Designing Tokenomics

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In designing the tokenomics for your business there are four key areas to consider:

Role of the token -- what role will the token play and what value will it bring.

The token could be a store of value, provide access, or facilitate governance.

Supply of the token -- how many tokens will be minted, used, and burned.

The supply could be fixed or variable.

It could increase or decrease based on a community vote.

Utility of the token -- how does the holder of the token use it.

What access does the token bring?

What value could it have?

What voting rights can the user hold?

Incentive of the token -- what drives a user to obtain a token and use it?

Does it represent ownership in which case the token acts as a security?

Does it represent compensation in which case the user could exchange it for dollars and spend it.

A good token design can keep up with the demand of the network.

It can be repaired by votes from the community if there’s a fault in the design.

Consider these issues in your tokenomics design.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Jonathan Loewenhar, Founder and Managing Partner of Enjoy The Work. Located in Austin, Texas, Enjoy The Work is a consulting firm dedicated to helping founders develop the essential skills needed to transition effectively into successful CEOs. With a focus on startups that are navigating the complex landscape of growth and management, the firm provides expert guidance that empowers business leaders to optimize operations and foster high-performing teams. Through engaging workshops and personalized coaching, Enjoy The Work aims to bridge the gap between mere entrepreneurial spirit and effective company leadership.

Jonathan Loewenhar has had an impressive career, operating in various sectors and accumulating rich experiences in growing and managing businesses. Starting as an operator who successfully led a division generating a billion dollars, Jonathan has shifted his focus to empowering other entrepreneurs. He has worked with numerous startups, honing his expertise in what differentiates successful founders from those who struggle. Jonathan's passion for creating value and helping founders succeed led him to establish Enjoy The Work, where he emphasizes the need for skills development equating to a founder's entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses the unique challenges founders face as they transition into leadership roles, particularly the important shift from a founder's mindset to that of a CEO. He articulates the need for effective communication and management skills, which are often overlooked during the initial phases of a startup. Additionally, Jonathan shares insights into how his firm collaborates with startups, emphasizing a tailored approach that adapts to the specific context and dynamics of each company. His perspective aligns well with the evolving trends in entrepreneurship, particularly in the wake of recent economic changes.

Visit Enjoy The Work at www.enjoythework.com, LinkedIn, and on Twitter. Reach out to Jonathan Loewenhar at www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanloewenhar and on Twitter.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

How To Apply a Token

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Tokens bring a new level of incentives to your business.

Consider these steps in tokenizing your business model.

Define the characteristics of your token as follows:

Determine the role of the token such as giving voting rights, acting as a store of value, or representing ownership.

Determine the rules around fungibility, transferability, supply, and flow.

Apply tokenization to your business model by asking these questions:

What part of the business would benefit from decentralization?

What part would work better with fractionalization?

What part would improve with incentives?

Focus on applying tokenization to your value proposition.

Determine how many tokens to mint and what the token holder must do to earn it.

Estimate the cost of running and managing a token process.

Figure out how the token will be distributed, exchanged, and used.

Choose a platform on which to run the token economy or discuss building your own.

Create a sales and marketing plan to promote the token and engage users.

Tokens bring a new layer to building a business.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

When Is a Token a Security

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Tokens provide either utility or represent securities.

Utility tokens give access, the right to vote, reputation, and more.

Security tokens represent an equity ownership stake as an investment.

These tokens come with regulatory oversight.

Utility tokens have no regulation.

Security tokens are similar to stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles.

Traditional securities laws apply to security tokens.

They must be traded on regulated exchanges.

Gains and losses must be reported, and taxes must be paid.

Laws specific to security tokens are not yet fully defined so it’s best to wait for the final regulations.

Security tokens bring additional advantages over traditional stocks such as fractionalization.

One doesn’t have to buy an entire share but rather smaller slices of ownership.

One can automate the investment process using security tokens.

Security tokens provide greater liquidity to assets by representing the asset online.

These tokens provide greater market access and allow for new innovation.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

Social Tokens

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Social tokens represent individuals, in particular creators.

Tokens capture the value a creator generates in the form of reputation.

Some will buy the token to support the creator and belong to their community.

A creator can build their own token network with governance, incentives, and more.

Also called creator or community tokens, these tokens represent a new form of fandom.

Tokens based on individuals may or may not outlive the individual.

This has yet to be determined.

Just as fame rises and falls so the value of the token will rise and fall with it.

Social tokens are similar to social media in which individuals burnish their reputation through their postings.

Creators pursue social tokens as a means to finance their activities.

This applies to musicians, writers, and other creator types.

If your fans could support specific projects then the creator can pursue more of them.

The social token generates publicity for the creator as well.

Consider a social token for mobilizing your community to support upcoming events and projects.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

Types of Wallets

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

There are several types of wallets used in the blockchain space.

They can be hot or cold wallets.

Hot means the wallet is connected to the internet and can exchange digital assets directly.

Cold means the wallet is offline and cannot exchange assets until reconnected to the internet.

The cold wallet provides greater security as no one can hack it online.

The hot wallet provides convenience as one can use it to exchange assets more freely.

There are several types of wallets as follows:

Online crypto wallets -- the wallet is provided by an online service.

These are provided by exchanges to enable the flow of digital assets.

Mobile wallets -- the wallet exists on the mobile device.

These make it easy to pay for things using one’s digital assets.

Hardware wallets -- the wallet exists on a hardware device such as a USB stick.

These make it easy to take offline for security purposes.

Desktop wallets -- the wallet resides on your desktop computer.

This makes it easy to access from other applications.

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages trading convenience for security.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

What Is a Blockchain Wallet

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

A blockchain wallet is an online wallet with which users store and manage their digital assets.

These assets could include cryptocurrencies, tokens, non-fungible tokens called NFTs, or more.

The wallet maintains the links to networks, applications, and other systems.

The wallet has a password for user access and can be recovered using a seed phrase in case the password is lost.

The wallet does not physically hold the digital assets but rather holds the links to those assets.

The wallet has a public key and a private key.

The public key is an address for the wallet and can be used as a means of identifying the wallet.

The private key acts as a password.

The private key is used to ensure the security of the wallet to which the user is the only one who has access.

Web2 applications use the login/password method to provide user access.

The problem here is that the public key and the private key are the same.

By placing a network token into your wallet you can gain access to that network.

The user controls their data through the wallet rather than login/password access.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Alex Chompff, Co-founder and Executive Director of Evolution Ventures and Lead General Partner of MinervaFund. Located in California, Minerva Fund is an active early-stage venture capital firm that invests in women and traditionally underrepresented founders. They focus on identifying and nurturing innovative ideas that often go unnoticed in conventional funding environments. Minerva Fund is dedicated to creating a more inclusive venture capital ecosystem that aims to uplift diverse entrepreneurs and drive meaningful change in the industry.

Alex and his team believe in the power of emerging managers and the necessity of supporting underrepresented groups in the startup landscape. By investing in companies led by diverse founders, they not only promote equity but also tap into a wealth of innovative ideas that have the potential to disrupt traditional markets. The fund emphasizes a unique investment thesis centered on the decomposition of monolithic industries, recognizing that there is considerable market opportunity within sectors that can be transformed through specialization and technology-driven solutions.

Alex Chompff has been active in investing for many years, starting as an angel and then taking on roles leading various deals. His journey began as the Director of Technology for the world's largest venture capital firm in the late 1990s, an experience that provided him valuable insights into the investment landscape. Over the years, he has developed a keen understanding of the venture capital ecosystem, particularly regarding female and underrepresented founders who are often overlooked by traditional investors.

In this episode, Alex discusses his investment thesis for Minerva Fund, focusing on the importance of innovation over invention and the role of technology in transforming industries. He emphasizes the significance of revenue generation as a key indicator of success for startups and the need for diversity in leadership within the venture capital community.

Visit the website: https://evolution-accelerator.teachable.com/ and Linkedin: https://www.evolutionacceleration.com

Get in touch with Alex here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexchompff/ and his email: alex@evfm.co

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.