Hey Guys,
This is the (admittedly polished) transcript of a conversation I had earlier with a potential buyer of Incent. I don't post it to spam you, but as I get more practiced at talking about what has taken us so long to craft, I feel like Im getting better at tightening the language and expressing myself.
Anyway, you be the judge...
Other Dude: Rob can I ask you some questions?
Me: Sure!
Other Dude: How did you get involved in Bitcoin?
Me: I bought my first bitcoins in the Spring of 2013 and BitScan was founded that summer, with the mission of promoting bitcoin adoption through commerce. We launched our first product, a bitcoin merchant directory in the Spring of 2014 and have been building on that ever since.
Other Dude: How has the product evolved since?
Me: So what started as a directory, now incorporates a full e-commerce marketplace where merchants can lodge, market and take payment for their products in Bitcoin, any Shapeshift supported altcoin or even fiat. It includes a unique reputation system and in-platform messaging, incorporates cutting edge Instant search functionality and is built on Googles Firebase. Its a pretty Rolls Royce stack to be honest!
Other Dude: So what have you learned in the process?
Me: (Laughing) Well, what we took a long time to accept is what you would read on Page 1 of any startup guide; namely that your product must be focussed on solving a problem that people need solving! We built something really cool but it wasnt solving a problem that enough merchants were facing to make it a business. We built it because we knew bitcoin needed it without stopping to consider whether mainstream merchants actually wanted what we were building. It seems simple to see from 2016 but you have to bear in mind that for a long time all of bitcoin was chasing mainstream merchant adoption.
Other Dude: Has the experience informed your latest project?
Me: You bet! Incent gets right at a problem that mainstream commerce is desperate to tackle. Namely, how to encourage greater repeat custom from an expanded consumer base, without selling the farm to Google and your Loyalty-as-a-Service provider. And you would be staggered at the difference targeting a real problem has made. Having spent 3 years virtually pleading merchants to give our platform a try, the conversations are very, very, different when you have a product with the potential to attack genuine pain points and give your prospects a competitive edge in the market.
Other Dude: So, how will Incent help mainstream merchants?
Me: It will enable them to offer way more value as reward for custom for way less cost than is currently possible (with existing loyalty-reward schemes). Way more value because the customer will be rewarded with a digital commodity that has the utility and portability that all crypto-enthusiasts appreciate, plus the potential to rise in value. Less Cost because set-up costs are negligible, accounting infrastructure is outsourced to the Blockchain and because the reward can be redeemed beyond the walled garden of the issuing merchant, there is no forward tax liability - as is the case with all plastic money schemes. Better and cheaper is a pretty compelling value proposition - as we are learning.
Other Dude: And how does Incent fit into BitScans original mission?
Me: It chimes precisely with what we originally set out to do - only way better. Consider for a moment that every new merchant operator of Incent will be putting crypto currency into the pocket of every customer, at every transaction thereafter. Without mainstream consumers thinking about it, they will experience the benefits of crypto-currency, and mainstream merchants will be paying for them to do so, because of the value it adds to their own businesses. In the meantime, all holders of Incent are likely to enjoy the impact of enduring and growing demand on a market of finite supply. With Incent, everybody wins and we think thats pretty huge...
RW.
I must say it doesn't look like conversation. It's more Q&A session.
Ok, you said it's "polished", but still... Can you quote something more from that guy's messages, just to make us believe it's real person?
