Bytemaster: please read "Crossing The Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore

[donkeypong]

We have a volunteer:

https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=10620.msg140393#msg140393

[donkeypong]

Might any of those companies make a good partner for us in Argentina? In other words, given their businesses, would they have something to gain by this? (Or does BitShares cut their business model out of the equation?)

Good question. What are the benefits to them. I'll continue my research later today when I have more time.

And if there isn't a good corporate partner, can we look at other groups that might help give us a foothold (and maybe do some legwork for us)? I've never been to Argentina. Is there a university, an organization, or any institution that might take to this? Do any of you know someone there?

[Method-X]

Might any of those companies make a good partner for us in Argentina? In other words, given their businesses, would they have something to gain by this? (Or does BitShares cut their business model out of the equation?)

Good question. What are the benefits to them. I'll continue my research later today when I have more time.

[donkeypong]

Might any of those companies make a good partner for us in Argentina? In other words, given their businesses, would they have something to gain by this? (Or does BitShares cut their business model out of the equation?)

[Empirical1.1]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

Does BitUSD have any advantage over BitGLD?

From my experience in Argentina, the US dollar is so ubiquitous that it might have an advantage over BitGLD simply because people are used to thinking in dollar terms. The black market exchange rate for the US dollar is published in the major newspapers every morning. I think it would be a lot more difficult to get people thinking in gold terms for pricing than it would be for bitUSD. That's just my opinion. Of course, they would have access to both bitGLD and bitUSD if they wanted to, but in terms of a marketing push, I think bitUSD is the best focus.

Yeah it's BitUSD all the way there. They can adopt this nationwide in less than a year.

The question is how do we do it. How do we get in there?

My approach to be would be to approach the 4/5 biggest Bitcoin entrepreneurs/exchanges and pitch them BitUSD. They should get the opportunity instantly and then we go from there. It looks like this hasn't been done yet.

1. BitPagos 
2. Dr. Bitcoin Venezuala

3. ?
4. ?
5. ?

Xapo is another company with a big presence in Argentina (it was founded by an Argentine entrepreneur). They make bitcoin wallets and bitcoin based debit cards. I don't want to speak too soon, but I have a contact within the company. I met him through a friend and got dinner with him when I was in Argentina. I'm preparing a bit post about marketing within Argentina. I'm going to try to make it comprehensive, so that we can get a bit conversation about this going on it's own thread. I should be able to have it up by tonight.

  Fantastic

[matador123]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

Does BitUSD have any advantage over BitGLD?

From my experience in Argentina, the US dollar is so ubiquitous that it might have an advantage over BitGLD simply because people are used to thinking in dollar terms. The black market exchange rate for the US dollar is published in the major newspapers every morning. I think it would be a lot more difficult to get people thinking in gold terms for pricing than it would be for bitUSD. That's just my opinion. Of course, they would have access to both bitGLD and bitUSD if they wanted to, but in terms of a marketing push, I think bitUSD is the best focus.

Yeah it's BitUSD all the way there. They can adopt this nationwide in less than a year.

The question is how do we do it. How do we get in there?

My approach to be would be to approach the 4/5 biggest Bitcoin entrepreneurs/exchanges and pitch them BitUSD. They should get the opportunity instantly and then we go from there. It looks like this hasn't been done yet.

1. BitPagos 
2. Dr. Bitcoin Venezuala

3. ?
4. ?
5. ?

Xapo is another company with a big presence in Argentina (it was founded by an Argentine entrepreneur). They make bitcoin wallets and bitcoin based debit cards. I don't want to speak too soon, but I have a contact within the company. I met him through a friend and got dinner with him when I was in Argentina. I'm preparing a bit post about marketing within Argentina. I'm going to try to make it comprehensive, so that we can get a bit conversation about this going on it's own thread. I should be able to have it up by tonight.

[Empirical1.1]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

Does BitUSD have any advantage over BitGLD?

From my experience in Argentina, the US dollar is so ubiquitous that it might have an advantage over BitGLD simply because people are used to thinking in dollar terms. The black market exchange rate for the US dollar is published in the major newspapers every morning. I think it would be a lot more difficult to get people thinking in gold terms for pricing than it would be for bitUSD. That's just my opinion. Of course, they would have access to both bitGLD and bitUSD if they wanted to, but in terms of a marketing push, I think bitUSD is the best focus.

Yeah it's BitUSD all the way there. They can adopt this nationwide in less than a year.

The question is how do we do it. How do we get in there?

My approach to be would be to approach the 4/5 biggest Bitcoin entrepreneurs/exchanges and pitch them BitUSD. They should get the opportunity instantly and then we go from there. It looks like this hasn't been done yet.

1. BitPagos  http://www.coindesk.com/bitpagos-brings-bitcoin-8000-convenience-stores-ripio/

2. Dr. Bitcoin Venezuala http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-08/dr-bitcoin-venezuela-wages-economic-war-against-maduros-currency-controls

3. Unisend http://www.coindesk.com/argentina-bitcoin-exchange-loses-bank-accounts/

4. Bitex.la http://www.coindesk.com/latin-america-bitcoin-exchange-bitex-la-2-million/

5. ?

[matador123]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

Does BitUSD have any advantage over BitGLD?

From my experience in Argentina, the US dollar is so ubiquitous that it might have an advantage over BitGLD simply because people are used to thinking in dollar terms. The black market exchange rate for the US dollar is published in the major newspapers every morning. I think it would be a lot more difficult to get people thinking in gold terms for pricing than it would be for bitUSD. That's just my opinion. Of course, they would have access to both bitGLD and bitUSD if they wanted to, but in terms of a marketing push, I think bitUSD is the best focus.

[luckybit]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

Does BitUSD have any advantage over BitGLD?

[emailtooaj]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

 
On top of that, take a look into the overall Hispanic population (from Mexico to Argentina) and their financial plight to success.  They've come to the US (legally and illegally) to work for USD and their only "safe" way to send it back to their country is through money wire services (Western Union, Money Gram, etc etc) bypassing their corrupt and unstable banking systems. I've talked to many of them first hand and they'll all tell you the same story. It's mind blowing how much USD gets transferred out of this county!!!
This should be a no-brainer in trying to educate this population about Bitshares and it's economical benefits.
Once we get the USD>BitUSD on ramp established and have a Bitshare Lite Client phone app running... IMO the Hispanic community should be the forefront of any
major Marketing push!!

[luckybit]

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

What makes you think Bitshares technology cannot offer instant gratification? Viral BitGold is easily possible.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

Remittance might be a good niche market but I don't think focusing on that will be good enough. I think we should focus on instant gratification. If instant gratification is what takes something viral then why not make DACs which provide instant gratification or offer BitAssets which provide it?

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

I don't think BitUSD is the most important BitAsset. You're not thinking outside of the box here and are being very orthodox. BitTorrent became viral, it caught on. How can we market Bitshares so it too can become viral?

It doesn't have to be BitUSD which goes viral. Any BitAsset or any use case which goes viral would make Bitshares a success. BitUSD might never amount to anything and it could be something we never expect. It could be a user asset or some weird idea we never even considered.

[matador123]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

Definitely agree with what you and Empirical1.1 are saying. Argentina (and possibly Venezuela, though I don't know as much about that latter) is a perfect place that fits these requirements. I was down there from February-July, and the buzz around bitcoin is huge. The problem is, people there want to buy USD to have a safe store of value. Because of bitcoin's volatility, it really isn't a better option than just saving in Argentine pesos, and it's definitely not a better option than buying dollars. So, there's definitely interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to solve some of the economic issues in the country, but Bitcoin doesn't solve these...that's where bitUSD comes in.

[luckybit]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

I agree with only some of this.
1) BitAssets will be important but we don't know which one. So it might not be BitUSD which is important.
2) Users have to see more pluses than minuses using the platform.

See what Bram Cohen had to said: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24911187

He didn't have any clue how BitTorrent woudl be used. He thought it would be used for music sharing but he designed it to be future proof.

[Method-X]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

I don't think BitTorrent/Napster are perfect case studies. These applications both offered instant gratification; something very important for viral growth within the mainstream. Until banks start seizing customer funds, Bitshares simply doesn't have the necessity for mainstream virality.

I would strongly recommend establishing Bitshares in two or three niche markets. As Empirical1.1 said elsewhere: anywhere real USD demand is high but supply is low, that's where we should target. My experience tells me that having a strong foothold in niche markets will naturally spill over into broader markets once the need arises (financial crisis, bailins, bailouts, etc).

So Lucky, what you're saying is true, but only as it applies to niche markets where BitUSD utility is very high. I don't see Bitshares going mainstream viral until two conditions are met:

   1. Strong BitUSD presence in key niche markets.
   2. Financial crisis occurs, causing BitUSD utility to become apparent.

[luckybit]

To anyone interested in making Bitshares as much of a success as BitTorrent and not a marketing failure like Bitcoin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent

Programmer Bram Cohen, a former University at Buffalo graduate student in Computer Science,[4] designed the protocol in April 2001 and released the first available version on 2 July 2001,[5] and the final version in 2008.[6] BitTorrent clients are available for a variety of computing platforms and operating systems including an official client released by Bittorrent, Inc.
As of January 2012, BitTorrent is utilized by 150 million active users (according to BitTorrent, Inc.). Based on this figure, the total number of monthly BitTorrent users can be estimated at more than a quarter of a billion.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Cohen

Study BitTorrent. Tell the marketing team what the BitTorrent team did to market the technology. Why was it adopted so quickly? Why did it go so viral? Was it because people could get something for free? Was it something else?

Study programmer Bram Cohen. Who is he? How did he do the impossible? He did what Bytemaster is attempting to do, what Satoshi Nakamoto attempted to do with Bitcoin.