It also seems like "side project" is a stretch, as they appear to want you to have all other commitments wrapped up. The side project has to be your main project.
"To that end, all SPC members have wrapped up their jobs or previous commitments ahead of their onboarding sessions."
In general, yes, we do expect members to have wrapped up previous commitments and be dedicated to what we call the -1 to 0 phase. This includes grant recipients. In that sense, the grant is funding to help make your side project your main project. There are always exceptions, but we think members get the most out of their time in the community when they don't have a full-time job (though many members take on part-time contracting work).
Ok, we've changed the title to say investment. Thanks!
I’m glad you pointed this out since this is not clear in the web site.
> FAQ
What do grant recipients get?
A $25,000 investment with a no cap, no discount, MFN SAFE
Those are very generous terms.
Correct, the money is awarded as an investment through a no cap, no discount, MFN SAFE. However, we think "grant" best captures the spirit of the experiment since we don't limit eligibility to potentially commercial projects and don't require recipients to raise additional funding. A central premise of SPC is that a community with only founders isn't as interesting (or helpful) as one that also includes researchers and domain experts. We see the grant as a way to bring in people working on the most interesting projects regardless of what they plan to do after.