Hey HN --<p>A few weeks ago I launched Pioneer (https://pioneer.app).<p>Pioneer is an experiment to try and find & help creative people around the world working on interesting projects. A project could be anything -- open source work, research in physics or biology, or creating art. Unlike other grant programs, the way we find people is through crowdsourcing.<p>Applicants vote on each other (like HN / Reddit) and the best projects float to the top. We have industry experts (Patrick Collison, Tyler Cowen, Stephen Wolfram, etc) act as "mods" to sharpen the quality of the leaderboard.<p>The top-scoring applicants become Pioneers. They get $5,000, a ticket to Silicon Valley, mentorship from experts and -- most importantly -- a community that will hopefully accelerate and motivate them.<p>Applications close Sunday night PDT. If you have a weekend-side project that you can't stop thinking about -- Pioneer is exactly for you!<p>I'm trying to make an engine for converting shower-thoughts into real world stuff. Other than money, what do you think would be helpful to provide?<p>Pioneer is at https://pioneer.app.<p>P.S. I also work at YC. This is an unrelated effort, primarily aimed at things that don’t fit the bill of a “company”. Apply to Startup School for that!