How does a super-power salesman not get shut down for legal reasons?
I am in trouble: my boss, a multi-millionaire, has just come up with a scheme, but it has problems and he wants me to solve them.
The whole thing started when he saw this picture:
This gave him an idea: invent, develop, and sell "superpowers". These "powers" would not be biological (he's rich, but not that rich), but technological. Basically, he wants to have Small Hero Five-and-a-half (tm) working for him, constantly cranking out new tech.
After he has his team invent the tech (with possible help from Anderson Robotics), he would start to mass-produce it (think: bat-mobile factory), and sell the gadgets (why sell the rights, when there is still more money to be made?) to would-be super-heroes.
This is where the problems start: the reason no-one has done this yet, is that there isn't really any demand, since super-heroes are just overkill against your average crook. Also there are legal issues, as this tech might result in collateral damage (read: Sokovia).
His solution to this problem is simple: don't only sell to "heroes", instead "losing" some of it, that will later turn up on the black market. Hey presto, we have a demand other than the odd nerd with a fortune.
At this point, I pointed out that a revenue model that depends on having illegal associates isn't really... 159
legal.
How does my boss keep his business running and (mostly) legal without being shut down for H&S reasons?
EDIT: as <PERSON> pointed out, the research might be seized during the R&D phase. My boss says that having the research happening in multiple countries might stop that, but he isn't sure.
EDIT 2: There is a rumour that a lot of people think that my boss either wants to become <PERSON>, or just sell tech that he would have used. This is not true: he wants to develop gadgets that a certain comic-book publishing company that he may or may not own significant shares in may or may not consider giving it's heroes.
Thus, rule of cool is a necessary part of the development process, as well as wow-factor. He isn't selling tazers, or bulletproof vests. He is trying to sell spider-spinners and lightsabers. 806