Re: [wg-d] The other track: business plan

[Karl Auerbach <karl@CaveBear.com>]

> while we continue our devout hair-splitting over rules, which will
> hopefully spill over into a debate about procedure beyond the present
> points, we are leaving aside another issue on the charter and not a less
> important one: Business Plan.

Good thought, and one we ought not to lose in the other ongoing
discussions.

I'm not at all sure what kind of "Business Plan" the DNSO needs,
especially with respect to its interaction with ICANN.

One prime element ought to be believable estimates for cash flows, both in
and out.  I'd also like to suggest that we have really good controls over
the ability to enter into committments, such as purchase orders or
contracts for services.  I may be a bit pushy on this point, but it is
something I didn't establish adequately in one of my companies and it lead
to the company's failure, so I am very much "once burned and twice shy" on
the matter of cost controls.

Certainly the items you mention below constitute expenses (and also
possible sources of revenue):

> Secretariat
> Overall budget of the DNSO
> Websites and listserves
> Meetings.

Are we concerned about how operating funds are obtained?  If so, might we
need to interact with that the folks on wg-c are doing?  (The reason I ask
is that putting a TLD into a root can generate licensing fees -- Please
don't beat me up, I'm only mentioning the possibility.  ;-)

If we have a business plan, i.e. some cash flows, we ought to think about
how that cash will be held, who has signatory authority, how one handles
purchase orders and invoices, etc etc.  And of course, the ever present
question of "which country" for the accounts and other items.

		--karl--