I agree with Chesterton. Currently a NEA holder and from that...

I agree with Chesterton. Currently a NEA holder and from that I'm obviously aware of SFI's founders' histories, hence interest in SFI.

I see SFI as both a threat and an opportunity. I have no doubt that the folks involved are good technologists -- afterall they came up with the technology that is now powering Nearmap.

My concern with SFI is with the commercialisation. They cocked it up with Nearmap, stubbornly holding onto the custom Govt/corporate licensing model which clearly did not work. That's the main thing I'm looking out for this time around -- if they can make the commercials work then I'll jump on board. Depending on the market dynamics at that time there's no reason I wouldn't invest in both companies concurrently. The (global) markets both companies are likely to be involved with are massive. It doesn't have to be, and is unlikely to be, a winner-takes-all situation.

Without wanting to come across as a nay-sayer I'd urge anyone looking at SFI to read through the NEA history from 2009-2012 when the folks behind SFI were running NEA. Ignore all the patent licensing stuff as that is not relevant to SFI but pay attention to the NEA sales model and how well that worked.

The great thing about being a passive investor is that you *don't* have to root for one company or another.