A CMS, however, when used correctly, is intended for use by multiple authors working on the same site, including defining workflows, user permissions (author, editor, administrator etc) – and allowing for full devolved publishing, timed auto publishes, and the provision of full content audits (ie what was edited, when, by who, with the option to rollback to previous versions) – synthasite doesn’t give you this facility.

oh yeah: is there a difference between a website builder and a cms? or what am i missing here?

Our service is currently in Alpha, for stability testing purposes. The Synthasite Beta is only launching on the 5th of November. We won’t however have a CMS available in the Beta, but shortly thereafter.

You will be able to easily build and easily publish a website using Synthasite in the Beta.

Vinny

http://www.vinn...fawkes-day.html

http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com

I think it’s a silly idea to give part of your company away just to attract people. If your product is good enough you shouldn’t have to give your company away. Next thing you know your stock will be printed on toilet paper for people to wipe with.

The fact that we can’t do what Synthasite is doing is part of the reason some of us can’t grow our companies into mega portals. The laws help the big companies and make it next to impossible for smaller companies to compete.

If a startup took this idea and did it for real in the face of the SEC and Canada finance, I would consider joining. If they put in the time to do the legal research and make sure that putting the shares “aside” did not give the “shareholders to be” any lien on the company.

@RBA
“Nobody here is talking about what you do.”

I *still* have no idea what this website does. I stopped reading where it said they were trading outside the norms.

This is, I think, just a way to get people more engaged and earlier adoption to happen by vesting people. Great move!!

There are many guerrilla marketing techniques you can use, and if you want to give back, the tried and true rev-share model might work.

Anyway, I wish you luck and hey, if you can pull it off, great. As others also mentioned, it would be nice to see more companies doing this, but there are reasons why they don’t, and it has nothing to do with their willingness to ‘give back’ or provide a sense of ownership.

The laws of the SEC in the USA and the Department of Finance in Canada were written like 80 years ago and have no bearing on the world we live in today. eBay would replace the NYSE if we could change the DAMN LAWS!
This is the only hope I have for our corp to go IPO, so let me dream.

So basically you are giving them a promise or an IOU for the shares.
But not actually issuing them any shares to give them any power or voting rights in the company.

It sounds shaky on both ends, but again, I wish you all the best.
I wish it was really that easy. I would sell shares of BeerCo Software on eBay, and “be my own investment banker” for my own IPO offering just like Google. If only it were that easy. Damn the SEC. DAMN THE SEC!!!

The distinction between being “allocated” and being “issued” is too fine. If people trust Synthasite, it might make sense that people will be ok with “further assurances that if and when something ever happens we will take care of you so don’t worry about the paper work.”

On the other hand, if this is part of a program, you will need opinions on the securities and taxation implications for every jurisdiction that has a person to whom stock has been “allocated.” Nothing will destroy your brand faster than an unwelcome letter to one of your participants from the SEC or IRS. (or the UK, French, Canadian, yada yada yada equivalents) in respect of this program.

I sincerely wish you guys well. But this is a hairy area and to be blunt, it sounds like there is more homework required.

Casey

The offer is that the shares are “Allocated” not “Issued”, until there is liquidity in the shares. The liability will only occur once there is a transfer of value, and a subsequent gain. Being allocated shares, and being issued shares are two separate events.

The idea here is not for people to make millions of dollars in shares, the idea is that people feel a sense of ownership and belonging, without the legal headaches, as there is no transfer of value, until there is liquidity in the shares.

I say, power to them!