It is a true testament to the growth and strength of this community to see these proposals posted here on XDC.dev. The network is at the beginnings of a very exciting stage, one in which we will witness a steep curve towards greater decentralization and the expansion of developers and initiatives on every continent.
Can is a long time community member who has worked tirelessly to curate this community. The work done on the hackathons, his understanding of blockchain and his egalitarian approach to decentralization and community development has brought incredible value to the community and I support his efforts to bring this type of focus and initiative to Europe.
There are many opportunities which can be developed in Europe where the regulatory environment is clearer than the US, which is why building this community effort in Berlin seems to make a lot of sense.
I believe that as we develop this process of proposals here, we will begin to see more and more demand for funds from innovative teams looking to create a friendly and more supportive environment on the network.
Ease of building on the network and resources to support dev teams and entrepreneurs are important factors leading to accelerated growth on the network, leading us closer to a tipping point in the industry where XDC Network stands out among the top projects.
Industry participation is also critical in bringing about awareness and connecting with industry projects and peers and I am glad to see it in this proposal.
With all that said, I think there are some important details which need to be considered.
In order to reach sustainability in year 2 or even 1.5 years into this initiative, it is going to require a run rate of nearly in $39K of weekly revenue. 37% of that weekly cost will be required for fixed overhead of office space, furniture and fixtures, etc.
While I understand the space will be used as an incubator for projects looking to launch, it is a large number out of the gate and a potential burden for an entity in a startup phase. There is also an additional cost of $3200/week for events which brings the total % of Overhead and shows to nearly 45% of weekly costs.
With sustainability being a main focus of this initiative, it begs the question, is there a way to start with a smaller commitment to fixed overhead so that pressure to meet such a high run rate in such a short period of time is reduced?
I understand that the office space will be used for events/training which will produce revenue but with an event marketing budget of less than 1% of the total ask and no other marketing in the proposal, it seems like it could be a tall task so quickly out of the gate.
There is not any mention of hackathons funds for allocated to them, which do not seem to be coming out of the events budget or bounties.
suggestions for more details:
a) Are we get a better understanding of the cost breakdown of the office space and events?
b) Is there a way to achieve sustainability by starting off with smaller fixed costs and growing the budget as you grow?
c) Are you not planning on having hackathons in the future?
d) Can the $500K funding for L2 projects be unlocked on an as needed basis as opposed to 2/3 at kickoff?
Can and team, thank you for the work you put into this proposal. I am exited to think about the good that can come from this for the network and ecosystem growth.
I also think that this is a great place to have this discussion and see how we can support these types of initiatives to succeed.
I vote for logo = 5
I will add my vote after more feedback and discussion.
thanks for taking the time to read the proposal and provide your great Input!
a) Let me provide more details, Berlin is one of the most expensive cities for rental housing in Europe, a year-on-year price increase of nearly 40 percent for just one-bedroom apartments. Same for Offices. Office costs will always be one of the main expenses.
A smaller office average costs for the team, with room for courses + 1-2 more Incubation Teams, is around $30k. Everything similar, we can secure for a lower price, will be only adding to our operation time with the proposed budget.
As you've mentioned, it is a very good idea to start with a smaller office and scale up depending on demand, so the office budget could very well cover over 18+Months of office rent costs and with coming revenue this will increase until reaching self-sufficiency.
The outlined costs in the proposal, is where we see this initiative getting within the first 12 Months of operation.
It is important to have the liquidity on-hand when needed to scale immediately.
b) Regarding marketing costs, the developers and Teams we are targeting are in Berlin. It will be a local marketing with mainly In-person efforts on Events and networking. The Sales team does only need a salary and no marketing Budget to reach out to potential Partners worldwide.
To add, I won't be getting any salary, only $1 each month symbolically, until we reach full financial sustainability.
This is to show our dedication for the XDC Network and that I fully stand behind the potential of this proposal.
Marketing and advertising on influential local key developer platforms is a lot more cost-effective than a global marketing outreach.
Berlin is a Blockchain "Powerhouse".
Following, you can see a list of some of the upcoming Blockchain events in Berlin.
Most are free of cost to attend, and advertising / sponsoring is very low cost compared to global events. eventbrite.de/d/germany--berlin/bl... . Our biggest asset for advertising will be the Incubation program.
This is a big asset to local Blockchain Event organizers too, and it's worth more than just sponsoring the events, that's why we see the marketing Budget as sufficient for this effort.
c) We are planning for future Hackathons, but just not with Budget from XF or just minimal for the next one. We want to encourage Industry participation, sponsorship and innovation partnerships + talent recruitment funnel for interested parties. All three are commercialized efforts. Due to this fact, we haven't planned a budget for Hackathons from XF because we are certain that we won't need it after the next Hackathon.
d) the $500k funding for L2 projects will be locked and stay under XDC Ecosystem Development Fund custody. It will be partially requested for strategic investments in startups (with a working MVP) which were incubated by the GDCE in our office in Berlin. We won't have any access to the funding.
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It is a true testament to the growth and strength of this community to see these proposals posted here on XDC.dev. The network is at the beginnings of a very exciting stage, one in which we will witness a steep curve towards greater decentralization and the expansion of developers and initiatives on every continent.
Can is a long time community member who has worked tirelessly to curate this community. The work done on the hackathons, his understanding of blockchain and his egalitarian approach to decentralization and community development has brought incredible value to the community and I support his efforts to bring this type of focus and initiative to Europe.
There are many opportunities which can be developed in Europe where the regulatory environment is clearer than the US, which is why building this community effort in Berlin seems to make a lot of sense.
I believe that as we develop this process of proposals here, we will begin to see more and more demand for funds from innovative teams looking to create a friendly and more supportive environment on the network.
Ease of building on the network and resources to support dev teams and entrepreneurs are important factors leading to accelerated growth on the network, leading us closer to a tipping point in the industry where XDC Network stands out among the top projects.
Industry participation is also critical in bringing about awareness and connecting with industry projects and peers and I am glad to see it in this proposal.
With all that said, I think there are some important details which need to be considered.
In order to reach sustainability in year 2 or even 1.5 years into this initiative, it is going to require a run rate of nearly in $39K of weekly revenue. 37% of that weekly cost will be required for fixed overhead of office space, furniture and fixtures, etc.
While I understand the space will be used as an incubator for projects looking to launch, it is a large number out of the gate and a potential burden for an entity in a startup phase. There is also an additional cost of $3200/week for events which brings the total % of Overhead and shows to nearly 45% of weekly costs.
With sustainability being a main focus of this initiative, it begs the question, is there a way to start with a smaller commitment to fixed overhead so that pressure to meet such a high run rate in such a short period of time is reduced?
I understand that the office space will be used for events/training which will produce revenue but with an event marketing budget of less than 1% of the total ask and no other marketing in the proposal, it seems like it could be a tall task so quickly out of the gate.
There is not any mention of hackathons funds for allocated to them, which do not seem to be coming out of the events budget or bounties.
suggestions for more details:
a) Are we get a better understanding of the cost breakdown of the office space and events?
b) Is there a way to achieve sustainability by starting off with smaller fixed costs and growing the budget as you grow?
c) Are you not planning on having hackathons in the future?
d) Can the $500K funding for L2 projects be unlocked on an as needed basis as opposed to 2/3 at kickoff?
Can and team, thank you for the work you put into this proposal. I am exited to think about the good that can come from this for the network and ecosystem growth.
I also think that this is a great place to have this discussion and see how we can support these types of initiatives to succeed.
I vote for logo = 5
I will add my vote after more feedback and discussion.
Thanks, Billy
Hey Billy,
thanks for taking the time to read the proposal and provide your great Input!
a) Let me provide more details, Berlin is one of the most expensive cities for rental housing in Europe, a year-on-year price increase of nearly 40 percent for just one-bedroom apartments. Same for Offices. Office costs will always be one of the main expenses.
A smaller office average costs for the team, with room for courses + 1-2 more Incubation Teams, is around $30k. Everything similar, we can secure for a lower price, will be only adding to our operation time with the proposed budget.
As you've mentioned, it is a very good idea to start with a smaller office and scale up depending on demand, so the office budget could very well cover over 18+Months of office rent costs and with coming revenue this will increase until reaching self-sufficiency.
The outlined costs in the proposal, is where we see this initiative getting within the first 12 Months of operation.
It is important to have the liquidity on-hand when needed to scale immediately.
b) Regarding marketing costs, the developers and Teams we are targeting are in Berlin. It will be a local marketing with mainly In-person efforts on Events and networking. The Sales team does only need a salary and no marketing Budget to reach out to potential Partners worldwide.
To add, I won't be getting any salary, only $1 each month symbolically, until we reach full financial sustainability.
This is to show our dedication for the XDC Network and that I fully stand behind the potential of this proposal.
Marketing and advertising on influential local key developer platforms is a lot more cost-effective than a global marketing outreach.
Berlin is a Blockchain "Powerhouse".
Following, you can see a list of some of the upcoming Blockchain events in Berlin.
Most are free of cost to attend, and advertising / sponsoring is very low cost compared to global events. eventbrite.de/d/germany--berlin/bl... . Our biggest asset for advertising will be the Incubation program.
This is a big asset to local Blockchain Event organizers too, and it's worth more than just sponsoring the events, that's why we see the marketing Budget as sufficient for this effort.
c) We are planning for future Hackathons, but just not with Budget from XF or just minimal for the next one. We want to encourage Industry participation, sponsorship and innovation partnerships + talent recruitment funnel for interested parties. All three are commercialized efforts. Due to this fact, we haven't planned a budget for Hackathons from XF because we are certain that we won't need it after the next Hackathon.
d) the $500k funding for L2 projects will be locked and stay under XDC Ecosystem Development Fund custody. It will be partially requested for strategic investments in startups (with a working MVP) which were incubated by the GDCE in our office in Berlin. We won't have any access to the funding.