The Seasteading Institute – July 2011 Newsletter

Greetings Friends of Seasteading,

Our vision for seasteading is to improve government through competition, and my personal talents lie in seeing possibilities and starting initiatives. Many groups and organizations in the past have tried their hand at the audacious task of creating innovative societies, and I saw the possibility for seasteading to powerfully advance this idea with our unique approach. Thus was born The Seasteading Institute in 2008, as a marvelous addition to the practical politics portfolio.

Much important movement-building and research work remains here at the Institute, and we believe there is also important work to be done in the commercial sector, by creating businesses that benefit individuals through better laws. From both a personal and organizational standpoint, the time is right for me to pursue the vision of government innovation by shifting my primary focus to creating new commercial ventures that will complement the work here at the Institute. I look forward to sharing more details about my projects as they become more solid.

I’m excited to announce that I've found a great executive team to take over and continue to grow The Seasteading Institute: Michael Keenan and Randy Hencken. I will stay significantly involved as Chairman of the Board, media and diplomatic spokesperson, and strategic advisor, as well as promoting seasteading through our in-progress book Seasteading: How Ocean Cities Will Reinvent Politics. While it is a bittersweet moment for me, I believe my talents are best suited to continuing to expand our portfolio of ventures, while Michael and Randy have the passion and talent to take The Seasteading Institute to the next level.

Similarly, two other staff members—Max Marty, Director of Business Strategy and Dario Mutabdzija, Director of Legal Strategy—are wrapping up their research and preparing to start Blueseed, a shipsteading venture, as their contribution to expanding the movement. A commercial sector is vital to seasteading progress, and so we’re thrilled that Max and Dario are helping lead the charge to this next frontier for seasteading, and we’re excited to see where their adventure takes them.

As you can see in this newsletter, we have lots of great progress to report, and Michael and Randy will continue to add new programs to advance the seasteading mission. If you’re interested in reading about the details of our motivation for this expansion, the staff and program changes, and the new ventures, this page has more information.

In service of seasteading,
Patri Friedman

Table of Contents

• Engineering Report Released: "Parametric Analysis of Candidate Configurations for Early Seastead Platforms…"
• First Legal Research Report Released: "Charting the Course: Toward a Seasteading Legal Strategy"
• San Francisco Bay Summer Meet-Up, August 17
• Featured Ambassador: Julian Le Roux
• Featured Donor (and Ambassador!): Paul Martin
• Welcome Engineering Interns: Jorge Suarez and Elie Amar
• San Francisco Chronicle Placed Us on the Front Page
• Ephemerisle Demonstrates Success in Crowd-Sourcing a Seasteading-Esque Event