Startup Idea: Moonscribe - Draw user specified art on the surface of the moon using teleoperated robot.

Here is an idea to create value from dirt by moving it around ;-) on the moon.

We are almost at a stage where we can send a privately designed teleoperated vehicle to the moon. From the Lunar X prize teams we know that it nearly fits within a 30 million budget.

The awesome thing about the moon is that since it does not have an atmosphere or flowing water, a footprint on moon or a sandcastle of regolith  will stay intact for a really really long time. The only problems are meteors and human activities.

Let us say a single drawing can be completed in an hour. In a year 2500 drawings could be made assuming a little more than 100 days of operation. Over a period of 4 years, you could draw 10,000 items.

Suppose each drawing costed 5000$, that is 50 million dollars. a decent profit for those involved.

Now the price of the individual drawing need not be a fixed amount. It could be $100,000 for a large company logo like say a Google logo or a 500$ for a small one expressing a guy's love for his girlfriend. A bunch of opensource guys could crowdfund a large firefox logo on the moon using kickstarter. A billionare might pay for his child to scribble A-Z on the moon using an iPad app.

With negligible expenses, the million dollar home page managed to sell a million pixels and became part of internet history. Imagine letting people draw an image on the moon that will last for decades or centuries.

The drawings cannot be seen from the earth. But the coverage on the Web and on TV will be the actual thing that will give it maximum value. It being done for the first time will give it most of the value. Apart from cash there are a number of other barriers that will make it non trivial to clone. So the resource will be a limited resource for reasons apart from money.

Will this turn the moon into an eyesore?

The idea is not to turn the moon into a big billboard for advertisers. Man left footprints on the moon. They have become heritage. Think of it as art... not banners. IBM crafted its logo using 35 atoms of Xenon to demonstrate its technical prowess. It does not have to be huge in size... what you draw must be viral. Think of of it like Google doodles not like skywriting...

Howto fund?

An angel could fund the creation of the prototype vehicle/robot. The main expense would be the actual transportation to the moon. This could be done after the users pay up for the service. They can see a preview of their drawing done in a remote desert on earth but will have to payup before liftoff.

Will angels and VCs care?

This is not exactly a billion dollar idea "by itself". But a company that starts off with this today can keep expanding.

Imagine a grandfather who could gift his grandson an ice sculpture in a martian cave with a note that says. "Go and get it for yourself whenever u can". The beauty of the scheme is that melting and refreezing ice on mars is a negligible expense. But a sculpture is much more valuable than the water in it just as a picasso painting is worth a lot more than the paint and the canvas. Build a strong igloo at a high enough latitude and leave it untouched. No active refrigeration required.

The real challenge is creating a product for the masses. It is not enough to get the star trek fan excited about this. When a baby is born, when a guy proposes to a girl, when a music band launches, or killing time while on a commute, each person should have enticing possibilities to derive value from spending money on something space related. That is when it becomes a billion dollar market.

What is needed is "real execution"!

Think about this, a company like Zynga makes people enjoy the creation of virtual farms. Imagine creating tangible objects on a remote planet and owning them for the rest of your life... Remember this... No one owns the land on mars or moon. Moving stuff to and from earth costs a lot of money. Moving information hardly costs anything. These situations lead to some really interesting opportunities. There exists a huge spectrum of opportunities between launching billion dollar rockets like SpaceX does and selling food to vistors at a Virgin galactic launchpad. This particular idea is in the tens of millions of dollars range and can expand into billion dollar range by hiring the right people and expanding into neighboring activities. I guess I have disclosed way more than a person would usually disclose with out an NDA ;-)

I have a lot more to say. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But I guess that would need an NDA... Want to be a co-founder or investor? Ideas are dime a dozen. Execution will be the differentiator. Right now a dozen other teams would be dreaming up the same thing. The real question is who will manage to pull it off the ground. Farm town existed before farmville. Execution is what finally counts.

Write to me ibm.sudarshan <at> gmail.com