Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin => Project Development => Topic started by: samadamsbeer on October 24, 2012, 08:42:56 PM



Title: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: samadamsbeer on October 24, 2012, 08:42:56 PM
Hello Bitcoiners,

Before I describe the idea, note that is is submitted to Finland's SoMePitching entrepreneurship contest (yes, an idea for a competition, submitted to a competition). Check out the entry and consider voting (link in Youtube description)! This was a rushed, crude job, but perhaps captures the concept a bit I hope. Hoping to land some seed sponsors and supporters and people interested in kicking this off IRL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2V2fnMx4CI& (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2V2fnMx4CI&)

OK, as for the idea. Think of the TV show Shark Tank, but allowing anyone to participate, a social media component, and focused on Bitcoin and similar P2P stuff; for real cash and prizes and publicity. You may be familiar with similar competitions like the XPrize, MIT100K, etc.

Apologies if the video offends any geeks (I can because I am one) but I thought Bitcoin could use some off-forum/off-IRC promotion/investment and good stories. I think this is somewhat aligned with the reasons others had for starting a foundation. My experience in other industries with entrepreneurship competitions has been amazing and very valuable. I know there are some other small-scale competitions and stuff out there, like the Bitcoin hackathon. But I was thinking to do something with more exposure to the wider entrepreneurial & investment world and grow the Bitcoin economy. Hence the BTC Prize. Note the focus here is on decentralized, P2P money systems, not just Bitcoin, though Bitcoin will probably be a big part of this and the name is obviously a nudge/wink to Bitcoin anyway.

This kind of competition would:
  • promote & vet business & technical ideas
  • allow existing Bitcoin businesses to develop & connect with valuable resources, investors
  • put a positive spin to Bitcoin, in contrast to all the hacking, theives, scams, etc.
  • provide networking that builds a powerful incubation for startups
  • spur interest among students, young people, entrepreneurs
  • get Bitcoin in front of business professionals in law, banking, IT security, etc.
  • entice investment in Bitcoin infrastructure
  • media attention & advertisement opportunities
  • something for the Bitcoin community to rally behind
  • foster international communication & relations
  • opportunities for education and training
  • provide relevant experience for people seeking work within existing Bitcoin companies
  • volunteers and organizers will network with top names in Bitcoin, economics, etc. & travel the world!
  • spread ideas to the general public for BTC business ideas and tech
  • get people in the Bitcoin community out in the open instead of behind online personas
  • spur the liberty community to real agorism!

Obviously I think the organizers of such an event will have a great opportunity to connect with luminaries in the field and build on ideas shared by others. This could start small and then expand.

Quote
Some similar competitions and their "Social ROI":

X-Prize: A $10 million initial investment led to $100 million in spending by teams, which in turn led to a $1.7 billion investment by private industry. Now the field of private space exploration of space is about to grow exponentially, as a direct result of that initial $10 million.

MIT100k - facilitated the birth of 160+ companies w aggregate exit values of $2.5 billion, a market cap of $15 billion+.... generated 4,600+ jobs and received $1.3 billion dollars in Venture Capital funding..... multiple IPOs, acquisitions and success stories: Akamai (AKAM), net.Genesis(NTG), and C-Bridge Internet Solutions (CBIS), etc.

DARPA_Grand_Challenge - start of Google self-driving car
...

Of course I agree that there is still a place for underground, decentralized investment. And perhaps this competition can indirectly help make that more robust too by incubating better decentralized systems for the use of everyone. I could see this morphing into a more broadly focused agorist business competition down the line.

Incidentally the 50% purse/50% admin figures for fund-raising overhead were taken from Xprize itself. Perhaps this kind of organization could be leaner.


Title: Re: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: samadamsbeer on October 25, 2012, 11:13:23 PM
What? Did I do a bad job describing? Are people confused? Bored? Think this sucks?


Title: Re: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: kangasbros on October 26, 2012, 12:27:11 PM
What? Did I do a bad job describing? Are people confused? Bored? Think this sucks?

TL;DR

There is lots of talk her on the forums, and little action. Why not just start with a MVP, and then iterate from there on?


Title: Re: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: samadamsbeer on October 26, 2012, 07:16:10 PM
Sorry, what is MVP?

The action I have taken here is to go raise money and supporters via a competition. But if its still too abstract to promote on these forums I guess I won't discuss it here on these forums.


Title: Re: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: kangasbros on October 26, 2012, 08:29:57 PM
Sorry, what is MVP?

The action I have taken here is to go raise money and supporters via a competition. But if its still too abstract to promote on these forums I guess I won't discuss it here on these forums.

MVP = Minimum viable product.

Forget about raising money for now. Because talk is cheap no one is going to give on money just because you have nice ideas. Get something done, even small, later on you should be more able to collect funding as well.


Title: Re: The BTC Prize - P2P/decentralized money entrepreneurship competition
Post by: samadamsbeer on October 27, 2012, 08:36:50 PM
Thanks, that's the plan. Just figured if I am going to enter a contest, mine as well aim big. Need some booty to attract some interest ya know.