Author Topic: Bitshares African Initiative Part 2: Phase One  (Read 4229 times)

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Offline BrotherG

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Offline BrotherG

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Yes it truly was a pleasure gibing with you guys. Looking forward to working with you to get us all to the next level.

Offline onceuponatime

Hi BrotherG:

Thank you for presenting your ideas again today in the Mumble Hangout. It was very inspiring.

The following article seems to be relevant to parts of your plans. I think you might find it gives you food for thought:

Bitcoin-Inspired Digital Currency to Power Mobile Savings App
A nonprofit experiments with using digital currency to give poor teenagers their first experience of financial services.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/535271/bitcoin-inspired-digital-currency-to-power-mobile-savings-app/

Offline onceuponatime

Hi BrotherG:

I think you might find it very helpful to your planning to send a PM to Gentso1 and ask him for a phone consultation. I am sure that you will find him to be both knowledgeable and helpful.


"Over the past month and a half I have been working with the BitShares marketing team. My goal has been to convert cold call emails into meetings so I may present solutions to their business needs..."
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=13837.0

Offline donkeypong

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Not sure I can answer your questions very effectively. I'd guess we are a fairly insular group, though there is a certain amount of crossover with some other coin communities. And there are more folks coming here all the time, since (let's face it) there's nothing better than BitShares once they discover this. So the economics of your crowdfunding UIA depends upon how much support you can get from this community and/or from outsiders who come here to buy your UIA 'coin'. If you had very deep support in this community, I'd say you might be able to reach your fundraising target, but that's assuming you make some good friends here and offer something they feel is vital to the BitShares infrastructure. So it's a bit of a political (or internal marketing) exercise. Otherwise, I would guess that your fundraising totals might be fairly modest. But it depends on what people think of your project and I'm not sure what kind of money you're looking to raise. 

Offline BrotherG

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How small is the Bitshares community Donkeypong? I have not asked about that. Is there cross over between the Bitcoin community or are you guys spy vs spy type enemies?  If I asked the Bitcoin community to contribute to a Bitshares project will I get support for it? Could the blockchain/cryptocurrency publicity aspect of this initiative bring the communities together? How about if I asked for both Bitcoin and Bitshares and immediately transfered the Bitcoin into Bitgold or Bitusd?  Would that upset the Bitcoin guys?
« Last Edit: February 09, 2015, 10:31:20 pm by BrotherG »

Offline donkeypong

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The UIA's are a possibility. However, bear in mind that we are a small community still so there's not that much money to go around. You might need to bring in some more outside 'investors' or 'crowdfunders' to help buy up your UIA shares. How much money do you need to raise for this project?

Offline BrotherG

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Well you guys are getting me really interested in the User Issued Asset  possibilities  for raising the funds. I thought of the delegate position because it seems the easiest and most expedient. But I am not married to any method as long as the crucial  Bitshares  component is there. Its really intriguing to think that we could raise the funds we need through a UIA and not need Indigogo Or a delegate position at all. Can any of you experts hip me up to how you see UIA issuance for financing would work with this project as I have outlined?  For sure We won't have to worry about one aspect that Bytemaster warns against: taxes! In the Bahamas we don't have any!
« Last Edit: February 09, 2015, 09:40:11 pm by BrotherG »

Offline matt608

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I'm curious about the differences in your approach with and without the delegate positions.  Without them would you still use BitShares to issue the UIA?   Would there still be a bitUSD prize without delegate funding?

Thanks for the interesting proposal.

Offline santaclause102

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I like the initiative a lot. Haha hope that doesn't sound politically incorrect but like african americans bitshares is a minority and the underdog in the bitcoin space :)
I would vote for the initiative. What I did not understand was the necessity to use indiegogo if you can do your crowdfunding through bitshares. Is it because the re is already a big user base with indiegogo?

Maybe you can make a list / overview of how people would 1) hear about Bitshares and 2) would have to use the bitshares client to participate in your project.

Offline onceuponatime

This ^^

I would also buy your UIA because I support your project and think it is valuable and do-able. But, as things stand so far in your proposal, I would not vote for you as a delegate despite the fact that I like everything about what you are trying to accomplish. My first loyalty is to bitshares. Secondarily I support other worthy projects.

Your goals could be accomplished through a UIA.

Offline Akado

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My only problem with this is using a delegate to achieve it. Delegates are supposed to contribute directly to BitShares, like doing development, marketing, etc. I understand that in the end, you could too, contribute, however, the problem is that this would all depend on the success of your project and in my opinion, BitShares is first, private projects are second. You would need to have some success first to be able to help BitShares after. I understand having a paid delegate position could speed things up greatly and once again 'could' help you succeed and help BitShares, but this is something you already can do by issuing a UIA. That's what they're for. You said 'The delegate funding would go towards raising money through crowdfunding' and i get it would help but, you're already raising money through the crowdfunding so, why occupying a delegate spot that could benefit BitShares better, know what I mean? I don't mean to be rude but a delegate spot, specially 100% paid is so important. I don't mean to underestimate your project, but imo the spot could be used for something that would benefit BitShares in a better way. I'm telling you this from the point of view of someone whose priority is BitShares, then private projects.

The delegate spot would only get you, how should I say it, a more 'guaranteed' way or a more secure way of getting the funds you need as once you're in, you automatically get the funds. It's better for your project, definitely, but it doesn't mean it is better for BitShares in the end. So what I mean is, why ''wasting'' a potential 100% delegate in something that really doesn't need it? Get me? You can do everything you need by issuing a UIA :)

As a delegate you need to show work to be kept in the 101 so you can get the funds. By issuing a UIA you need to show you're worth of the funds you need. In the end you still need to convince people to invest in you right? So for an investors point of view the options are: will I support the African Initiative by voting them in as a delegate or will I support them by buying their UIA and at the same time get another 100% paid delegate doing cool stuff for BitShares? :) In the end, if people think you're worth it, they will still support you, don't worry. The only thing that changes is the fact of having 1 more delegate spot free for more cool stuff or not :)

Having that said, I wish you the best luck and I'm really really happy you have chosen BitShares :) even if i don't vote you in, I will buy some of your UIA and support you.
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Offline BrotherG

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Thanks for the encouragement and the critical feedback guys. In answering Rune:
You have a good point about for profit businesses becoming parasites on Bitshares. That is not what I am proposing if you read again what we are doing. The delegate funding would go towards raising money through crowdfunding, not running a company. This effort would be a marketing/promotional boon to Bitshares to a lucrative demographic and a marketing/promotional boon to us to get the funding for this animation production. Like the artist tokens pushed by Counterparty (like Tatianacoin) the Bitshares DAC would be supplying a digital commodity that could rise in value with the popularity of the project. This would give supporters of our project a sort of "community ownership." And the fact that to participate in that ownership they would have to participate in Bitshares brings the utility the DAC badly needs. Once we get them into the Bitshares system we could keep them there and get them talking via a contest to win some Bitusd for college. After they find out about the prize money you can hit them with the benefits of Bitusd over regular banking. So Rune, you can think of this as a marketing outlay, the dire need for which I have seen come up on these forums many times.  It is marketing, not support for the ongoing daily business of a startup.

I hail from a journalistic background, and I can tell you that this would play big in the media, first the African American media, then the mainstream media hugely.  Millions would know about Bitshares whether we reach our Crowdfunding goals through Indigogo or not. But we will succeed and get funded.
So Volker,  there is no forecast for making money because this is a pure marketing plan for fundraising at this point. After Crowdfunding we intend to do as Bytemaster advised and move on to sales and merchandise monetization. And when that happens we will install an ongoing Bitshares payment and token incentive structure unlike anything anyone has ever done, thus ensuring that as long as we keep making animated adventures people use Bitassets for purchase. A win-win! We get our animated adventure out and Bitshares gets to be the payment process. And the public will already know what Bitshares is due to the marketing push to fund the animation!

I want everyone to understand that what I am proposing is going to get done whether or not we get delegate funding. The wheels are already in motion. If we do get the funding it would allow us to do this bigger and better, thus increasing our chances to make our Crowdfunding goals while making Bitshares a household name to a crucial demographic.
 Lastly I will speak of a practical  example of what we bring to the table for Bitshares. I hope some of you took the time to watch my video on CSPAN. I don't know if you know this but not just anyone can get on that program. My partner Jeffrey Poitier and I have some huge media contacts around the world like this who are waiting to feature us. I myself have a relationship with the Chicago based Bud Billiken Parade,  the second  largest parade in the US.
http://www.budbillikenparade.org/from-the-white-house

This event is broadcast on television and seen by millions each year. The producers are longtime fans of my work and have asked me to put a float in the parade. I plan to do just that, showcasing my African Legends animation and Bitshares for those millions to see around the world. Some delegate funds will help us create a better float, among other things. You guys are the smart economic DAC, so I think you realize that hiring a marketing firm to get this kind of play would cost a hell a lot more than what we are proposing. Hope this gets the point across about the type of "value proposition" we are bringing to Bitshares and what a dream coalition we could be.

Offline Volker

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Unfortunately, the business plan is a bit loose. I don't really see how you plan to make money or why your tokens would be valuable. The value proposition for BitShares isn't clear.


Offline Rune

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Using bitshares delegates is generally a terrible way to jumpstart a for-profit business. Voters are pretty good at determining whether a delegate is honest or not, but its extremely difficult to determine the expected return of a private startup and what kind of benefit it will give to bitshares. Bitshares stakeholders are not venture capitalists. If we go down this road we might end up with a system where the businesses that are unprofitable and thus cannot raise private capital on their own, but are good at politics and campaigning gets subsidized and run at a loss, paid for by bitshares stakeholders. It results in a less efficient system.

Delegates should be for public goods to the bitshares blockchain that cannot use another business model without seeing a serious reduction in their direct benefit to the blockchain, such as core development, open source development, and bitasset marketing. It's also fair that flagship businesses that have been long time members of the community and have made big contributions (before they ever campaigned for delegates), such as DACX and tradeBTS get subsidized. Similarly subsidizing metaexchange is fine since they are making their entire platform opensource (and cryptohedge is probably going to copy it, among others)

But if you want to raise money for your business as a newcomer, then you should make a UIA and raise funds from investors who are willing to take the risk of betting on your business model. It's not fair to socialize this risk and the cost of funding the business to all bitshares investors.

Offline BTSdac

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Welcome BrotherG!
            I am glad to hear your plan , and you are new bee for this forum.so I think you maybe first do some work make everybody  similar with you ,.
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Offline BrotherG

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We would be looking for another Bitshares genius to help run the delegate. Our planning is high but tech ability low :(.  This would not be permanent, only just to jump start us and enable us to do the massive promo to push the agenda. Then we would turn the resources back over to another worthy Bitshares startup.

Offline mira

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Welcome BrotherG!  I'm very glad to be introduced to you and your work, and it would be exciting to see the synergy with bitshares you are describing. 

I would suggest that you edit your opening post with a link to Part 1 of your initiative (and vice versa, and so on with additional parts of your initiative) so that it is more easily accessible to those that may have missed it.  With the high volume of posts in this forum it's easy for an earlier one to fall out of view rather quickly.

Would you be maintaining the delegates yourself, or partnering with someone to run the technical end?

Offline cusknee

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"If you fail to plan you plan to fail" so it's nice to know that you have a plan and an exciting one at that.

Offline BrotherG

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Yeah that's the plan man. Byte master said getting a delegate position is good way to jumpstart a business. What better business than one with Bitshares at its core?  Ohhh yeah!!

Offline donkeypong

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I wish you best of success with this project. It sounds awesome and I'm going to try one of your other books from the Amazon reviews. I didn't quite understand the delegate connection, though. Are you running a delegate campaign on this basis?

Offline BrotherG

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Bitshares African Initiative Part 2: Phase One

Thank you all for the warm welcome you gave me yesterday. As I indicated before, I am an animation producer with a company based in the Bahamas, in partnership with Jeffrey Poitier (nephew of legendary Sir Sidney Poitier!) called African Legends Animation Ltd. It is a new company, and, like so many startups, we are gathering funding. In order to stay as independent as possible we have decided to partner with Bitshares  to seek some delegate positions to help create  an innovative platform for funding, economics and incentive based upon this great DAC. We think we have come up with a way for Bitshares to get the equivalent of millions in promotion for comparatively little cost.  We are asking for the Bitshares community to vote us in for 2 full paid delegates to get this done. After phase two is implemented it would go down to 1 delegate, with the intention of not needing the paid delegate at all as soon as possible.

Just to point out an example from history: There was once a show called Soul Train that could not get advertisers due to racism. They were approached by a small hair care business called Johnson Products who needed a way to reach their audience. So Johnson Products bought airtime and in a few years went from $12 million in revenue to $40 million (worth $114 million in today's money) in a few years. Everyone needs an edge in a new venture. A way to gain a foothold. I think that working together African Legends Animation Ltd and Bitshares can get to our goals, be each others edge.  And we propose do it via these elements in phase one:

Indigogo crowdfunding (funding goal $300,000)
Blockchain tokens called BitNubs (as in Nubian)
A Bitusd educational fund give way
A promotional tour of comic/scifi conventions and African festivals
A book series I wrote as source material

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Nefertari-Protectress-Nile-Saga/dp/1500325740

The animated project:
The Princess Nefertari Animated Adventure Series
The first animated adventure supported, funded and sold via blockchain technology!

Indigogo donor prizes:
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A Princess Nefertari Quest For Kemet ebook
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 $100 dollar or more donation will get a Princess Nefertari signed copy. Multiples of $100 will get multiple signed copies.
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BitNubs equal to half the amount of the US currency value of their gift. ($50 = 25 BitNubs)
Princess Nefertari BitNubs will be exchanged for:
Half off on any rental/sales of Princess Nefertari Quest For Kemet upon completion
Digital copy of Nefertari's Quest For Kemet ebook novella
Discounts on Nefertari merchandise
The Princess Nefertari BitNubs will be fungible digital collectibles for sale in Bitusd.
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The blockchain tracked BitNubs make the owners eligible to win the $20,000 Princess Nefertari Bitusd College Quest prize ($5000 immediately and $15,000 in an interest bearing Bitusd account to be released when the young person goes to college.)

A Princess Nefertari Quest for College facebook page will be the place for ongoing promotions and will be the place where those who hold the Princess Nefetari BitNubs can claim their prizes. They just need to upload a photo of themselves holding up a phone or tablet showing their BitNubs.

------------
Video idea:
Create a video of two young teens talking about the contest and downloading the Bitshares wallet to receive their BitNubs. They end by showing their BitNubs on their phones to the camera declaring their hope of winning. At one point in the video the two kids talk about banks paying interest on deposits and one kid shouts out asking the unseen mother in the other room if banks still give you money for keeping your cash. The parent shouts back “not anymore dear...and with all the late charges and other fees we end up paying them!” Then one of the kids declares as the other kid downloads the Bitshares wallet “Not with Bitshares! That's why my parents put my college funds in Bitshares Bitusd! The wallets downloaded!”
Then the kid shouts to the of camera mom:
 “OK send us our Princess Nefertari BitNubs, mom!”
As the kids hold up their phones to the camera showing their BitNubs they say:
“Ask your parents to donate now to help produce the Princess Nefertari animated movie! They'll get BitNubs, and when they give you some you could win a $20,000 Bitusd college fund!”

-----------
Timeline/logistics:

April – website and promotional video completed and uploaded to facebook

May –
Promote at East Coast Black Age Of Comics festival May 15-16
Promote at Brooklyn Academy of Music Dance Africa Festival May 22-25

June –
Promote at African American Festival Baltimore MD June 21-22

July -
Promote at African Street Festival New York July 4 weekend
Promote at San Diego Comicon July 8-12
Begin Indigogo Fundraising July 17
Promote at Harlem Book Fair July 18

August –
Promote at Enter a float in the Bud Billiken Parade August 8 (second largest parade in the United States located on South Side of Chicago and viewed by millions http://www.budbillikenparade.org/from-the-white-house)
Promote at African World Festival Detroit August 14-16

September –
Promote at African Festival of the Arts Chicago Labor Day Weekend August 29-Sept 1
End Indigogo Fundraiser Sept 7

Sept 8 2015 start production with a goal of summer 2016 debut of 20-40 minutes pilot depending on funding


--------------------

Our current stars who are fans of my work and have agreed to work as talent for the Princess Nefertari animation:

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh
as the voice of Princess Nefertari

http://tkeyah.com/


Damion Poitier (Jeffrey's cousin who played Thanos in the Avengers movie!)

as the voice of Prince Keshef

https://www.google.com/search?q=damion+poitier&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS605US624&oq=damion&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.5279j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8


Jeffrey Poitier
as the voice of Prince Ahmesh

http://repeatingislands.com/2009/04/26/film-jeffrey-poitiers-voices/



Bitshares African Initiative Part 3: Phase Two – International Outreach and Interest Share Crowdfunding Idea!


Coming tomorrow...