MAINNETTHE MAINNET KNOWLEDGE LIBRARY
Understand the ideas behind our work. Each concept connects a plain-language definition to the pages where we use it.
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These definitions explain how Mainnet uses each concept. Refer to the linked source pages for context; this is an evolving learning resource.
Capital
investment and capital strategy · capital planning
Capital strategy connects a purpose for money with decisions about where, when and on what terms to commit it. It considers the source of value, the time capital may be unavailable, overlapping risks and the ability to change direction. Mainnet's investment discussion begins with these questions so that an opportunity can be assessed within a wider set of needs and choices.
Capital
investment rationale · investment case
An investment thesis is a reasoned account of why an opportunity may create value and what must remain true for that view to hold. It identifies the value drivers, important uncertainties and evidence that would prompt reconsideration. A useful thesis makes its assumptions visible before commitment, allowing later developments to be compared with the original reasoning rather than explained away after the event.
Capital
sources of value · drivers of value
Value drivers are the underlying factors on which an opportunity's value depends. Mainnet's investment page separates operating income, asset appreciation and expectations about a future buyer. Examining these separately helps reveal which assumptions do the work, what evidence supports them and how a change in one driver could alter the investment thesis. A projected return alone does not explain that mechanism.
Capital
overlapping risks · common risk dependencies · hidden overlap
Shared risks arise when apparently different holdings depend on the same underlying conditions. They may rely on one market, a common funding source or a similar exit window. Looking at each holding in isolation can miss that dependence. Reviewing the portfolio together makes it easier to ask how a single adverse change could affect several positions and whether their combined exposure fits the intended capital strategy.
Capital
asset liquidity · ability to exit
Liquidity concerns the ability to turn a holding into available cash, taking account of timing, cost and the conditions for exit. It matters when capital may be needed elsewhere before an investment has run its course. Mainnet's investment discussion places liquidity alongside timing and stress scenarios, asking what choices remain after commitment and what evidence would justify changing the original plan.
Capital
capital duration · capital commitment period · funding timeline
A funding horizon is the period for which capital can remain committed before it may be required elsewhere. Comparing it with the time an asset or project needs exposes potential mismatches. In this discussion, capital duration refers to that waiting period, not the bond sensitivity measure. A worthwhile project can still be difficult to support if its funding must leave before the work can mature.
Structure
fund structure · project structure · capital and responsibility
Fund and project architecture describes how capital, contributions, authority and responsibility fit together. It asks who decides, who provides what, who carries downside and when an arrangement should be revisited. Mainnet's discussion compares funding horizons, contribution conditions and decision rights. The aim is a structure that can be examined and debated, with specialist legal or tax questions identified for the relevant professionals.
Structure
partner commitments · contribution terms · commitments
Contribution commitments turn expressions of interest into specific promises about resources, timing and conditions. A contribution may involve capital, space, technology, knowledge or work. Recording who provides it, when it becomes available and what happens if it is delayed helps a project move beyond shared enthusiasm. The arrangement also needs named responsibilities and a way to reconsider commitments when circumstances change.
Structure
decision authority · who decides
Decision rights specify who may make a decision, which questions require agreement and where responsibility sits. They become especially important when participants disagree about spending, priorities, delays or stopping a project. Making these rights visible before expansion gives collaboration a workable process. It also helps distinguish a person's contribution or opinion from their authority to approve the next commitment.
Structure
incentive alignment · sharing value and risk
Incentives are the rewards, costs and consequences that influence how participants act. In a shared project, people may value different outcomes or bear different kinds of risk. Examining how value and downside are distributed helps reveal whether an arrangement supports the intended behaviour. Mainnet connects this question with contributions, decision rights and the ability to revisit disagreement as the project develops.
Development
commit in stages · staged investment · next-stage commitment
Staged commitment divides a project into decisions supported by progressively stronger evidence. A limited trial, a local partnership and a manufacturing investment answer different questions and require different resources. Defining what each stage must demonstrate makes the next commitment conditional on learning. It also gives the project room to pause, change its design or stop when the results do not support expansion.
Development
limited trial · small-scale test · useful experiment
A pilot is a deliberately limited test of an idea in conditions that can reveal something useful about its wider application. It should have a real task or user, a clear scope and a question to answer. Mainnet's examples include testing an existing workflow or trying a material at the point of use before committing to larger facilities or manufacturing.
Development
testing assumptions · evidence of need · assumption testing
Validation is the process of comparing an important assumption with evidence from relevant conditions. For a proposed product or workflow, useful evidence may include repeated use, comparable task results, delivered cost or willingness to change from an existing solution. Validation should identify what was tested and what remains uncertain. A successful demonstration by itself may leave important commercial or operating questions unanswered.
Development
conditions for reconsideration · continuing or stopping conditions · review criteria
Decision criteria state what evidence would justify continuing, changing or stopping an activity. Agreeing them before an experiment helps prevent every weak result from becoming a reason to spend more. Useful criteria relate to the question being tested, identify who will assess the evidence and include a review date. They provide a basis for judgement without pretending that uncertainty has disappeared.
Technology
end-to-end workflow · working process · task process
A workflow is the connected sequence of inputs, tasks, decisions and checks that produces an accepted result. Understanding it requires following the whole process, including handoffs, review and corrections. Mainnet's technology discussion starts with a recurring task such as research or a decision brief, then examines where tools could help and where people remain responsible for the outcome.
Technology
human review · corrections · quality checks
Review checks whether an output is suitable for its intended use; rework changes it when it is not. Both take time and may require skilled judgement. In an AI workflow, faster generation can be offset by more checking or correction. Counting these steps alongside production and maintenance makes comparisons more meaningful and keeps responsibility for the accepted result visible.
Technology
full process cost · total effort · complete workflow cost
Full workflow cost counts the resources needed to reach an accepted result, including model use, human review, corrections and maintenance. It helps compare an existing process with a proposed one on similar tasks and quality standards. The calculation should keep time and cash expenditure visible separately: fewer working hours on a task do not automatically mean an equivalent reduction in spending.
Technology
time saved · available working time · capacity released
Released capacity is time or effort made available after a process needs fewer resources to deliver a comparable result. It should be assessed after review, corrections and upkeep are counted. The time may support better decisions, learning, other work or life outside work. Mainnet distinguishes this capacity from cash savings and asks who gets to decide how it will be used.
People & time
individual agency · freedom to choose · room to choose
Human agency is a person's ability to understand their situation and make meaningful choices within it. In Mainnet's discussion of technology and collaboration, this includes keeping judgement and final responsibility explicit, as well as deciding what to do with time a tool releases. More output can be useful, but whether it increases a person's room to choose depends on the surrounding working arrangements.
People & time
time and choice · cost of time · time outside work
Human time brings attention to the part of a life consumed or made available by a decision. Mainnet's reading notes connect this question with the effort required by a complete workflow and the choices people retain afterwards. Measuring speed is only one part of the inquiry; another is whether a change creates useful time and whether the person can choose how to spend it.
Technology
technology and commercial design · commercial application design
Commercial design connects a capability with a real problem, a user, a payer and a workable way to deliver value. It asks why existing alternatives are insufficient and what delivery actually costs. In Mainnet's technology discussion, the result is a testable application hypothesis and an end-to-end workflow, together with criteria for deciding whether further commitment is warranted.
Development
local context · point of use · market conditions
Local constraints are the conditions that affect whether an idea works in a particular place. Mainnet's cross-border example considers climate, construction methods, purchasing habits, installation, durability and delivered cost. Looking at the point of use helps reveal requirements that a technical specification or distant market study may miss. These conditions shape the questions a trial should answer before a larger commitment.
Development
current solutions · existing answer · current process
Existing alternatives are the products, processes or arrangements people already use to meet a need. Understanding why those choices persist helps explain what a new option must improve and what switching would require. Mainnet's research questions warn that a competitor absent from a research deck may still be present in the market. The comparison should therefore begin with actual use and purchasing behaviour.
Development
cross-border venture development · venture development · project development
Strategic project development turns an opportunity into a sequence of questions, partnerships and commitments that can be tested in practice. Mainnet's discussion focuses on local conditions, complementary contributions and evidence needed before the next investment. It examines current solutions and small-scale trials before major commitments, aiming to make the project thesis, partner roles and unresolved questions clear enough for a useful decision.
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