Name of Project
Ink DAO
Proposal overview
We are building a creator network and DAPP that empowers creators, rewards patronage, and removes the barrier of entry to web3.
Specifically, we provide the following:
- A simple way for creators to fundraise for their content
- Lifetime rewards and ownership for patrons
- Simple subscribe and read options for fans.
We are seeking $120k in funding to assist with the development of the platform.
Note: Comic NFTs will support the existing Harmony ecosystem of NFT marketplaces, there is no marketplace aspect beyond initial minting.
Who We Are
Mint State Labs is a web3 comics and TCG company founded in Seattle, Washington, by Peter Morales & Jim Cohan. Peter has been a research scientist at MIT Lincoln Labs and worked on Hololens at Microsoft before founding Mint State Labs. Jim has been an entrepreneur his entire life running and selling several successful businesses in health care, motorsports, and gaming. Since its founding, Mint State Labs has grown to 14 employees with various talents from Netflix artists to web3 and indie game developers. For comic creators, John Zurr Platten on the team has written comics for Image Comics and other major publishers and worked on some of the largest franchises, such as Jurrasic Park. Jymn Magon also advises the team, writer of The Goofy Movie and Emmy award-winning content, massive comic book enthusiast.
They are Protocol Labs and TechStars-backed company. The team has also been a software engineering partner for external organizations looking to bridge the people-space with web3 powered offerings.
How it all works
The Editor’s Desk allows content creators to get funded immediately and share profits with their patrons through the subscription-based Lending Library.
Part 1: The Editor’s Desk
The editor’s desk serves as a way for content creators to raise funds for future products or add existing products to the lending library. It works like this:
- A creator sets a target funding goal.
- A creator sets different tiers and standardized incentives for patrons at each tier.
- Creator Set’s Campaign Launch Date and fills out offering info
- Early patrons purchase
Part 2: The Lending Library
Those interested in reading comics can utilize a subscription service for a low monthly fee. Each month, a token is airdropped to a subscriber account, giving them access to all content staked by fundraising supporters. To bootstrap the library, the Mint State Labs team is adding content through creators supporting the platform directly.
Subscription profits are directly funneled back to creators, patrons, and the platform fund to acquire more content and support development.
Go-To-Market Strategy
The current blockchain ecosystem is by and large speculative investors, curious builders, and crypto enthusiasts. We want to bring in customers from the non-blockchain people-space with our platform. Our strategy for enticing the non-crypto community is twofold:
- Layered Presentation - There’s no reason to bring up the blockchain unless the customer is curious about what’s powering the product
- Easy smart wallet creation
- Fiat on ramps
- Clean jargon-free webpage
- Demonstrable value for creators and fanbases - It’s essential to see that the offerings enabled by blockchain have immediate benefits specifically for the content fans and creators.
- A cheap subscription plan that offers readers the ability to get access to content in a way that benefits creators, not publishers
- Affordable offerings for fans who want to own the content without digital scarcity
- A variety of content is available at launch with existing fanbases.
User Acquisition Strategy
We’re looking to bootstrap our user acquisition with traditional comic fans by bringing their favorite creators on board, advertising in their relevant social communities, and ensuring it’s easy to sign up and read without the barrier of entry to web3.
Furthermore, for those engaged in web3, we’re working with projects like TheCyberHornets to put a small portion of minted comics into the lending library to grow the Comic Web3 space for everyone and engage those communities.
Finally, the team has already built a creator acquisition funnel by scraping and reaching out to creators on different platforms like Kickstarter, who are likely to be excited about web3 comics.
Transition to DAO
Initially, Mint State Labs will run the platform and bootstrap it with content, advertising, and development prioritization; however, the ultimate goal is to transition the platform to the community’s hands. Platform creators, patrons, and subscribers will be rewarded with DAO tokens which will eventually be used to vote on initiatives that cover all aspects of the project:
- Content Approval
- Content Acquisition with platform fund
- Development initiatives funding with platform fund
- Royalty breakdowns
The DAO will be modeled and validated by Mint State Labs and a third-party organization experienced in DAO-run projects to ensure this happens smoothly. Also, DAO rewards tokens will be balanced between creators, subscribers, and patrons to ensure a fair voice in voting initiatives. The DAO token is not meant to have any monetary value and merely serves as an earned way of voting on initiatives.
Proposal ask
| Total - $120,000 | |
|---|---|
| Front End Development & Design - 320 Hours @ $75/hr for $24,000 | |
| Back End Development - 500 Hours @ $75/hr for $37,500 | |
| Smart Contract Development - 200 Hours @ $75/hr for $15,000 | |
| Smart Contract Auditing - $25,000 | |
| Project Management - 60 Hours @$75/hr for $4,500 | |
| Strategic Marketing & Acquisition Fund - $14,000 |
Metrics for success
- Number of Creators Onboarded
- Number of users subscribed
- Number of Campaigns funded
Milestones
- Week 2 - Front End Design Prototypes Completed
- Week 4 - Smart Contracts Complete and submitted for Audit
- Week 8 - Initial Front End Implementation
- Week 10 - Backend Implementation Complete
- Week 12 - Testnet Release & Audit returned
- Week 14 - Testnet Revisions Complete
- Week 16 - Mainnet MVP Launch
- Feature Releases after on 3-week cadence after launch
External Links
- Flyer - flyer.pdf - Google Drive
- Mint State Labs - https://mintstatelabs.com/
- Mint State Labs filecon-techstars - Announcing the 2022 Filecoin Techstars Accelerator Class
- John Zurr Platten - John Zuur Platten | Image Comics
