When I tell people I'm not patenting the Thiosphere design, I get one of two reactions:
- "That's really noble." (Usually followed by a look that says "and kind of stupid.")
- "Why not? You could make a lot of money."
Both reactions miss the point. The decision not to patent isn't about nobility or money. It's about what I actually want to accomplish.
This post explains my reasoning. Not to convince you that patents are bad — they're not, in many contexts — but to explain why open source makes sense for this specific project.
The Patent Path
Let's start by gaming out what happens if I patent the Thiosphere.
Year 1-2: Protection
I file patents on the key innovations: the nested-sphere design, the modular joint system, the elevated platform approach. Cost: $15,000-30,000 for filing and legal fees. Ongoing maintenance: $3,000-5,000/year.
Year 2-3: Licensing
With patents in hand, I have options:
- Manufacture and sell completed structures myself (capital-intensive)
- License the design to manufacturers (requires sales team, legal enforcement)
- Sell the patents to a larger company (one-time payout)
Year 3-5: Enforcement
Someone in China starts making knockoffs. Someone in Kansas builds one in their backyard and posts it on YouTube. Someone in Germany makes a "similar but different" design that might or might not infringe.
Now I'm spending money on lawyers instead of prototypes.
Year 5+: Outcome
Best case: I've built a successful company around a patented product. I'm wealthy. Thousands of people have bought Thiospheres — at $15,000-30,000 each, since patented products command premium prices.
Worst case: The patents never generated enough revenue to cover their costs. I've spent years in legal battles. The design is locked up but not widely used.
The Open Source Path
Now let's game out the alternative:
Year 1: Release
I publish the complete design under an open-source hardware license (CERN-OHL-S). Anyone can build it, modify it, or sell structures based on it. I sell handbooks with detailed instructions for $29.
Year 1-2: Community
Builders start making their own Thiospheres. They post photos, videos, improvements. Someone in Finland figures out a better insulation approach. Someone in Mexico adapts it for their climate. The design improves faster than I could improve it alone.
Year 2-3: Ecosystem
Small manufacturers start building Thiospheres commercially. They don't need my permission — the license allows it. They compete with each other, driving prices down. A Thiosphere that might cost $20,000 if I controlled the market costs $8,000 when there's competition.
Year 3-5: Scale
Thousands of people are building Thiospheres. The design has evolved through community contribution. Multiple manufacturers, in multiple countries, serve local markets. I'm not wealthy, but I've helped create an ecosystem.
Year 5+: Outcome
The Thiosphere design is widespread. It's been adapted for saunas, greenhouses, offices, emergency shelters. Versions exist for different climates, different budgets, different use cases.
I don't own this — nobody owns it — but I helped start it.
What I Actually Want
Here's the thing: I don't want to be a billionaire. I know that sounds naive or false modesty, but it's true.
I've worked at companies with wealthy founders. I've seen what that life looks like:
- Constant legal protection of assets
- Difficulty knowing who your real friends are
- The treadmill of maintaining and growing wealth
- Expectations and obligations that never end
I want something simpler:
- Work I find meaningful
- Enough money to live comfortably
- Freedom to explore ideas without shareholder pressure
- The satisfaction of seeing things I helped create used widely
Open source gives me a path to all of those things. Patents give me a path to wealth — maybe — at the cost of the other goals.
The Math Actually Works
"But you can't run a business on open source hardware!"
Let me show you the math.
The Handbook Model
- 10,000 handbooks sold at $29 = $290,000
- Lifetime access customers at $79 = additional revenue
- Founder tier at $299 = additional revenue
Even conservatively, if 10,000 people buy handbooks over 5 years, that's enough to fund continued development, prototyping, and a modest salary.
The Ecosystem Model
- Certified manufacturers pay for training/certification
- Premium support and consulting for commercial builders
- Physical products (MDF templates, tool kits) alongside the open designs
The designs are free. The implementation support has value.
What I Don't Need
- Venture capital
- Large team
- Expensive marketing
- Legal department
A solo founder with AI assistance (see my post on that) can operate at costs that would be laughable for a traditional company. When your burn rate is low, you don't need massive revenue to be sustainable.
The Acceleration Effect
There's another benefit to open source that's harder to quantify: speed of improvement.
When I patented nothing, I got something back: thousands of potential contributors.
Every builder who posts about their project is beta-testing the design. Every modification someone makes is a potential improvement I can incorporate. Every bug report from the field is free QA.
The Thiosphere I publish in 2025 will be better than the one I built in 2024 — not just because I'm learning, but because the community is learning and sharing.
Closed-source hardware improves at the pace of one company's R&D budget. Open-source hardware improves at the pace of a community.
When Patents Make Sense
I want to be clear: I'm not anti-patent. Patents make sense in many contexts:
High R&D cost industries: Pharmaceuticals spend billions developing drugs. Patents give them a chance to recoup that investment.
Easily copied products: If a product is trivial to reverse-engineer and manufacture, patents may be the only competitive advantage.
VC-backed startups: Investors want to see defensible intellectual property. Patents are often table stakes for funding.
Specific commercial contexts: If you're selling to other businesses, patent protection may be expected or required.
The Thiosphere doesn't fit these categories:
- R&D cost is modest (prototypes cost $2,000-5,000 each)
- The value is in the design knowledge, not the manufacturing
- I'm not taking VC money
- The target customer is DIY builders and small manufacturers
For my specific situation, open source is the better strategy.
The License: CERN-OHL-S-2.0
If you care about the details: the Thiosphere is licensed under CERN-OHL-S-2.0 (CERN Open Hardware License, Strongly Reciprocal).
What this means:
- Anyone can build, modify, and sell Thiospheres
- Modifications must be shared under the same license
- Attribution is required (you can't claim you invented it)
- Commercial use is allowed
The "strongly reciprocal" part is important: if you improve the design, you have to share those improvements. This prevents someone from taking the open-source design, making minor modifications, and patenting the result.
It's the hardware equivalent of the GPL license in software.
A Bet on the Future
Open sourcing the Thiosphere is a bet.
I'm betting that:
- A community of contributors will improve the design faster than I could alone
- Competing manufacturers will drive down costs while driving up quality
- The handbook business model will sustain continued development
- Widespread adoption will create opportunities I can't predict
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe someone will take the design, build a huge company, and I'll have nothing. Maybe the community never materializes and the design stagnates.
But I've seen what happens when open source works. Linux. Wikipedia. Arduino. Mozilla. The results can be remarkable.
I'd rather take a shot at remarkable than settle for merely profitable.
How to Support This Approach
If you believe in open source hardware, here's how to help:
Buy the handbook. The $29 directly funds prototypes and development. It's the simplest way to support the project.
Build something. Post your project. Document what you learned. Contribute improvements back to the community.
Spread the word. Share with people who might want to build their own structures. The more builders, the stronger the ecosystem.
Don't pirate. The designs are free. The handbook isn't. If you can afford $29, buying it legitimately keeps this model sustainable.
The Invitation
You know what's cooler than one person getting wealthy from shelter innovation?
A thousand people building their own saunas and greenhouses. A hundred small manufacturers serving their local communities. A design that evolves to meet needs I never anticipated.
That's what open source makes possible.
Not another billion-dollar company. A billion people with better access to space.
Get the Thiosphere Handbook — $29 supports continued development.
Explore the open-source designs — free to build, modify, and share.
Join the community — builders helping builders.