I like the idea of getting more people to contribute to such contracts. Not thrilled about the execution. I think there is a massive product problem with the idea—people don’t understand it, think it is a scam, etc. If your efforts were more directed at the problem of getting people to understand and be excited about crowdfunding contracts like this, I would be a lot more excited.
I think there is a massive product problem with the idea—people don’t understand it, think it is a scam,
I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree that this is the main problem.
If your efforts were more directed at the problem of getting people to understand and be excited about crowdfunding.
That was the point of this post? It’s possible that I’m doing a bad job at this. Do you have any suggestions for what I should be trying to do instead?
In my view you have two plausible routes to overcoming the product problem, neither of which is solved (primarily) by writing code.
Route A would be social proof: find a trusted influencer who wants to do a project with DACs. Start by brainstorming various types of projects that would most benefit from DACs, aiming to find an idea which an (ideally) narrow group of people would be really excited about, that demonstrates the value of such contracts, led by a person with a lot of ‘star power’. Most likely this would be someone who would be likely to raise quite a lot of money through a traditional donation/kickstarter-type drive, but instead they decide to demo the DAC (and in doing so make a good case for it).
Route B is to focus on comms. Iterate on the message. Start by explaining it to non-economist friends, then graduate to focus groups. It’s crucial to try to figure out how to most simply explain the idea in a sentence or two, such that people understand and don’t get confused by it.
I’m guessing you’ll need to follow both these routes, but you can follow them simultaneously and hopefully learn cross-useful things while doing so.
For Route B, I’m not sure I can find a super compelling sentence, that’s why I thought it would be easier to just have something I could point to (Hey look at all these cool things we managed to raise money for, I can help you raise money too!).
For Route A, I’d would be surprised if there was a trusted influencer who would risk their reputation on this weird financial scheme, unless there were at least several examples showing that it worked. I think what I’m doing is a prerequisite for this route.
I like the idea of getting more people to contribute to such contracts. Not thrilled about the execution. I think there is a massive product problem with the idea—people don’t understand it, think it is a scam, etc. If your efforts were more directed at the problem of getting people to understand and be excited about crowdfunding contracts like this, I would be a lot more excited.
Thanks for the feedback.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree that this is the main problem.
That was the point of this post? It’s possible that I’m doing a bad job at this. Do you have any suggestions for what I should be trying to do instead?
In my view you have two plausible routes to overcoming the product problem, neither of which is solved (primarily) by writing code.
Route A would be social proof: find a trusted influencer who wants to do a project with DACs. Start by brainstorming various types of projects that would most benefit from DACs, aiming to find an idea which an (ideally) narrow group of people would be really excited about, that demonstrates the value of such contracts, led by a person with a lot of ‘star power’. Most likely this would be someone who would be likely to raise quite a lot of money through a traditional donation/kickstarter-type drive, but instead they decide to demo the DAC (and in doing so make a good case for it).
Route B is to focus on comms. Iterate on the message. Start by explaining it to non-economist friends, then graduate to focus groups. It’s crucial to try to figure out how to most simply explain the idea in a sentence or two, such that people understand and don’t get confused by it.
I’m guessing you’ll need to follow both these routes, but you can follow them simultaneously and hopefully learn cross-useful things while doing so.
For Route B, I’m not sure I can find a super compelling sentence, that’s why I thought it would be easier to just have something I could point to (Hey look at all these cool things we managed to raise money for, I can help you raise money too!).
For Route A, I’d would be surprised if there was a trusted influencer who would risk their reputation on this weird financial scheme, unless there were at least several examples showing that it worked. I think what I’m doing is a prerequisite for this route.