do not do this via the traditional approaches of stocks or bonds. Instead we do this exclusively by issuing asset-backed securities that allow third-party investors to invest alongside us and share in the (potential) future profits generated by those projects..
• Though it is not mandatory for our software, some of our platforms--such as Juxtify--offer better pricing to users who agree to be airgapped from each other by agreeing to sign up to either our "Collaborative Capitalism" Labour Union or "Yellow Submarine" Venture Charity non-profit organisations--whichever is relevant to their creative project.
  These users will be independent members who are free to form/join a group project that will have them, in exchange for partial ownership in that project (receiving asset-backed securities that were described previously on this page). If a user feels that the project is no longer the right place for them to work, they are free to leave, to (optionally) sell their ownership stake, and to join another project that will have them.
• Though we do intend to offer an advertising/marketing platform to enable publishers on our platform to find new customers, this is another area where we will maintain an air gap. The way in which we implement this, is that we do not allow pay-per-click or pay-per-view business terms for advertisements, and we do not accept up-front fees for marketing services. We strictly accept only payment in the form of royalties, or in other words pay-per-transaction. The reason we define this as another form of air gap, is because it takes the power away from advertisers. That is, if a big brand decides to bully our community by pulling their ads, it would not be difficult for others to step up and fill the power vacuum. By making our terms pay-per-transaction, the little players on our platform do not require millions of investment dollars to have a massive advertising campaign. They just need to make sure that their product is good enough that the market would actually be willing to make purchases.
• Over time we will provide an increasing number of extrinsic services to support the business operations of our platforms' creative teams. That is, the investments raised on our market exchange can generally be used only for paying the living/working expenses of creative team members (e.g. programmers, designers, artists, influencers, writers, actors, marketing specialists). Most non-creative tasks such as accounting, human resources, logistics and customer service cannot be paid for using these investments. Instead, we will offer these operational services to teams, and the costs will be deducted from any revenue, before profits are distributed to members and investors. We do this in order to reduce the risk of embezzlement committed by teams.

These policies bring advantages to both the creators as well as to the investors. Here is how it benefits the creators:

• It allows a creative team to create air gaps between their individual projects so that the failure of one project does not necessarily destroy the other projects. For example, a hypothetical video game creative team called “Gamify” might have two successful games “A” and “B”. Now, Gamify’s most talented developer, “Dev”, is getting bored and wants to start an entirely new game, called “C”, to bring back the thrill of trying to create something new. Gamify doesn’t want Dev to quit, they also don’t want to risk the revenue that they receive for games “A” and “B”. And this is totally understandable, which is why Divide By None offers Gamify an air gap. Dev can use their reputation to attract a number of investors who believe that “C” will eventually be a profitable venture. And over time, “C” might grow to be as successful as “A” and “B”, at which point, Dev can start work on a game “D”.
• It makes it possible for creative teams to feel the benefits of free-market dynamics. Typically, the advantages of capitalism and free-markets mostly benefit the minority of people who can afford to engage directly in the market by trading significant assets and/or securities. But those people who make the majority of their income from employment are almost entirely separated from the free-market and the direct benefits it offers. For example, if the company Gamify, as described above, were a conventional game development company, they might choose to allow Dev to create game “C”, and maybe even game “D” as well. But the problem is that Dev would be exposed to all sorts of company politics due to the fact that the managers of games “A” and “B” would now view Dev is a potential threat. That is, if “C” becomes very successful, the Gamify board or executives might decide that games “A” and/or “B” should be discontinued so that future investments into Gamify can focus on games “C” and “D”. But in the environment we are creating, the air gap means that the players who love games “A” and “B” can choose to directly invest in those games to keep them alive.
• When the incentive to engage in company politics is removed, there becomes less need to even have managers involved in creative decisions at all. All creative decisions can be about making a great project that makes customers happy instead of about satisfying some corporate or elitist agenda.
• An investor who is upset about the financial performance of game “A” cannot easily punish the developers in a way that would penalise game “B”. The reason for this, is that if some foolish person were to actually try this, by initiating a mass sell-off of stakes in game “B”, then any clever person who observes that game “B” does not deserve to have its securities traded at such a low price, would quickly take advantage of that price which would cause the price to immediately rebound. Those who are buying would make an immediate profit while most of those who sell would make a corresponding loss.
• The priority of the creative team is simply to make the creative project as holistically good as it can be. That means focusing on maximising things like: compelling storytelling, deep and introspective character development, original and exciting gameplay dynamics, inspiring and immersive visuals, and a reflection of what we know about reality expressed through the depiction of what we do not yet know about our fantasies and other forms of fiction.
• By air gapping the creative team from the extrinsic aspects of the business, we believe that this will lead to a dramatic reduction in discrimination and inequality in the industries which we primarily operate. The reason for this, is that investors will no longer be incentivised to prioritise investing in a charismatic founder. All the typical bullshit slogans of “you have to be able to execute”, “move fast and break things” and “bla bla bla… lean method” are expected to become irrelevant. All that matters is that the creative team can deliver something amazing to customers. Some teams will work quickly. Other teams will prefer to work more slowly. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, and our belief is that by being more tolerant to a diversity of thought and a diversity of business strategies/approaches, the effect is that this is the same thing as supporting a diversity of people. The reason for our logic on this issue, is that we believe that if you take the conventional approach, of only supporting conventional thoughts based on recent precedent, then you are creating a world where those people who are already privileged are likely to thrive, because they by default resemble the precedent. Then those privileged people will create fiefdoms and fill them with sycophants. Or to put it another way, you cannot prevent the unfair discrimination of diverse people at work, if you continue to unfairly discriminate against the creativity, methodologies, and personal values that go into the work created by those people.
• Because we allow creative teams to access sources of funding that are not directly tied to traditional debt, such as banks, it means that teams are more protected against economic downturns than would be usual for other participants in any economy

Here are some of the advantages it brings to investors:

• It is far more transparent than traditional investment because you can literally see exactly where your money is going. That is, if you invest in a conventional game development company, you are investing in all of their current and forthcoming projects. Right now, the company might look amazing, but for all you know they might be sinking hundreds of millions into a real stinker of a game that will be released in the next 12 months. And when that game tanks in the market, and you realise that this was a bad investment, it will be too late. Your shares have lost a substantial percentage of their value. But when you invest in an air gapped project on our platform you are offered a chance to preview the specific video game that you are investing in. Your money will be spent only on developing this game and any direct sequels, reboots, or re-releases,, and you will receive a proportional amount of any current and future profits. And if the team wants to create any kind of spin-off projects, the team must create a separate, air gapped project for that.
• If an investor of the hypothetical company Gamify, loves game “A” but believes that game “B” is going to rapidly decline in popularity, the investor is not forced to invest in both games. They can sell their stake in game “B” at any time without affecting their stake in game “A”. Even if the market capitalisation of game “B” drops to virtually zero, this will not necessarily cause Gamify to go bankrupt or even to have to engage in layoffs. Gamify can see the decline in game “B” long before it hits zero and begin experimenting upon new side-projects such as a game “C” that might eventually replace the income brought in by game “B”.
• All of us have surely experienced how frustrating it is when a great creative project such as a video game series or a TV series is discontinued before the story reaches its conclusion. This usually occurs because the producers and distributors of the content have done a poor job at marketing it. This is often confirmed when the content inevitably becomes a cult classic, resulting in a mediocre reboot. But what if the fans of that project could step in and rescue it from being discontinued? Air gapping makes this possible, by allowing the fans to become investors.
• Investors don’t have to worry about extrinsic factors such as barriers to entry because we at Divide By None have that handled. All they need to do, is invest in projects that people genuinely want. It is completely irrelevant to be comparing the financials of one project to another because these numbers can only go so far in enabling you to predict who will succeed and who will fail. Because we take care of and pay for the operations and marketing, a creative project on our platform is unlikely to fail due to operational issues. Instead, if a project fails, it is almost certainly because of creative decisions. So, there are fewer risks to worry about.
• During an economic recession, investors can feel safe putting their money into our creators' projects because we take great care to be fiscally responsible to allow our creators to continue to take risks creatively and to invest their time now in creating the hit franchises of tomorrow. We might see a temporary decline in revenue during an economic downturn but we have taken the right steps to ensure that we come out stronger once the economic conditions do bounce back. In other words, we protect our creators because that is the best way for us to protect your investments.