Props AMA with CryptoTalkz
Adi Sideman sat down with the CryptoTalkz community to teach the group about Props Project and future plans.
AMAs are an important part of the Props Project global marketing plan. It allows our team to interact and educate communities around the globe. In this edition, Adi shares insights about the future plans for Props, how the project is helping Web 2.0 companies embrace blockchain, and answers community questions. You can read the entire transcript below.
Moderator: 👋Hello Chat, Welcome to a special AMA session with Props Project❤️
Adi Sideman: Hi Everyone. Thank you for having me. Thank you for tuning in!
Moderator: Before we start our first session can you introduce yourself to our community?
Adi Sideman: Of course! My name is Adi Sideman. I am the CEO and Co-Founder of Props.
I come from running consumer networks at scale. I co-founded the world’s first online Karaoke (K-Solo) — which sold to Fox/MySpace at the height of Myspace. I then founded the first mobile, at scale, live streaming service in the west (YouNow), which grew to over 120 Million User sessions/ month. There we deployed digital currency (non-crypto). And we became experts at running a two-sided economy at scale. At the time — power users/content creators were asking to get paid not just in dollars, but in stock options….Power users were eager to have an upside in this network they loved and devoted huge amounts of time to…That's where Props idea was born in 2017.
Props is a work/discount token that unlocks user benefits across a network of apps that adopt Props. One way to think about Props is as a cross between traditional loyalty points and capital.
Another way to think about it is: tokenizing loyalty points and imbuing financial value into them.
Props token value is backed by the aggregate utility it provides to its millions of users across all participating apps. So Props supports a network of apps. Today we have 8 apps that have joined Props up and 5 that have launched Props each with Millions or hundreds of thousands of MAU.
~9 Million users across these apps are holding Props for the benefits they unlock. https://metrics.propsproject.io/
Moderator: Wow great start 😁
Adi Sideman: I hope this gives a good introduction to me and the project.
Moderator: How has the experience and background of your team been effective in the success of your project so far?
Adi Sideman: We are 15 team members, ~half in Product and engineering and ~half in Marketing, operations, and finance. Several of us have been working together for over 5 years, and so it’s a very tight team. We started with non-crypto virtual currency in 2013. I was running a live streaming company. And became experts in running a two-sided money market at scale, with close to $100M in sales of that non-crypto currency. So gained experience in managing a digital economy in the context of a mass consumer network. When Etheerum was mature enough to start building on in 2017 — we started building on the blockchain. So we have been at it for 4 years, with a singular focus.
Also — our investors and sister companies we have been discussing with have been a great community for us. Above are some of our investors.
Moderator: Nice Props Project are being back by many big investors 😊
Kudos to your team for a job well done 😁
Adi Sideman: Thank you. There is still a long way to go!
Moderator: What are your main features that distinguish you from other projects and what competitive advantages do you have?
Adi Sideman: Props is unique as it’s an App Level Protocol. The Apps mine the tokens based on the demand value and the utility value they provide to the ecosystem.
In turn, the apps can determine which of their users to reward, how much and for what action (that they deem valuable). The apps have an incentive to reward users who will HODL or buy more tokens: As it's based on the demand they generate, that they themselves earn more tokens. So the incentives are aligned. We are focused on adoption in Mainstream apps that have a large user base. And as part of the overall solution and beyond the protocol, there are SaaS tools that enable apps to easily deploy Props to their community. SaaS tools and Webviews for users to interact with Props.
Making it familiar and straightforward for mainstream apps to adopt. Not only do their engineers not need to code in solidity, and the apps don’t need to hire blockchain engineers. But also their users — the Blockchain is obfuscated and they don’t need to take custody until they wish to claim. That’s how we can be touching millions of users now, as they get educated about Crypto through the products they love and use. Here is a WYSIWYG that apps use to author some of their Props interfaces for their users.
Moderator: What are you looking most forward to doing in Props Project?
Adi Sideman: Our vision is to enable all users to benefit from contributing value and engaging with the online apps/ communities that they love. For the value and upside to be shared. — and seeing that starting to work is very rewarding. The users benefit as they are earning an asset that they have not earned so far and feel ownership, appreciated, and affinity. The apps benefit by better aligning with their users, by effectively partnering with them using this new asset class — they are motivating their best users to be more valuable, to spend more time, money, engagement, word of mouth marketing to bring others. The apps are seeing the results by improving their business results, both engagement and revenue.
Above are some examples of apps that deployed Props — we have more case studies published on our site www.propsproject.com. So it’s very rewarding to see that the concepts that we all believe in, about the ownership economy and the value of Blockchain — are being tested in the real world and proven. We look forward to seeing many more millions of users benefitting from that.
I also look forward to launching our staking/governance portal in the months ahead. That’s an important next step.
Lastly — technology and product are never done…So we are in the planning stages of additional value and functionality for our ecosystem: leveraging NFTs and other standards for the communities that use Props.
Moderator: Could you please provide some progress on your Roadmap and what results Props Project has achieved so far? And any sneak peek into 2021 plans for Props Project?
Adi Sideman: Here is our published Roadmap
We started Props in 2017. We launched on Main net in March 2019.
In July 2019 the Props tokens were qualified by the SEC. This is an important qualification as Props is for mainstream apps, and they are risk averse… so it’s been important to have regulatory approval. We are the only consumer focused token to be qualified by the SEC in the US. (via Reg A+). By the end of 2020, 4 mainstream apps have launched Props — each with Millions or Hundreds of Thousands of Monthly Active users
In Q1, that just ended, 3 additional mainstream apps started integration and we announced some and some we will announce soon. This quarter, Q2, we will be launching our staking/governance Portal. First as a testnet, and later in the year — on mainnet. It will be an incentivized testnet for starters. Over time, we plan to add more functionality to the governance portal until the community is in full control. This will take time, but we are on the path. I hope this helps give an overview of our past roadmap and plans.
Moderator: Let’s move to our Second Segment — Twitter Questions
Q1. More and more investors are concerned only about token prices and short-term returns rather than the long-term and health of the project. How does PROPS try to balance this problem?
Adi Sideman: You describe a reality of a gold rush. That is where the industry is and in many ways has been. The bull market adds to that way of thinking. Our responsibility is to focus on delivering value for our token holders, and make sure that we are building the right things that apps and communities will want, leverage and will in turn drive value to the token. This is not a short process. So we are here for the long run, with great investors, great app partners who not only launch Props, but many apps invest in Props. And with a great community. Thank you for the question.
Moderator: Q2. Loyalty programs are widely used in the world of centralized finance, so few benefits are given to users. How has Props changed these paradigms? How do your protocols differ to make these programs a fairer and more equitable system for all?
Adi Sideman: At its base, the SaaS components that we looked at earlier, enable apps to launch a traditional loyalty program, with gamified progress bars and goals and benefits that are unlocked. What Props does on top of that, is imbue financial value into these points. And enabling the users who contribute value to share in a scarce asset that not only unlocks benefits for them but allows them to build capital value and benefit from a potential upside. That last part takes the traditional loyalty program, to the next level and enhances the alignment between users and the apps they love, creates more loyalty to the apps, and provides the apps with stronger business results, often dramatically. The Protocol compares the utility value each Props participating apps generates and rewards the apps accordingly.
For example: if I am an app that unlocks no benefits (utility) for Props in my app, and simply dish out the token to my users for taking actions — the only thing the users can do with the token is cash out and this generates supply. This app will be shut out of any protocol rewards, to eliminate supply generation.
On the other hand, another app gives Discounts, unlocks a premium feature or exclusive content, gives user status and maybe a bonus rev share, the users of that App have a reason to HODL (or buy), to ensure they unlock the benefits in the app they’ve been using.
The app in turn is generating demand for the Token and the protocol knows to reward that app.
Moderator: Can you detail us some more about premium features?
Adi Sideman: Each app sets its own benefits, as no two businesses are alike, and the protocol is an app-level protocol to enable the app, the developers, the Product managers the ability to cater to the unique needs of their app and community.
So in one app, the token may unlock the ability to be ‘ad-free’, in another, it may unlock free NFTs. In a third, discounts, the more tokens you hold, the better the discount. In a 4th app, perhaps a gamified experience, gifts that are only available to large token holders, etc. The apps have full flexibility, we see all of the above.
Moderator: You mention about holding a token for a discount, What is the minimum amount to hold in order to benefit with this discount?
Adi Sideman: It depends on the app. It generally is as little as 10 Props — so that all users can be “pulled into the game” so to speak and start learning about and appreciating the fact that the app is sharing something unique with them.
Technically, these small users are earning IOUs on our sidechain — so there is no friction and they can become part of the community, get into the action and be motivated to take more valuable activities to earn more.
Moderator: Q3. Your platform plans to launch its new and innovative Staking protocol. What features will this new tool have? Can you describe how it will affect the community and applications?
Adi Sideman: The first phase of the staking, will be to hand the token holder community governance over the Props Protocol Rewards Engine. This is a 300M+ Token pool that rewards apps for the demand that they drive for Props. The value in moving this to the hands of the token holders is that in addition to pure numbers, they can take into account trends, news, and subjective matters that have an impact in the real world. So in a way, we are moving from a traditional analytical computer to a social computer to help govern the ecosystem.
This is a first step — and we hope you all join our telegram to learn about the incentivized staking testnet we will be launching in the near future.
Moderator: Q4. What is the importance of the Chinese Market within the expansion plans of Props? What are the benefits for your company to be able to ask effectively in this market?
Adi Sideman: The Blockchain community is global and we need to be able to communicate globally. While our center of operations is in the US, we now have a team in China and we recently made our first hire in Korea. These are active markets that with blockchain, can participate in the Props ecosystem, and with the staking portal, will soon be able to. It’s our responsibility to continue to grow our multi-language and global communication over time, to ensure that Props benefits from the global nature of Crypto.
Moderator: Q5. Do you agree that the power of the community will drive your project to global growth? What are your strategies for building a large and strong community?
Adi Sideman: Great question. For starters, we are here today, are we not? Speaking to large communities that are passionate about Blockchain, all over the world, is one tactic and we are doing this regularly, literally, every week.
Second, Apps that adopt Props have a global footprint, with users all over the world, and these apps are the best, scalable method to reach the masses and build a large community of stakeholders.
Lastly, there are those community members who are super passionate and want to further get involved. To harness that important energy, we are working on opening an Ambassador program, to help reach as many people as possible.
So all of that plus translation of the material (currently EN and CH, and soon KR).
Moderator: Community is the key 😁 Thanks! And that’s for our Twitter question segment :) Moving on to our last segment — Live Q&A. If you are ready.
Community Question: Some mobile apps now collect user data and profit by selling it to third parties. How do you make sure this doesn’t happen to Props? how safely does Props store user data?
Adi Sideman: Props does not retain any personal data. We are also audited by Zeppelin. You can review here and here.
Community Question: What’s interesting about PROPS for developers. What are the benefits of using PROPS tokens in their application?
Adi Sideman: Developers earn Props themselves, by implementing Props to their communities. And the more valuable the implementation is for Props (Good utility/ demand) the more the developer themselves earns — as they are a key player in the ecosystem. Of course — they also get a great tool for loyalty/ community engagement. that they don’t have to build.
Community Question: What is your strategy for expanding the PROPS user base?
Adi Sideman: Our growth is directly tied to the number of apps that chose to implement Props. The apps/ communities are where the users are. so we are working to provide easy to use tools and solutions to make it simpler and simpler for apps to adopt.
Community Question: Is it possible for Props to implement a burning system with allocated PROPS? How about the whole network?
Adi Sideman: We are experimenting with burning, but it’s not part of the Protocol at this time. Good question!
Community Question: Investors mostly focus on short-term token price, what would be the benefits and motivation for long-term Props token investors?
Adi Sideman: I am a long term investor myself. As you know — any business takes time to mature. We come from VC backed businesses that take years to build. So that is how we approach it — consider the long term fundamentals.
Community Question: In your aim to achieve global adoption, how will the community be allowed to contribute to the Props Project and is there a governance model?
Adi Sideman: Governance by staking. We are releasing the first governance functions in the months ahead — and will follow up with more over time. So our token holders can manage the network in the long run.
Community Question: What are the requirements or steps that must be met to make an application compatible with Props?
Adi Sideman: It takes some planning on the app’s product side: they need to know what actions are valuable to reward users for, and how much value. They need to understand the value of the utility they provide — and do a good gamified plan and balance the two. This is work they would need to do for any loyalty program. We call this the design phase.
Community Question: PROPS is a simple API for apps to implement loyalty programs that drive engagement and empower users financially. The last time I checked, you have 4 apps launched, so how many Apps now does PROPS currently have all in total? Also is there any plans to add more Apps soon?
Adi Sideman:
5 apps have launched so far and an additional two announced. We expect to announce another app in the weeks ahead. The good news is that with bitcoin price rising, more and more mainstream businesses are considering how to leverage the power of Blockchain and crypto in their apps/communities and that bodes well for our adoption.
Community Question: I saw on the project website that one of the main focuses is ease of use, why do you think this is an important factor for a project?
Adi Sideman: We are some years away from Apple and Google and browsers out there being web 3 compatible. But we are here and now and there is demand today, and benefits that users and apps can have today. SO we invest a lot of effort to make the experience as smooth as possible for non sophisticated users. For example: Webview components that apps can drop for their users, and which feature simple progress bars and don’t mention crypto. Or the ability to issue IOUs where the app retains custody for regular users, while advanced users can take custody anytime. These methods and others are crucial to drive adoption TODAY.
Community Question: On their platform, they describe Props as an ecosystem for all tokenized users to participate in the financial success of the network. Are all the applications that are bound to your protocol successful? Do they get the loyalty of the users who use your token?
Adi Sideman: Thank you. Yes, each app can design its own program. However, there are elements that are needed for any program: What do you unlock as benefits and at what level of holding? What do you reward for? etc. So we account for those macros to enable apps to do rapid implementation. It was such a pleasure to spend time with everyone here. Thank you for having me today and for all the great questions and interest.
It was such a pleasure to spend time with everyone here. Thank you for having me today and for all the great questions and interest.
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Legal Disclaimer: Read more about Props here. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has qualified the offering statement that we have filed with the SEC. The information in that offering statement is more complete than the information we are providing now, and could differ in important ways. You must read the documents filed with the SEC before investing. The offering is being made only by means of its offering statement. This document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. An indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. Any person interested in investing in any offering of Props Tokens should review our disclosures and the publicly filed offering statement and the final offering circular that is part of that offering statement at this website. YouNow is not registered, licensed or supervised as a broker dealer or investment adviser by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or any other financial regulatory authority or licensed to provide any financial advice or services. Forward-looking statements: This communication contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “will,” “expect,” “would,” “intend,” “believe,” or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans for developing the platform and future utility for the Props Token, our Reg A+ offering and launch of our network, and collaborations and partnerships. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different. More information on the factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such differences is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion & Analysis” sections of our offering statement on Form 1-A. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
