I can imagine that, since the SHA256 algorith used in bitcoin is pretty well defined, that pooping out RTLs won't be very hard. I think that the functional design cannot become much more optimized than it is now.
The only place where you will be able to compete is at the physical design stage.
You are right about that, physical optimization will bring such an ASIC to a better performance vs. actual miners. But that is true only when using the same node as the other manufacturer (I consider Avalon the only at this moment!).
In this project we can use smaller technology node, and as more people fund this project the better will be the ASIC.You can have a lot of advantages over the current market offer: small price, miner performance, eliminate the possibility of the manufacturer mining in the backyard etc. What other proposal can be better than this when I have no money to do this project? OK, maybe another person with an ASIC background, but the funding scheme is good I think.
This is what i actually mean by physical design.
The only way to get better than competition is to win on the physical part, no matter the node.
Everyone will converge to current node technology so this win will decrease in the future.
In a year other ASICS will be on the market baked with smaller masks. You will need to make sure now that you will be on top then because otherwise your (or in this case, our) investment will go down the drain.
This is why i'm very sceptical about crowd funding someone who can't guarantee a certain product in a year.
This project looks way too risky unless you already have a complete plan on what you need to achieve in your product a year from now.
