I haven't finished reading though the entire agreement yet, but the following raised an eyebrow or two to start with.... "At the end of its participation in the Program, Startup will pay the Program Offering Fee, as further described in the Program Guide" Also, ....."The Program is designed to help startup companies engaged in software development ...." This may be, and probably will be, of use to some, but I think the program is not as open-ended as you suggest. Still, thanks for the info....hopefully a few people with startup businesses can take advantage....
if you leave rhe program before the 3 years are up, you pay 100 buck s. I do beleive it is refering to tbat.
This program is not limited to US. I have applied for registration through a Microsoft Network partner located in my country. After the registration it says that someone will contact you in three business days. I haven't got a business yet but I will start an online auction house in next few days so I am hopeful that it will be approved.
it is for software development companies only. If you are not developing software you do not qualify. Then again if you start a .com make a quick website and say you develop software (you can make a VB program that puts a program on your desktop that is bleh.txt, it is still a program)
The three catches are 1) This is not free. It costs $100; you will pay that $100 when you exit the program (it doesn't matter when you exit; it's $100 if you exit after a month, it's $100 if you exit after your full three years are up). 2) You have to be developing software (either desktop or web apps/services). If you're a consulting firm, that doesn't count. If you're doing stuff for some company to use internally, that doesn't count. Basically, it's gotta be something that has public availability. 3) To help prevent abuse, you need a "network partner" to sponsor you, or if you can't find one, you can contact MSFT, explain your situation, and have them sponsor you directly.