Bootstrap an open source project. Think about your idea. Code up basic functionality.

IceCondor is a continuous location reporting client/server application.

Identify the ongoing service need, and use a freemium model to sell the service that supports the application.

The client sends new data into the server. The server aggregates large data sets and sends the client a summary/response. Each update and each query takes resources. The freemium is tied to the frequency of writes and reads. Updating up to some fixed frequency is no-cost. Above that is the premium service.

Let the open source project live on its own. Use a branch to add a payment-required lock to certain features.

IceCondor lives at github. It is the entire project, including the lock mechanism to allow for more frequent updates. The site has the client built in the freemium style. Anyone can download the source and make their own client, or point the client at a different server. I believe a single service will become dominant and people will be willing to pay for it even in the presence of alternate, no cost services. Mostly because the code is only part of the service. Ongoing maintenance/management is important and cannot be 'downloaded'. In other words, the source is part of the service, people are another part.

Sharing in the ownership/profits

IceCondor will collect funds over time, put them into an account, and distribute those funds to its own needs and to those who invested time and effort. One question is how to measure effort and give a return on that. The organization will always be a benevolent dictatorship. The head will set the amount calculations and the guarantee to the contributors is that the calculations will be established and published beforehand and adhered in all but the most extreme situations, such as the closing of the company.