I'm not clear on what their model is. They're generating their own ideas. Is that like an incubator? Are they looking for founders, or are they going to retain control over all the spin-offs?

"Polaris Ventures will have first dibs on these independent companies for investment." http://gigaom.com/2009/12/21/the-start-project-launches-retu...

i.e. startups that Polaris doesn't fund get hosed. But perhaps that isn't an issue since they're not really looking for founders?