Commodore OS Vision Forum

Wow - nearly a quarter million views and 98.1% thumbs up on the first video about saving the Commodore brand! That’s incredible. Thank you for all the love and support.

As expected with news this big, a few questions/concerns have come up too. And I get it - some folks have been rug-pulled by "YouTubers" or Commodore IP owners before, and Commodore means a lot to all of us.

Making a whole new video right now would take time away from actually doing the thing - and the short answer is "I'll prove it via execution" - but until then here’s a tidy FAQ to answer the most common questions.

Happy Father's Day to those celebrating it today!


Q: Any updates?

A: There is so much I want to say but am not allowed to yet for contractual reasons, but it was time to start telling the story of what I've been doing for 7 months. Please hang in there, we've all waited 30 years, only 1-2 weeks to go!


Q: Are you asking fans to pay for Commodore so that you can personally own it, without any personal risk?

A: Of course not. At 27:27, some viewers misunderstood my explanation, and that’s on me. I mentioned our pitch to StartEngine but I didn’t clearly explain how platforms like that work. It’s not a donation so we can own it - fans invest and receive actual shares. If you support at $100, you own $100 of Commodore. The idea was for the community to truly own part of the company. To have a share certificate on your wall. That's why the thumbnail said "Let's Buy Commodore" and the title said "Can *We* Save Commodore".

We chose StartEngine because its founder, Howard Marks, co-founded Acclaim and Activision Studios, worked with Jack Tramiel, and really understood the vision. After 23 emails and 4 pitches, they were very interested but ultimately declined due to their 1% acceptance rate and concerns about a non-US company.

So far we have not found a viable alternative, for the same reasons, but it remains the #1 preferred route, as it always has been. If not, we'll find another way to give anyone who supports something tangible and meaningful to hold and own.

The goal was simple: fans proudly owning a real stake, maybe even seeing it grow if things took off. I rushed past that point in the video, and I’m sorry if that led to confusion or negative assumptions. This venture has been a lot to juggle, but I’ll do better at keeping everyone in the loop within the time limits of videos.

(As for risk - let’s just say we unlocked a Level 2 homeowner bonus round with the bank to get this far [achievement unlocked: mild financial terror]. It’s been seven months of intense work, often two major partner meetings a day, and time away from my two-year-old daughter. This is a huge undertaking. Most of it is commercially sensitive, and I’ve only shared about 1% so far, but it was time to start telling the story. It’ll all become clear. But no - we’re definitely not doing this without risk.)


Q: Are you just milking this for 4 videos before revealing it didn't work out.

A: Ruining my entire career just to make 4 videos would be a spectacularly bad idea - especially when I’ve made over 500 videos in 7 years without needing that. So no, that’s not the plan. I look forward to proving that… say, 5 videos from now.


Q: What gives you the right to decide who can or can’t use the Commodore name? Won’t enforcing trademarks just create enemies and hurt the community?

A: If Commodore is refounded, it has to operate like a proper business, and protect the brand we all love. Like Jack Tramiel did, small projects would likely get licenses for free. But even the friendliest brands quality-check products before licensing them. As I mentioned at 11:49, we don’t want another Commodore Shredder or Gravel In Pocket. If we let anyone use the name without care, that’s exactly what we’d get. And I hope we can all agree, nobody wants that. We need to do this properly or not at all.


Q: If Commodore International is gone, how can new products be considered truly “Commodore”?

A: What if we owned the 47 trademarks going back to 1983, when Jack Tramiel was CEO? That’s the plan. But beyond that, what if we worked with original Commodore management, engineers, reps, tech support, and product devs? What if we collaborated with the SID chip’s creator on new SID chips, or with the Music Maker creators on a new version? (Just examples.) What if we helped reassemble the ROMs into Commodore? What if we even merged with Amiga? These are all goals. At some point along that path though, it stops being a reboot and starts being Commodore again. That’s the vision I began outlining in part 1. I want Commodore back.


Q: Is rebooting Commodore a sound business decision, or just a personal dream?

A: Why can't it be both. It would be the dream of so many in the retro community, so it shouldn't be a surprise that yes of course it is partly a personal dream. But I hope we can all agree that many people's dreams turn into very sound businesses, even more so because there is genuine passion and love behind the execution. And I’d much rather build something with love than focus on tearing others down who are trying to.


Q: Are you only doing this because YouTube monetization is harder now?

A: I’m genuinely unaware of any changes to YouTube monetization policy. That’s not what this is about. As explained at 12:34, this began when Sean Donohue emailed me in October 2024 about reviewing a new licensed Commodore. That unexpected message, combined with events I explained from a few years earlier, set everything in motion. If someone believes I somehow orchestrated that due to my single-handedly predicting future YouTube trends… I honestly don’t know what to say. Me have okay brain but me not that smart.


Q: How can you make money from Commodore without over-licensing or diluting the brand?

A: By focusing on quality. Which ties back to the earlier question about deciding who can use the logo. If we only license carefully curated products that honour the brand’s legacy. Instead of mass licensing, we build flagship products in-house and selectively partner with creators who get it right. And there are a lot of them. Fewer, better releases mean stronger long-term value. Of course, this all only happens if we complete an acquisition at all.


Q: Can nostalgia alone sustain a business like this long-term?

A: Of course not. I talked about this at 19:21 in Part 1. I'm starting to think some people didn't watch the video before diving into doubts In the Part 2 video I will set out what has been the vision for months. Two feet firmly planted in two markets: Retro & Future. "Honouring our legacy, innovating the future." Commodore has always been about promising the future, only we'll be doing it with a twist. More in Part 2 in 1-2 weeks.


Q: Is there really enough demand for Commodore beyond nostalgic Gen X and Boomers?

A: All I can say to that is read the sheer weight of comments under the video


Q: Aren't your commenters just a captive audience of your own fans and not representative of the true retro community?

A: Over 60% of viewers of that video weren’t even subscribers (see attached), and 98.1% of them gave it a thumbs up. I’ve never seen so many grown adults admit they cried at the end. That tells me this dream resonates far beyond any “captive audience.” The vision is real, and we’re already working to bring it to life for everyone who loves Commodore.


Q: How can we get involved and help?
A: We are looking for other ways and will share more news in June or July, thank you!


Q: I'm a journalist and would like to chat
A: Cool! Please reach out at https://perifractic.com/modore


Thank you for reading. I am happy to answer any other constructive questions in the comments below.

Commodore means a great deal to me, and if you watched the video, I hope you saw that I truly understand why it means so much to you too. I won’t let you down. Just give us more than one announcement video before writing the whole thing off and deciding we've failed - deal?

To chickens with lips!

-Peri