BitShares Forum

Main => General Discussion => Topic started by: hpenvy on November 17, 2014, 06:47:26 pm

Title: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: hpenvy on November 17, 2014, 06:47:26 pm
What is our elevator pitch to different markets?  Here's a resend post from Counterparty from their AMA.

[–]5tu 5 points 2 hours ago

In an elevator pitch to someone new to this what is the problem counterparty is trying to solve that bitcoin doesn't?

    permalink
    save
    report
    give gold
    reply

[–]CDerivativesTrader 9 points an hour ago

Counterparty is a trustless settlement engine. It aims to disintermediate stock and commodities exchanges, prediction markets, derivatives, options and futures. Counterparty puts Wall Street on the blockchain without the middleman.


Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: lovejoy on January 15, 2015, 04:29:23 am
I was just going to create a thread with the same title, but since hpenvy was unsurprisingly pondering this question in November, let's do the 'ol thread bump.   :D

I have been working on my elevator / cafe / cocktail hour pitch for a while.. I seem to be getting across some good information but I want to sharpen my chops in this regard, because we have a lot of people to reach as quickly as possible.

So please let's community crowdsource the killer lines to get our messages across as efficiently as possible.

I was at a cafe today and a young lady asked me what I do for a living...

One of the most common questions I ask in response to this is "do you know about Bitcoin?"  And although this is helpful sometimes I'd like to avoid this if possible, since if they haven't then they feel immediately uninformed, and also because well, frankly... droves of people in the day to day world have not heard of Bitcoin... Amazing I know, but we live in a crypto tech bubble and we have to face the facts.  If they have heard of bitcoin, they'll say so by the time you've finished your elevator speech.

I usually go with something to the effect of: I'm working on a project to make banks obsolete by allowing ordinary people to control their financial fortunes through a new technology which allows you to store, or send value to anyone in the world in ten seconds. (then if I have a few more seconds I might say) It's a global, decentralized network, which allows you to move your funds between different currencies and earn interest on your savings.

What's your elevator pitch?
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: Stan on January 15, 2015, 05:17:38 am
What's your elevator pitch?

Engineering distributed, fault-tolerant, self-organizing, trustless systems
using a continuously reconfiguring ring of transparently auditable signing agents
selected and monitored by reputation-based stakeholder consensus
in a fully-decentralized delegated proof of stake network.

Seems to work.  No one ever has any questions.  :)
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: btswildpig on January 15, 2015, 05:25:16 am
1、BitUSD is good . Reason is blah ....
2、Because BitUSD is good , it locked 3X BTS , so the demand for BTS has huge potential .
3、Do you want to buy some BTS ?  :P
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: lovejoy on January 15, 2015, 05:34:03 am
What's your elevator pitch?

Engineering distributed, fault-tolerant, self-organizing, trustless systems
using a continuously reconfiguring ring of transparently auditable signing agents
selected and monitored by reputation-based stakeholder consensus
in a fully-decentralized delegated proof of stake network.

Seems to work.  No one ever has any questions.  :)

If this were my elevator pitch...
that elevator would either be in Blacksburg VA, or everyone would be eyes glazed over

No questions indeed!

I'll work on translating each of those points to human readable language! ;)
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: roadscape on January 15, 2015, 05:59:34 am
I think my general structure is:
 - introduce and/or build up Bitcoin,
 - break it down, and then
 - bring DPOS to the rescue.

A few points I've had good responses to:

For people trying to understand mining:
"Fascinatingly, Bitcoin is like a true gold mining simulator, and it's just as bad for the environment"

Win over any cryptoskeptic that supports whistleblowing:
"No legitimate use? What about banking blockades against wikileaks? Was that legitimate? Bitcoin saved the day."

For smart-masses:
"And what's the dollar backed by? Other than war?"

For supporters of credit unions:
"BitShares is to credit unions as credit unions are to major banks"

For the economically disheartened:
"BitShares has the power to replace the greed with code"

And in the Spirit of Stan:

BitUSD is just one of several 'digital tokens' representing the buying power
of an external/real-world asset, whose value is maintained by a prediction market
in which traders on either side ingeniously balance each other out
through a set of simple, open, algorithmic rules
in an otherwise completely free market.
(this one requires a LOT of hand gestures to fully get the point across)
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: Gentso1 on January 15, 2015, 01:12:12 pm
riverhead, methodx and myself have been working our pitch for the last few nights.

The focus, as always is the product bitUSD. The 5 points shown on http://whatisbitusd.com/ (http://whatisbitusd.com/)

So we have 5 key points and a quick 1 line to explain each one

Price Stability-BitUSD is pegged to the value of real USD. That means 1 BitUSD today will be worth 1 real USD tomorrow, without issuing an IOU.
Better Anonymity-Since BitUSD uses stealth addresses by default, it's hard to spy on your balance or know what your shopping habits are.
Earn Interest-Unlike with brick & mortar banks, holding BitUSD in your wallet earns interest. Relax and let your money work for you.
No Counterparty Risk-There is no IOU with BitUSD. It's backed by 300% collateral on the worlds first decentralized exchange.
Blockchain Secure-BitUSD is built with the same innovation as Bitcoin. A publicly distributed ledger means nobody can "freeze" or confiscate your funds.

Keeping those the product in mind a question that is being asked  is, How is bitUSD made? For that we have

"BitUSD is shorted into existence by BTS holders and is 300% collateralized and blockchain sercured so there is no counterparty risk."


Pleas feel free to post idea's. This kinds quick high level over views are great tools for me.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: liondani on January 15, 2015, 01:32:27 pm
riverhead, methodx and myself have been working our pitch for the last few nights.

The focus, as always is the product bitUSD. The 5 points shown on http://whatisbitusd.com/ (http://whatisbitusd.com/)

So we have 5 key points and a quick 1 line to explain each one

Price Stability-BitUSD is pegged to the value of real USD. That means 1 BitUSD today will be worth 1 real USD tomorrow, without issuing an IOU.
Better Anonymity-Since BitUSD uses stealth addresses by default, it's hard to spy on your balance or know what your shopping habits are.
Earn Interest-Unlike with brick & mortar banks, holding BitUSD in your wallet earns interest. Relax and let your money work for you.
No Counterparty Risk-There is no IOU with BitUSD. It's backed by 300% collateral on the worlds first decentralized exchange.
Blockchain Secure-BitUSD is built with the same innovation as Bitcoin. A publicly distributed ledger means nobody can "freeze" or confiscate your funds.

Keeping those the product in mind a question that is being asked  is, How is bitUSD made? For that we have

"BitUSD is shorted into existence by BTS holders and is 300% collateralized and blockchain sercured so there is no counterparty risk."


Pleas feel free to post idea's. This kinds quick high level over views are great tools for me.

I still prefer bitGold! I think we can drive more attention globally in that way...not all the world is USA/$   friendly...
Don't concentrate only on the trees in front of your eyes, but realize that you are in the middle of a... Forest!
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: sumantso on January 15, 2015, 01:46:56 pm
1、BitUSD is good . Reason is blah ....
2、Because BitUSD is good , it locked 3X BTS , so the demand for BTS has huge potential .
3、Do you want to buy some BTS ?  :P

Tell them to buy BitGOLD or BitSILVER, or ask them to save in BitUSD or BitUSD.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: xeroc on January 15, 2015, 01:48:33 pm
riverhead, methodx and myself have been working our pitch for the last few nights.

The focus, as always is the product bitUSD. The 5 points shown on http://whatisbitusd.com/ (http://whatisbitusd.com/)

So we have 5 key points and a quick 1 line to explain each one

Price Stability-BitUSD is pegged to the value of real USD. That means 1 BitUSD today will be worth 1 real USD tomorrow, without issuing an IOU.
Better Anonymity-Since BitUSD uses stealth addresses by default, it's hard to spy on your balance or know what your shopping habits are.
Earn Interest-Unlike with brick & mortar banks, holding BitUSD in your wallet earns interest. Relax and let your money work for you.
No Counterparty Risk-There is no IOU with BitUSD. It's backed by 300% collateral on the worlds first decentralized exchange.
Blockchain Secure-BitUSD is built with the same innovation as Bitcoin. A publicly distributed ledger means nobody can "freeze" or confiscate your funds.

Keeping those the product in mind a question that is being asked  is, How is bitUSD made? For that we have

"BitUSD is shorted into existence by BTS holders and is 300% collateralized and blockchain sercured so there is no counterparty risk."


Pleas feel free to post idea's. This kinds quick high level over views are great tools for me.

Can we move the anonymity feature to the VERY end .. 1) it is no real anonymity .. 2) it's not an argument to invest .. 3) "easy" to achieve with most crypto and not a killer feature
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: Gentso1 on January 15, 2015, 07:27:11 pm
riverhead, methodx and myself have been working our pitch for the last few nights.

The focus, as always is the product bitUSD. The 5 points shown on http://whatisbitusd.com/ (http://whatisbitusd.com/)

So we have 5 key points and a quick 1 line to explain each one

Price Stability-BitUSD is pegged to the value of real USD. That means 1 BitUSD today will be worth 1 real USD tomorrow, without issuing an IOU.
Better Anonymity-Since BitUSD uses stealth addresses by default, it's hard to spy on your balance or know what your shopping habits are.
Earn Interest-Unlike with brick & mortar banks, holding BitUSD in your wallet earns interest. Relax and let your money work for you.
No Counterparty Risk-There is no IOU with BitUSD. It's backed by 300% collateral on the worlds first decentralized exchange.
Blockchain Secure-BitUSD is built with the same innovation as Bitcoin. A publicly distributed ledger means nobody can "freeze" or confiscate your funds.

Keeping those the product in mind a question that is being asked  is, How is bitUSD made? For that we have

"BitUSD is shorted into existence by BTS holders and is 300% collateralized and blockchain sercured so there is no counterparty risk."


Pleas feel free to post idea's. This kinds quick high level over views are great tools for me.

Can we move the anonymity feature to the VERY end .. 1) it is no real anonymity .. 2) it's not an argument to invest .. 3) "easy" to achieve with most crypto and not a killer feature

2)I think it is a valid investment argument, people try to hide their money for the government all the time for a few different reasons.

1,3 I agree with. I am hopeful in the future 1 will be solved by the devs and their coding work as time goes on.


My question to you would be what can we replace that bullet with?

To anyone suggesting bitGLD, SLV etc......your right but, At this time I think their are too many steps for getting users to buy into them on a noticeable scale. If you can go from btc or even better fiat to bitLGD then I agree 100%
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: xeroc on January 15, 2015, 07:38:38 pm
My question to you would be what can we replace that bullet with?
That's easy:

- faster than cash (in fact .. lightning faaaaast :) )
- cleaner than cash
- faster than credit card
- integrated social network (only wall posts for now -- off-topic maybe)
- pay with your mobile phone (existing app)
- democracy -- delegates by voting
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: TurkeyLeg on January 16, 2015, 01:34:40 am
I think the following points are critical in an elevator pitch to a "non crypto enthusiast".

1. Transfer any amount of money to anyone in the world - securely and almost instantly, for a few pennies per transaction. (Modify the cost part as BTS price changes over time).

2. No middlemen, IOUs or pending transactions.

3. Every transaction can be audited, by anyone, at any time.

4. Save your wealth in the value of real world assets and earn real interest - without having to trust anyone.

5. As a one-of-a-kind decentralized network, it is a safe haven from bad actors, bad governments and bad economies.

BitAssets give you instant, total and singular control of your wealth. No one can take it away from you and you earn interest immediately. Store BILLIONS or spend a few a bucks - all with the same speed, safety and control.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: TurkeyLeg on January 16, 2015, 01:38:35 am
I would love to hear CarpetRide's take on this post as well.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: lovejoy on January 16, 2015, 06:15:15 am
I think the following points are critical in an elevator pitch to a "non crypto enthusiast".

1. Transfer any amount of money to anyone in the world - securely and almost instantly, for a few pennies per transaction. (Modify the cost part as BTS price changes over time).

2. No middlemen, IOUs or pending transactions.

3. Every transaction can be audited, by anyone, at any time.

4. Save your wealth in the value of real world assets and earn real interest - without having to trust anyone.

5. As a one-of-a-kind decentralized network, it is a safe haven from bad actors, bad governments and bad economies.

BitAssets give you instant, total and singular control of your wealth. No one can take it away from you and you earn interest immediately. Store BILLIONS or spend a few a bucks - all with the same speed, safety and control.

 +5%

If we're really talking elevator speech here, and i think we are, it's meant to be aimed at folks who are not necessarily in the crypto world, so more of the above is needed.

We need to take these above points and carve them into carefully sculpted neurolinguistic amusement park rides for the imagination which make people want to take the ride!

Then we need digital & paper calling cards, with all the best next steps, further down the funnel towards the client, with actionable steps, and meetup invites, and cocktail hour and calls to ACTION.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: CLains on January 16, 2015, 12:18:26 pm
What it is

Internet money,
digital exchange,

10 second transactions across the globe
anyone can use it for free,
open and accessible to everyone,
no personal information required,

like bitcoin,
and yet not volatile

How it works

Like torrent,
Like wikipedia,

everyone can share and contribute,
open to everyone,
no single point of authority

Usefulness

Visa, PayPal, Banks are central authorities
they have all your personal information
they charge much higher fees
they are much slower

internet revolutionized how information was transferred,
this new technology revolutionizes how money and value is transferred.
Title: Re: Elevator Pitch for Different Markets
Post by: lovejoy on January 16, 2015, 10:12:41 pm
What it is

Internet money,
digital exchange,

10 second transactions across the globe
anyone can use it for free,
open and accessible to everyone,
no personal information required,

like bitcoin,
and yet not volatile

How it works

Like torrent,
Like wikipedia,

everyone can share and contribute,
open to everyone,
no single point of authority

Usefulness

Visa, PayPal, Banks are central authorities
they have all your personal information
they charge much higher fees
they are much slower

internet revolutionized how information was transferred,
this new technology revolutionizes how money and value is transferred.

+5%  Yes!  clearly worded, accessible comparisons, and no heavy concepts to unpack.

This elevator is starting to feel a little less confining.  :)