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... legal.

How does my boss keep his business running and (mostly) legal without being shut down for H&S reasons?

EDIT: as @shadowzee 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 Batman, 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.

Your boss has a real problem in this scenario since it’s technically illegal for a person to take the law into their own hands. He or she would face legal challenges regardless of whether they sell to the good guys or the bad. — Instead I would suggest selling to the cops and other law enforcement/ civil service officials.

Why not upgrade the fire fighters for example? Imagine rescue workers in flameproof mech suits rescuing people from the fires in California; or perhaps a park ranger being able to wrestle a bear rather then just shooting it.

The applications are nearly limitless, but your boss should consider applications outside the normal street crime scenario.

That being said, a police force in fully bullet proof mechanized tech armor being able to non-lethally subdue even the most dangerous gunmen would be pretty cool. No doubt this would go a long way to prevent a lot of the shoot-first-ask-questions-later incidents we hear about so much on the news.

Plausible deniability

Vigilantism is illegal, but our salesman isn't selling to vigilantes, no no.

He is selling self-defense equipment to concerned citizens. If you were assaulted in the street, wouldn't it be nice if you could just run away ... over the rooftops ... on Manhattan?

Other equipment can also be described as self-defense. Tazers, for example, for use on feral dogs only. It is clearly printed on the box that it is not for use against humans. If a customer breaks that rule, shame on the customer.

And that is not a bullet-proof suit, it is an extra sturdy motorcycling suit. Honest!

Laws generally won't forbid things that haven't been invented, so he can usually get away with selling things that aren't illegal, yet.

What people do with his wares is another matter. But isn't that like when somebody gets killed with a hammer? You don't go after the hammer manufacturer.

Your boss probably know some lobbyists too. They can be useful in delaying any laws that would cut into his profit margin.

You question is really similar to the problem some manufacturers in our world have to solve to stay in business.

If what you sell will remove competition and thus kill the market, just make sure you supply your product to both sides, so that there will be some sort of balance of power.

This has happened with nuclear bombs during cold war, it happens on the weapons black market, where both sides of a conflict are supplied with weapons so that weapons merchants can thrive on the conflict. You are just going to be another actor on this stage.

And, at the end of the day, when one comes into your shop asking for a super-thing, how can you tell if is a good or a bad guy?

Just point to him in the direction of dictionary.

Not one of those losers has decided to become Batman

"Decided to" not "are unable to". We have those "technical superpowers". Gas that can render people unconscious. Electric power that make muscles contract and people are unable to move. Hell, we even have jet powered bullets and non-lethal bullets. And for most of them (in the states) you don't need to be millionaire to have this equipment. You can go to shop and buy them.

In other words your boss want to go into self-defence industry.

There's nothing stopping him putting his money into R&D. Essentially he's just joined the military-industrial complex, and become another arms dealer.

What kind of R&D is he thinking of though? Pretty much every area already has people working there. Either that, or (like Boston Dynamics) it's a neat idea with no market value. So he's always going to be playing catch-up. Most new companies form round a key first product, and he hasn't got one.

And then you have to actually look at whether Batman is practical. Why would you even do that? From a law enforcement PoV he's a disaster. From a military PoV he's one bullet or grenade away from just another corpse, because body armour doesn't stop everything. Rule of Cool doesn't work so well in real life.

He's chosen the wrong hero anyway. The definition of a hero is someone who saves the lives of other people without hoping for reward, right? If you've got that money spare, do something good with it.

No-one remembers Joseph Rowntree for what he did business-wise. Even his company name has gone, since it was bought by Nestle. But his charitable foundation continues to help people, and his name may well live forever.

No-one remembers Henry Wellcome for what he did business-wise either. But the Wellcome Trust is the reason we have gene therapies today, amongst so many other advances. Again, Wellcome's name will never be forgotten.

And more recently, Bill Gates. It doesn't matter whether you like what his company makes. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the reason millions of Africans will not die from diseases where the cures were well known but were not profitable for money-led medicine.

In terms of lives saved, Batman doesn't even come close.