Executive Summary:
Astrovault proposes the integration of our innovative fundraising platform, Outbid, into the Hub directly. Outbid functions as a decentralized, gamified launchpad, designed to facilitate a pipeline of transparent and accessible fundraising for projects within the Cosmos network. This model not only streamlines the fundraising process but also enhances community engagement through an auction-based micro-sale system. This would also bring a level of sustainability to whatever DAO the Hub elects to handle marketing and BizDev efforts.
Context:
There was initially an agreed upon deal between us and the AADAO to propose this together under the terms that we received $200k in funding ($60k in an up front grant and $140k through additional fees raised through successful sales - basically built in KPIs) with a longterm structure of 4% fees for us and 6% for them/community pool. Since then they have claimed to lack the resources to handle BizDev and Marketing efforts to operate a standalone franchise of Outbid, and therefore this proposal outlines us going forward for free, without sharing revenue, with the idea that we will happily turn over the franchise to any Hub-elected DAO based upon the handshake deal established.
We were told that they consider this prop to be competitive with Streamswap. We do not speak for Streamswap. We are fans of Streamswap. We think/hope thereâs a place for both of these platforms on the Hub eventually, as they facilitate quite different but often complementary use cases.
What is Outbid?
Outbid is a gamified fundraising platform that combines the thrill of auctions with crowdfunding. Hereâs a brief intro:
Outbid Intro - YouTube
Projects and DAOs are enabled to raise community funds through a series of micro-sales. Everything is parameterized, so any type of deal can be facilitated through Outbid, but the recommended flow includes consecutive microsales, with each sale being more expensive than the previous one and with a shorter vest, driving up the valuation and ensuring that early supporters benefit from the best pricing. Weâve seen good traction on the platform in our tiny isolated corner of the Cosmos, check out our previous rounds here: https://astrovault.io/outbid/
Again, raises on the platform are completely customizable and every parameter or mechanism is modular and adjustable.
How does a franchise work?
Outbid has been re-configured to be fully operational through the UI for franchise owners. Operators can create, end, customize, reward, do everything imaginable to facilitate a sale all from their operator dashboard & whitelisted wallet. Through this, teams can monetize their BD and Marketing efforts by facilitating their dealflow through Outbid, and retain a majority of the revenue, similarly to how local owners of traditional franchises (say, McDonalds) get support from the primary company, with only a revenue share back to their hub.
Here, we want a white labeled, and potentially renamed instance of Outbid to be built out on the hub, managed by whatever DAO the Hub elects to handle marketing and BizDev efforts. We would do the heavy lifting, provide our proprietary code, set up all the contracts, etc. The AXV DAO would receive a stream of protocol owned liquidity in perpetuity. This could also be used to set raise conditions for grants, in addition to providing a new avenue of funding for early stage projects. As an example, a Grant-DAO could agree to a 50% match of whatever is raised where they contribute to a raise based on interest and participation to ensure community backing and financial interest for a given project. This would allow the community early access to new projects and provide a kind of social safety net to ensure projects funded align with community sentiment and would allow them to be funded accordingly. This would create transparency for venture dealflow and ensure the community always has the opportunity to get a piece of the action.
What does the Hub get out of this?
Astrovault proposes the integration of our innovative fundraising platform, Outbid, into the Hub directly, with Hub ownership, agency and operational direction, with the potential to be a neutral product focal point for ATOM and the Hub. Outbid functions as a decentralized, gamified launchpad, designed to facilitate a pipeline of transparent and accessible fundraising for projects within the Cosmos network. This model streamlines the fundraising process, enhances community engagement and brings a sustainable fundraising pipeline to the ecosystem that can be handed off to an elected DAO at a later date.
The primary purpose of Outbid is to provide a streamlined and transparent way for projects to raise capital from a community. By facilitating a secure and efficient funding process, Outbid aims to bridge the gap between project creators and potential backers, enabling innovators to bring their ideas to life while providing a unique opportunity for supporters to participate in the growth and development of promising ventures.
Outbid is necessary because it fills the gap of traditional funding methods, which are often overtly centralized, fail to support innovative projects, startups, and social causes. Conventional funding channels can be inaccessible to many, with stringent requirements and high barriers to entry. Additionally, the rise of entrepreneurship and crowdfunding has created a growing demand for alternative funding solutions that cater to diverse needs and offer more inclusive opportunities. By providing a digital platform for fundraising, these platforms democratize access to capital, enabling anyone with an idea or a project to reach a global audience, build a community, and raise funds from supporters who share their vision.
Key Benefits:
Centralized Access: The Cosmos Hub provides a single point of entry for projects to access the broader Cosmos ecosystem, making it easier for them to connect with other chains, projects, and stakeholders.
Network Effects: By being part of the Cosmos Hub, Outbid can leverage the network effects of having multiple projects and chains connected in one place, driving growth and adoption through cross-pollination and collaboration. Successful launches through Outbid will also significantly prove and improve the Hubâs role as the head of the Cosmos Ecosystem. The pipeline of new projects, decks, twitter spaces, podcasts, articles, raises, launches, shared security, and more will be a full-stack onramp for new ideas, teams, and projects to be formally integrated into the Atom Economic Zone, and the greater Cosmos Ecosystem. The Hub needs a clear role, mission, and purpose. The ATOM token needs greater market penetration and velocity. All of this is facilitated through a consistent onramping/onboarding schedule facilitated by a DAO, through Outbid.
Incubation Opportunities: As a central hub, the Cosmos Hub is well-positioned to provide resources and support for promising projects, including access to funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities. Outbid can provide a streamlined vector to facilitate this in an equitable and decentralized manner.
Community Engagement: The Cosmos Hubâs community-driven approach can help foster engagement and adoption of Outbid, as users and project teams collaborate and share knowledge in a shared ecosystem.
Implementation
A white-listed wallet address will be required to deploy smart contracts to the Hub. Weâll make a custom white labeled user interface so that the protocol is separate and stand alone from Astrovault. Private and public beta testing will be required with opportunities for the community to participate and provide feedback.
Details of the Deal
We had arranged to provide our launchpad protocol for a $60k grant from AADAO upfront with some caveats. 4% of tokens sold in perpetuity was to be reserved for the AXV DAO. An additional 6% of tokens sold will be rendered to the AXV DAO until $140k was earned through this. Long-term this would have been handled by the AADAO, in the interim it wouldâve provided the remaining $140k of a total $200k grant deal. After $140k was earned, this 6% was to be earned by the AADAO in perpetuity, or however they structured the deal with the Cosmos Hub Treasury, which is an additional consideration. In lieu of honorable terms, weâre bringing this proposal to governance directly. Weâre offering our platform without an upfront charge or spend proposal, but without the portion of revenue share originally allocated. We are fully willing to provide the original revenue share, as stated above, to any DAO the hub elects to handle such things going forward who DOES have the resources and bandwidth to competently manage the platform.
Cosmos Hub Treasury Considerations
We recommend a continued token swap for whatever DAO eventually takes over the franchise for the Community Pool, so that the Community Pool is the one earning these newly launched tokens, and the DAO can properly have operational capital for their facilitation, as fees are earned in new tokens that are pre-liquid. Note that this only matters if/when a representative DAO takes over the operations of the franchise.
We additionally volunteer/recommend that the Hub gives out some AXV, and other volunteered tokens as both random and structured prizes to participants throughout these launches as additional participation incentives to drive sales. The hub currently owns 2.9M AXV ($122k-ish) which could be deployed either partially or fully to this end. NTRN and other tokens, as well as NFTs could also be given out as bonus prizes to engage a variety of communities and boost the incentive model, and dopamine-triggering fun even further. This will absolutely facilitate velocity for the ATOM token through sales, make them more fun for the end user, and help grow and stoke on-chain dealflow.
Team Background:
Our team is a group of hardcore, seasoned crypto veterans. Weâve built through and survived the Terra/LUNA collapse, the FTX fallout, and weâve primarily bootstrapped, and community funded (through Outbid) through the bear market. Our core team includes:
Eric Waisanen: Co-Founder
Founder of tokenomics consulting firm âDopenomicsâ. Eric is a Masters lecturer on Tokenomics and Game Theory and an industry leading DeFi researcher. Eric has a degree in Economic Philosophy. His prior experience is in the gaming industry, including redesigning and auditing casino games.
Ethan Wood: Co-Founder
Industry leading DeFi researcher. Ethan has four years managing crypto operations. He previously spent approximately ten years working for traditional tech companies like Hewlett-Packard, Verizon, and AT&T. Ethanâs background is in Global Trade Compliance and Business Administration.
Kenny Grant: CTO
QA Mastermind with 3 years experience working in a crypto managerial capacity. Kenny has over thirty years of software engineering. He has a background in international telecoms, marketing, and video game sectors, with monthly published works. He has earned his BEng Electronic Engineering (Hons.) after Electronic and Information Engineering.
Fabio Soares: Senior Contract Developer
Fabio is a full-stack developer and language expert with 4 years of programming experience. He has a Masterâs in Telecommunications, Electrical, and Computer Engineering, has worked on Hyperledger and built multiple dApps.
Proposal:
At a later stage, and pending the communityâs feedback, we will push a signaling proposal.
If the outcome of the signaling proposal is favorable, we will proceed with an Update Parameters proposal to authorize the deployment with the parameters outlined above.
In order to fulfill the stated goals outlined in this proposal, the Astrovault team will need a whitelisted admin multisig address to be able to deploy on the Hub. While we typically build close-sourced, we will attach a business license and open the code of Outbid to be aligned with the stated goals of the Cosmos Hub. Weâll host several community demos of Outbid over the next several weeks to better familiarize members with the gameplay of how Outbid works, and prepare teams for how to design their sales. Additionally, weâll provide continued support, upgrades, and maintenance as needed going forward for the foreseeable future.