Abstract:
A system allows discovery of potential sweat equity investment partners and groups them into investment funds. The system allows for the valuation, application and tracking of fund sweat equity to funded projects. A corresponding method includes tracking fund membership of a group of sweat equity investors called daemons, tracking sweat equity invested into the fund by the daemons, computing and tracking the fund ownership of individual daemons based on the amount of their investments, reinvesting the fund&#39;s pool of sweat equity into external ventures, in exchange for cash and/or ownership consideration in the funded venture, computing and tracking the valuation of funded ventures, computing and tracking the fund ownership stakes in funded ventures, tracking the proceeds of liquidation of ownership stakes in funded ventures, and distributing venture liquidation proceeds to daemons based on their fund ownership.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application is a U.S. nonprovisional patent application of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/799,701, filed Mar. 15, 2013, which provisional patent application is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 
       [0002]    All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0003]    1. Field of the Present Invention 
         [0004]    The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for managing sweat equity funds. 
         [0005]    2. Background 
         [0006]    In the business community, early-stage or “startup” companies are not always able to attract the funding or investment needed to develop and prove out a particular business model. In some cases, founders may “bootstrap” their companies by investing their personal funds to hire the needed development resources. In other cases, a founder may personally have some or all of the necessary development skills, so the founders may perform some or all of the work, investing their time and effort as “sweat equity.” 
         [0007]    In cases where the founders do not have all of the required skills, or the personal funds necessary to procure them, they may turn to early-stage or “seed” investment funds, made up of a group of “Angel Investors” who pool their funds and invest in multiple ventures, sharing risk and reward. In return for an ownership stake in the startup, the founders receive cash that they can use to hire the resources needed to build their product. 
         [0008]    If seed funding is unattractive, or not available, founders may choose to seek part-time “moonlighters” with the required development skills and offer them an ownership stake in return for their sweat equity “investment” in their startup. These sweat equity investors are known as the “Daemons” in this disclosure. Angels invest cash, Daemons invest sweat. 
         [0009]    Although Daemons contribute effort instead of money, their time is still valuable. In some cases where they are working for only the “promise” of financial return, they may have other employment and are contributing their “sweat equity” after-hours. Thus, Daemons have to be as selective with their time and talent investment as angel investors are with their money. Daemons know that most startups eventually fail to meet initial expectations, and will not lightly invest all of their effort in a venture that has such tenuous prospects, as is the case with almost all startups. 
         [0010]    The diversified investment model used by Angel Funds offers a solution to the potential Daemon investor. By pooling their sweat investments with multiple Daemon investment partners, and pursuing multiple investment ventures, the Daemons can share their investment risks and rewards in the same way as the Angel Fund. This approach is called the Daemon Fund. 
         [0011]    While the Daemon Fund concept does offers the benefits of investment diversification, it comes with its own unique set of challenges. The first challenge is that the “quality” or value of a financial investment is generally the same for all investors since cash is the typical investment instrument, and cash is quite fungible. Investor A&#39;s money has the same value as the money invested by Investor B. The same cannot be said of sweat equity. With sweat equity, the productivity and quality of the effort (or “investment”) put in by individual Daemons may vary greatly, and need to be adjusted and accounted for. For example, some Daemons may possess skill sets with higher market values than others, and experience and proficiency may also differ significantly. 
         [0012]    Additionally, many or all of the Daemons may be moonlighters, and may have existing IP Assignment, Non-compete, or other agreements with current or previous employers which restrict the types of moonlighting activities they can pursue. In light of these existing agreements, care must be taken to avoid entanglement with existing 3 rd -party agreements and ultimately ensure that all effort invested by Daemons belongs to them and can be legally transferred to the startups that the Daemon Fund invests in. 
         [0013]    In light of these challenges and opportunities, this disclosure describes a Daemon Fund Management System that makes possible the creation and management of “Daemon Funds”, which invest sweat equity as a group rather than individually, thus reducing risk and increasing the likelihood for a positive return on their investment. 
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0014]    Broadly defined, the present invention according to one aspect is a computer-implemented method of organizing and managing a diversified sweat equity investment fund, including: establishing a database, in at least one electronic data store, to track fund membership of a group of sweat equity investors, each investor defining a daemon; tracking, in the at least one electronic data store, sweat equity invested into a fund by the daemons; computing, via a computer device, and tracking, in the at least one electronic data store, the fund ownership of individual daemons based on the amount of their investments; reinvesting the fund&#39;s pool of sweat equity into at least one external ventures in exchange for cash and/or ownership consideration in the at least one funded venture; computing, via a computer device, and tracking, in the at least one electronic data store, the valuation of funded ventures; computing, via a computer device, and tracking, in the at least one electronic data store, the fund ownership stakes in funded ventures; tracking the proceeds of liquidation of ownership stakes in funded ventures; and distributing venture liquidation proceeds to the daemons based on the respective fund ownership of each daemon. 
         [0015]    In a feature of this aspect, oversight of the fund is assigned to one or more fund managers who have final say in all fund actions, over and above general fund membership or committees. 
         [0016]    In another feature of this aspect, daemon membership in the fund is subject to review, and the method further includes: organizing a membership committee of fund members and/or external advisors to recommend changes in membership status, including but not limited to acceptance into the fund, or expulsion from the fund; and implementing a system whereby the fund accepts or rejects membership committee recommendations. 
         [0017]    In another feature of this aspect, the value of the sweat equity investments made by daemons into the fund are subject to an investment multiplier which sets the value of their fund investments relative to other fund members, and the method further includes: upon fund admittance assigning a numerical multiplier to each daemon, based on their previous experience, skills, or other recognized values; establishing a review process to periodically update investment multipliers; and adjusting the fund investment value of sweat equity investments by each daemon&#39;s investment multiplier. 
         [0018]    In another feature of this aspect, investments of pooled fund sweat equity to funded ventures is subject to review by establishing a process by which funding proposals reviewed, valued, recommended, and then finally accepted or rejected by the fund. 
         [0019]    In another feature of this aspect, daemons are grouped into teams, and the method further includes: assigning daemons to teams; assigning teams to lead sweat equity investment for specific fund investment ventures; and assigning and tracking the sweat equity investment budget for each team and funded venture. In further features, lead teams receive an additional bonus percentage of venture liquidation proceeds from their assigned ventures prior to the general fund distribution, and the method further includes: tracking an agreed-upon team bonus percentage which is set when a team is assigned to the lead role for an investment venture, calculating team bonus proceeds and subtracting them from and prior to the general fund distribution, and distributing team bonus proceeds to lead team member daemons relative to the value of the sweat equity they invested in the venture that is being liquidated; and daemons who are not part of a venture&#39;s lead team are able participate in the team bonus cut of venture liquidation proceeds, wherein the method further includes: tracking and approving requests by teams for investment in team ventures by non-team daemons, tracking daemon sweat equity investments for each funded venture, and distributing team bonus proceeds to non-lead-team member daemons as if they were team members, relative to the value of the sweat equity they invested in the lead team&#39;s venture that is being liquidated. 
         [0020]    In another feature of this aspect, an advisory pool of external advisors is are made available to the fund, and the method further includes: tracking and approving requests for external advisors to the advisory pool by fund entities; and tracking the value of sweat equity investments made by advisors and reporting it back to the advisory pool. In further features, the advisory pool has an ownership stake in the Daemon Fund and participates in the distribution of venture liquidation proceeds; and the advisors are treated in the same way as fund daemons for the purposes of participation in the distribution of venture liquidation proceeds. 
         [0021]    In another feature of this aspect, sweat equity tasks are classified and assigned multipliers, and the method further includes: identifying classes of tasks and assigning multipliers based on their relative value to the fund; tagging each investment of sweat equity with a classification; and adjusting the relative valuation of each investment of sweat equity based on its classification. 
         [0022]    In another feature of this aspect, sweat equity invested by the daemons is automatically tracked and tagged, and the method further includes: automatically recording the time durations of sweat equity activities performed by the daemons; automatically collecting tagging information, during sweat equity activities, which supports and validates their investment value to the fund; and verifiably associating or otherwise attaching the tagging information to sweat equity at the time it is submitted to the fund IP repositories. In further features, sweat equity investments, work products and verifiable tagging information are stored together in the fund IP repositories; the sweat equity tagging information is collected by a software time tracking product which installs on the daemon&#39;s computer and tracks their interaction with the system during development including their input, applications used, and names of the open windows they interact with; the fund IP repositories are electronic data stores such as a document management system or a software revision control system; and/or the IP developed by the daemon and the associated tagging information are digitally signed as one element at the time they are added to the fund IP repositories using a digital key belonging to the daemon who created the IP. 
         [0023]    In another feature of this aspect, an audit trail is maintained that certifies that the daemons legally own the IP they create and invest into the fund, wherein the method further includes: storing active IP-related agreements that daemons have with third parties; categorizing potential areas of interference by task type and venture type; when assigning tasks, limiting daemons from working on tasks that might cause potential IP interferences; evaluating each daemon in the fund for potential interference when funding a new venture and sequestering those who might interfere from contributing IP; requiring statements by the daemons with each of their sweat equity IP investments certifying that they have not violated their existing agreements; storing certifications together with the associated IP or other sweat equity products in the fund IP repository; digitally signing, as one element, the IP and its associated certifications using a digital key identifying the daemon who created and certified the IP; and producing an IP certification report for funded ventures listing all of the IP developed by the fund for their project, the daemons who developed the IP, and their certifications of right to develop and deliver the IP. 
         [0024]    Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    Further features, embodiments, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, wherein: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a Daemon Fund Management System, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing the Daemon Fund Life Cycle in a Daemon Fund Management System of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing the Fund Formation phase of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing the Funding phase of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the Investment phase of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart showing the Distribution and Liquidation phase of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0032]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram detailing the Daemon Artifacts in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0033]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of a Dynamic Equity Split model in one preferred embodiment of the system in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund Value Cycle in one preferred embodiment of the system in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0035]      FIG. 10  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund Sweat to Equity Model in one preferred embodiment of the system in  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0036]      FIG. 11  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund IP Certification model in one preferred embodiment of the system in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0037]    As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art (“Ordinary Artisan”) that the present invention has broad utility and application. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the invention and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0038]    Accordingly, while the present invention is described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present invention, and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof It is not intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself. 
         [0039]    Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention is to be defined by the appended claims rather than the description set forth herein. 
         [0040]    Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which the Ordinary Artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. To the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the Ordinary Artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the Ordinary Artisan should prevail. 
         [0041]    Regarding applicability of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6, no claim element is intended to be read in accordance with this statutory provision unless the explicit phrase “means for” or “step for” is actually used in such claim element, whereupon this statutory provision is intended to apply in the interpretation of such claim element. 
         [0042]    Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. Thus, reference to “a picnic basket having an apple” describes “a picnic basket having at least one apple” as well as “a picnic basket having apples.” In contrast, reference to “a picnic basket having a single apple” describes “a picnic basket having only one apple.” 
         [0043]    When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Thus, reference to “a picnic basket having cheese or crackers” describes “a picnic basket having cheese without crackers”, “a picnic basket having crackers without cheese”, and “a picnic basket having both cheese and crackers.” Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.” Thus, reference to “a picnic basket having cheese and crackers” describes “a picnic basket having cheese, wherein the picnic basket further has crackers,” as well as describes “a picnic basket having crackers, wherein the picnic basket further has cheese.” 
       Common Terms 
       [0044]    Generally, when used herein, the following terms are have the meanings set forth below, wherein: 
         [0045]    “Advisors” are external daemons with specialized and/or infrequently needed skill sets that assist the Daemon Fund in return for an ownership stake in the fund; 
         [0046]    “Advisory Pool” is the entity that the Advisors belong to. Might set up as another “meta” Daemon Fund; 
         [0047]    “Daemon” is a sweat equity fund investor; 
         [0048]    “Daemon (Investment) Fund” is an investment fund made up of Daemons who pool their sweat equity resources and invest those resources in multiple opportunities, sharing the risk and reward from those investments; 
         [0049]    “Equity Split” is the division of investment ownership amongst multiple investors; 
         [0050]    “Fund manager(s)” are (optional) fund members who have oversight roles and who the final say in all fund actions, over and above fund general membership or committees. Typically these individuals would be the principals for the underlying fund corporation or other business structure; 
         [0051]    “Investment Fund” is a group of investors who pool their resources, invest in multiple opportunities, and share the risk and reward from those investments; 
         [0052]    “Investment” is sweat equity added to the fund by a Daemon, or the pooled sweat equity held by the fund offered to a startup in exchange for ownership consideration in the startup; 
         [0053]    “Investment Focus” is a particular type of startup that that the fund will invest in. For example, “Consumer Web”, “Mobile Applications”, “Cloud Computing”, etc; 
         [0054]    “Investment Multiplier” is a numeric multiplier which sets the value of Daemon sweat equity fund investments relative to other fund members. Usually related to their experience or skill levels in the areas of fund investment focus; 
         [0055]    “Investor” is someone who invests cash, sweat equity or other value into an investment fund; 
         [0056]    “IP Agreements” are 3 rd -party agreements that limit the scope of a Daemons involvement in Daemon Fund investment opportunities. Typically these are the employment, non-compete and IP assignment agreements with the Daemons current employer(s) or clients; 
         [0057]    “IP Certification Chain” is a trail of documentation that certifies that the Daemons created IP on their own time without using their employer&#39;s resources or ideas; 
         [0058]    “Project” or “Startup” is a venture; and 
         [0059]    “Venture” is an investment funded by the Daemon Fund from its pool of sweat equity. 
       Daemon Fund Management System and Life Cycle 
       [0060]    Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like components throughout the several views, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are next described. The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. 
         [0061]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a Daemon Fund Management System  150  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown therein, the Daemon Fund Management System  150  may include: one or more Daemon Fund Managers  5 , a Daemon Fund Support Pool  80 , one or more Daemon Funds  30 , and one or more Funded Startups  70 . 
         [0062]    Each Daemon Fund Support Pool  80 , may include multiple Support Daemons  90 . In one preferred embodiment of a Daemon Fund Management System  150 , the Support Daemons  90  may include but are not limited to technical management experts, attorneys, business experts, and investment committee advisors. The Support Daemons  90  are a resource to one or more Daemon Funds  30 . 
         [0063]    A Daemon Fund  30  may include one or more Daemon teams  20  of Daemons  10 , or people investing their sweat equity in a Daemon Fund  30 . A Daemon Fund  30  may also include artifacts such as: Daemon Fund Accounts  100  including, Fund equity  101 , Daemon Equity  102 , and Cash  109 ; Daemon Fund Documents  110  for fund management  111  and Daemon membership documentation  112 ; a Daemon Fund Intellectual Property (IP) Repository  120  for developed IP  121 , IP Time and Location Data  122 , and IP Certifications  123 ; and a Daemon Fund Time Tracker tool  130  used to track each Daemon&#39;s “sweat equity” in Time Logs  131 . Each of these will be described in greater detail hereinbelow. 
         [0064]    It will be appreciated that the various methods and functions described and contemplated herein may be implemented using a variety of computer devices, including but not limited to handheld devices, desktop computers, servers, mainframes, and the like, using public (i.e., internet) and/or private networks, and making use of electronic data stores internal to the computer devices and/or external to such devices (i.e., separate databases and the like). Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, implementation may utilize various additional technologies such as cloud services, Software as a Service (SaaS), and/or the like. 
         [0065]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  in a Daemon Fund Management System  150 . The Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  consists of four major phases, a Fund Formation phase  200 , a Funding phase  400 , an Investment phase  600 , and a Liquidation and Distribution phase  800  in one preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the Fund Formation Phase  200 , Daemons  10  join a team  201 , and then the Daemon teams  20  join a Fund  202 . Following in the Funding Phase  400 , a Daemon Team  20  commits to champion a startup  401 , Daemons  10  vote to fund a startup  402 , a funding agreement is offered by the Daemon Fund  30  and accepted  403  by the Startup  70 . Finally, the Startup  70  delivers an equity stake  404  to the Daemon Fund  30 . 
         [0066]    After the Daemon Fund is Formed  200  and Funded  400 , the Investment phase  600  begins and the Daemons  10  begin developing intellectual property (IP) or other sweat equity deliverables  601  which are delivered to the startups  70 . The Daemon Fund Support Pool  80  provides services  602 ,  603  for the Daemon Fund  30  and/or directly to the Startup  70  if or when they are required. 
         [0067]    At any point during or following the Investment phase  600 , individual Daemons might choose to leave the Daemon Fund  30  in order to take employment with one of the startups  70 . At this point, the Daemon Fund  30  may require the Startup  70  to pay a bounty, in cash or additional equity, back to the Daemon Fund  30  as a recruiting bonus. The Investment phase  600  continues until the Daemon Fund  30  completes the development of IP required for the Startup  70 . 
         [0068]    At some point, the startup may undergo a “liquidity event” whereby some or all of its equity is converted to cash and distributed to the Startup&#39;s  70  investors. This typically occurs sometime after the development of IP is complete, and thus the investment phase  600  is complete, but a partial liquidation could be reasonably expected to happen at any time. During the Liquidation and Distribution phase  800 , the Daemon Fund  30  delivers some or all of its equity stake  801  to the Startup  70  and, in return, the Startup delivers cash or other proceeds to the Daemon Fund  802 . The Daemon Fund  30  must then distribute the cash. The support pool may get a cut  803 , the Daemons  10  who worked on the Startup  70 , including and especially the lead or “champion” Daemon Team members may get a bonus cut  804  up front, with the remaining proceeds distributed to the rest of the Daemons  10  in the fund  805  based on their fund participation. Each of these phases will be described in greater detail hereinbelow. 
         [0069]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing the Fund Formation phase  200  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  in detail. For each Daemon Fund  30 , 1 . . . n Daemon teams  20  may be formed and each Daemon team  20  may have 1 . . . n Daemons  10  as members. In one preferred embodiment, an organization of Daemons exists, including a Daemon Fund Support Pool  80 . Based on the expertise of each Support Pool Daemon, they may be made available to Daemon Funds  30  in exchange for a cut of Daemon Fund ownership. The Manager  5  of the Daemon Fund  30  recruits a group of Daemon Team Leaders for a Daemon Fund  30 . The Daemon Team leaders offer Team membership  231  to Daemons  10  and when a Daemon  10  accepts team membership  232 , they are placed on that Daemon Team  20 . Daemon teams  20  may consist of any roles or resources, but, in this preferred embodiment, they include Daemons  10  with expertise in the areas of technology, including developers, managers and investment experts. For example, a Daemon Team  20  of technology investment experts may be formed as well as a Daemon Team  20  of programmers. Also, a Daemon Team  20  of specialists in prototyping a particular technology may be formed. 
         [0070]    After a Daemon Team  20  is formed, the team may make a fund membership request  240 . This action is followed by the Daemon Fund&#39;s request for evaluation of the proposed team by the member Daemons  241 . The evaluation of the proposed team is completed by the member Daemons  242  and is given back to Daemon Fund Manager  5  and reviewed. When a Daemon Team  20  is deemed worthy of joining the Daemon Fund  30 , fund membership and team member equity rates are offered  243 . From 1 . . . n Daemon Team fund memberships may be offered and accepted, depending on the expertise or talent pool the Daemon Fund Manager  5  is trying to assemble, in an effort to attract Startups  70  that are interested in partnering with the Daemon Fund  30 . The Funding Formation phase  400  may or may not continue simultaneously with the remaining phases in the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 . 
         [0071]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing the Funding phase  400  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  in detail. Each Daemon Fund  30  may have 1 . . . n Funded Startups  410 , therefore the Funding Phase  400  may repeat 1 . . . n times in the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 . The Funding phase  400  begins when a Startup approaches a Daemon Fund with an interest in using 1 . . . n of their Daemon Teams  20  to Fund the Startup  411 . In this embodiment of the invention, the Daemon Fund  30  would organize an investment committee responsible for reviewing the viability of Startup projects drawn from the Daemon Fund Managers  5 , Daemon Teams  20 , and fund Daemons  10  in general. The Startup pitches the Daemon Fund investment committee  411 , which selects promising opportunities and presents them to the Fund. For the Funding  400  to move forward, a Daemon Team  20  commits to lead the project  412  and the investment committee calls for a general fund vote  413 . All Daemons  10  committed to a Daemon Fund  30 , even if they are not on the Daemon Team  20  for a particular Startup, share in the profits of the Daemon Fund  30 , therefore all Daemons  10  vote on Funding agreements. When a funding request carries  414 , the Daemon Fund offers a Funding Agreement  415 , and if the funding agreement is accepted, valuation and equity stakes are formalized  416 . Finally, a Lead Daemon Team is selected and assigned to the Startu/p  417 . This team becomes responsible for the success of the funding project, and organizes and leads all development on the project, pulling in other Daemons  10  or entire Daemon Teams  20  as needed. 
         [0072]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the Investment phase  600  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  in detail. After a Startup  70  is Funded  400  by a Daemon Fund  30 , the Daemon Fund  30  begins their Investment Phase  600 . For 1 . . . n funding drops or tranches  610 , the Daemon Fund  30  requests authorization of the next drop  611 , or packet of work. The Startup authorizes the work and the equity for the drop is transferred to the fund  612 . Next, the development is authorized by the Daemon Fund Manager  5  and a sweat equity budget is set  613  for the Daemon Team, which sets the maximum amount of sweat equity that can be put forth, or invested, for the current tranche. 
         [0073]    For each Daemon Team  20  that is authorized to do development  613 , IP development begins  620  with the assigning of tasks  621 . Tasks are usually assigned to a Daemon Team member  20 , but may also be assigned to any Daemon  10 . As tasks are completed, the Daemons  10  certify the completed tasks  622  and they are recorded in the Daemon Fund IP Repository  120 . Daemons then deliver the certified IP to the funded Startup  623 . 
         [0074]    In one embodiment, a Daemon Team  20  may request specialized out-of-fund assistance from the Daemon Fund Support Pool  630 . A request for out-of fund assistance  631  occurs. As tasks or IP are completed the Daemon Support Pool  80  requests certification of completed tasks  632 . The Daemons certify the completed tasks  633  and they are recorded in the Daemon Fund IP Repository  120 . In the case where there is IP, which needs to be delivered to the Startup  70 , the Daemon team  20  then delivers the certified IP to the funded Startup  634 . In some cases the Daemon Support pool  80  completes tasks that are used as input for tasks performed by a Daemon Team  20 . When this situation occurs, certified IP is delivered to the Daemon Team and enters the flow between steps  622  and  623 . 
         [0075]    In some embodiments of the present invention, Daemons  10  may choose to transition to roles in the Startup they are funding  640 . When a Daemon  10  leaves the Fund  30  to join a Startup  70 , the Daemon Fund  30  is compensated accordingly. In this case, the Startup  70  executes a Daemon Buyout Offer  641  to the Daemon Fund  30 . The Daemon Fund requests membership certification  642 . An offer is certified by a membership vote  643 . If the membership votes to accept the buyout offer, the Daemon Fund  30  informs the Startup  70  they accept the buyout offer  644 . Just as all Daemons  10  share in the equity, all Daemons  10 , even those not working on a Daemon Team  20  for the Startup  70  requesting the buyout, vote in a membership certification. Once the buyout offer is accepted  644 , the Startup  70  provides the equity and/or cash buyout compensation  645  to the Daemon Fund  30 . Finally, the Daemon transfers from the Daemon Fund to their role in the Startup  646 . 
         [0076]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart showing the Distribution and Liquidation phase  800  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  in detail. This phase is the final phase in the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 . At some point, the funded Startup  70  may have a “liquidity event” where the Daemon Fund  30  is given the opportunity to liquidate some or all of its ownership holdings in the Startup  70 . Typical liquidity events are mergers or acquisitions of the Startup  70 , or additional funding rounds where the Startup takes on additional investors and capital. This may happen during or after the Daemons  10  have completed some or all of their sweat equity investment tranches so the funds holdings are limited to ownership earned on completed funding tranches. When an event occurs, and the fund chooses or is required to liquidate some or all of its holdings, the Daemon Fund  30  returns its equity holdings  801  to the Startup  70  and receives cash or other valuable proceeds from the Startup  70  in return  802 . The Daemon Support Pool  80  may be given an initial cut of the proceeds, which it distributes to its members  810 . This is an optional step in the Life cycle and may occur in an embodiment, where a Daemon Team  20  receives specialized out-of-fund assistance from the Daemon Fund Support Pool  630 , during the Investment Phase  600 . The Daemon Fund  30  calculates the support pool cut  811 , and then the proceeds are distributed to the Daemon Fund Support pool  812  which it then redistributes to its members in accordance with its own distribution models. 
         [0077]    In one embodiment, bonuses may be calculated and distributed to Daemons  10  who worked directly on the project  820 , either as permanent members of the lead Daemon Team  20 , or temporarily as requested by the Team. The Daemon Fund  30  calculates Daemon “team” bonuses  821 , and then the Daemon Fund  30  distributes the bonuses to the Daemons  822 , based on their levels of investment in the Startup  70 . 
         [0078]    The final step in the Liquidation and Distribution Phase  800  occurs when the Daemon Fund calculates the fund ownership for all Daemons  830  after the optional distributions of  810  and  820 . The Daemon Fund  30  then distributes the remaining proceeds based on individual Daemon fund ownership percentages  831 . 
         [0079]    As mentioned above, although the Distribution and Liquidation phase  800  ends the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 , it is understood that partial liquidations of a Startup  70  might happen several times before the fund&#39;s interest in a Startup  70  is finally liquidated, and that the Investment Phase  600  may be overlapped, with development continuing after one or more partial liquidations. Only after a complete liquidation would the cycle be finalized for that particular Startup  70 . 
       Daemon Artifact Details 
       [0080]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram detailing the Daemon Artifacts in  FIG. 1 . The Daemon Artifacts, which include but are not limited to, Daemon Fund Accounts  100 , Daemon Fund Documents  110 , Daemon Fund IP Repository  120 , and a Daemon Fund Time Tracker System  130  were introduced in  FIG. 1  and are described here in detail. The Daemon Fund Accounts  100 , include a Fund Equity  101 . The Fund Equity  101  is equity retained from funded startups  70 . The equity may have future potential value such as stock options, warrants, convertible notes, etc, or present value such as stock. This Fund Equity account  101  holds the equity until it is liquidated during equity events with the proceeds distributed to the Daemons  10 . In one embodiment, the Daemon Fund  30  may choose to hold the equity for a period of time after the Equity for drop is transferred  612 . In another embodiment, the Daemon Fund  30  may choose to distribute the proceeds from equity liquidation to the Daemons  10  or the Daemon Fund Support pool  80  if they were involved in the IP delivered. 
         [0081]    The Daemon Fund Accounts  100  also include Daemon Equity  102 . Daemon Equity  102  is ownership of the fund itself, and represents sweat equity effort invested in funded startup projects. Each Daemon investment includes the units of effort (usually time, but could be any other agreed-upon metric), and any investment multipliers applied. In particular, the Daemon  10  may have skill and experience metrics that make their effort worth more or less than other Daemons  10  in the fund. Also, some types of effort to create IP are inherently more valuable than others so each task may have its own multiplier, based on the type of IP that was created. Each Daemon Equity account  102  also includes information about the Startup Investment made into the Daemon Fund  30 . The startup specific investment balances are recorded in order to calculate daemon bonuses  821 , if any are paid, which may be based on a percentage of the startup investment. Finally, in some embodiments, the Daemon Fund Accounts  100  may include a Cash Account  109 . The Cash Account  109  may be used to hold cash during the Liquidation and Distribution phase  800  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000  if liquidation proceeds are received in cash form. 
         [0082]    Referring back to  FIG. 7 , another Daemon Artifact is the Daemon Fund Documentation  110 . This documentation may include but is not limited to Fund Management Documents  111 . The Fund Management Documents  111  may include but are not limited to corporate formation and governance documents, a development rate chart, and a dynamic equity split model. As detailed earlier, investment multipliers may be added based on a skill. The development rate chart tracks the multipliers used for different types of development. 
         [0083]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of a Dynamic Equity Split model in one preferred embodiment of the Daemon Fund Management System  150 . It illustrates how an ownership stake in a Startup  70  eventually becomes divided amongst the fund Daemons  10  and Support Pool  80  depending on their participation in fund sweat equity investment and support activities. It should be noted that Startup equity might not be distributed directly to Daemons  10  or the Support Pool  80 , but rather that their ownership in the Startup can be traced through their ownership in the fund itself, and that distributions of proceeds from liquidated Startup equity will follow this model. 
         [0084]      FIG. 8  shows an embodiment where the Daemon Fund  30  receives a 50% ownership stake in the Startup  70  during Step  1   171  during the Funding Phase  400  in return for promised sweat equity investment. It should be noted that this equity may also be earned and acquired over time in multiple tranches, during the Investment Phase  600 , depending on the funding agreements. In either case, when liquidation of the equity stake occurs during the Liquidation and Distribution Phase  800 , the Support Pool  80  receives a 20% cut in Step  2   172 , which is equivalent to 10% of the funded startup. In Step  3   173  50% of the funds remaining stake, representing 20% of the startups value, is set aside for the Daemons  10  who worked directly on the Startup project, either as members of the Lead Team or as requested by the Lead Team. In Step  4   174 , this cut is distributed to the project Daemons, in proportion to the amount of sweat equity they invested directly into the startup project. Finally, in Step  5   175 , the rest of the fund&#39;s holdings, representing 20% of the startups value, are distributed to all fund Daemons in proportion to their sweat equity investments into the fund as a whole. 
         [0085]    It should be understood that each Daemon Fund  30  may choose to set up a unique Dynamic Equity Split model depending on many factors such us but not limited to the Startup project, the role of the Daemon Support team  80 , the duration of the project etc. 
         [0086]    The Daemon Fund Documentation  110  also includes but is not limited to Daemon Membership Documents  112 , such as membership or employment agreements, including but not limited to IP assignments, and non-competes. The membership documents may also include current dynamic equity split model parameters for Daemons based on skill, experience, etc. and the documents may include current and former 3rd-party IP agreements and non-compete agreements. 
         [0087]    Referring back to  FIG. 7 , a third Daemon Artifact is the Intellectual Property Repository  120 . This repository may contain but is not limited to, IP developed by the Daemons and the Support Daemons  121 , time and location logs  122 , and IP Certifications  123 . 
         [0088]    Developed IP  121  includes but is not limited to, source code, documentation, or any other work products that can be stored digitally. Time and location logs  122  are the stored copy of the output from the time tracker system  130  that is part of the certification of originality, as well as serving as the raw material for equity investment calculations. Finally, the IP Repository  120  stores IP certifications  123 , which are digitally signed certifications that are done each time and in conjunction with developed IP  121  and the Time Tracker system  130  to certify that the IP was developed on the Daemon&#39;s own time and equipment and that the IP does not belongs to a third party. The developed IP  121 , time and location logs  122 , and IP Certifications  123  are digitally signed by the Daemon  10 . 
         [0089]    The final Daemon artifact is the Time tracker system  130 . As Daemons  10  work on a project for a Startup  70 , output from a logging application on a Daemon&#39;s development system, tracks their time and activities. The Time tracker log  131  gets checked into the IP repository  120  along with the results of the development session. As stated above, both of these items are digitally signed by the Daemon  10 . 
         [0090]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund Value Cycle in one preferred embodiment of the Daemon Fund Management System  150 . The Daemon Fund Value Cycle details the exchange of equity from the Startup  70  for developed IP  121  and/or actual Daemons  10  during the Investment phase  600  and the Liquidation and Distribution phase  800 . It should be appreciated that  FIG. 9  shows one of many possible flows for a Daemon Fund Value Cycle. 
         [0091]      FIG. 10  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund Sweat to Equity Model in one preferred embodiment of the Daemon Fund Management System  150 . As described in  FIG. 7 , a Daemon&#39;s  10  time is tracked and may have a multiplier for the time value based on the particular skill of the Daemon. The Daemon Fund Sweat to Equity Model details the tracking of the Daemons chosen for a particular Daemon Team, how their time and developed IP  121  are tracked and their work or “Sweat” is converted to equity and eventually the Daemon&#39;s equity or payout from the Startup  70 . The Daemon Fund Sweat to Equity Model includes all phases  200 , 400 , 600 , 800  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 . It should be appreciated that  FIG. 10  shows one of many possible flows for a Daemon Fund Sweat to Equity Model. 
         [0092]      FIG. 11  is a flow chart showing an exemplary implementation of the Daemon Fund IP Certification model in one preferred embodiment of the Daemon Fund Management System  150 . As described in  FIG. 7 , IP Certification  123 , which are digitally signed certifications that are done each time and in conjunction with developed IP  121  and the Time Tracker system  122 , are necessary to certify that the IP was developed on the Daemon&#39;s own time and equipment and that the IP does not belongs to a third party.  FIG. 11  details one of many possible Daemon Fund IP Certification mode flows through all phases  200 ,  400 ,  600 ,  800  of the Daemon Fund Life Cycle  1000 , including details on the use of the Time Tracker system  130  in the flow. 
         [0093]    Based on the foregoing information, it will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those specifically described herein, as well as many variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing descriptions thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. 
         [0094]    Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to one or more preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for the purpose of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications or equivalent arrangements; the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.