How to onboard 300,000 new users in one geographic location

[DavidHay]

Hi David.
Plan sounds good.

One point I would propose to look into more closely is what the public authorities will do.
Ususally these kind of people make sure to get their cut (taxes, bribes, ...) and they may just feel compelled to shut down your operations completely if they feel threatened by your project.

I would chime in with the people that think your schedule may turn out to be a little tight. The people are suffering there and it makes sense to rush things as much as possible. But if the project falls apart due to lack of preparation this will not help the peeps there either.

Please structure the proposal with a multi-month payout schedule. 2 M$ in one shot will probably not fly.

The timelines are aggressive and they should be. I have run businesses in the past and understand the importance of doing things right. I will constantly be pushing the boundaries of what's possible. If the software isn't ready, if there are delays opening the office we will need to wait. Will the Dash community be upset if I takes me 6 extra months to onboard 300,000 if I stay within the budget?

I have a reputation for getting things done. I won't break laws or put people in danger but I will not apologize for doing everything I can to get what I need. If I run into a problem I will ask for help. If someone says it can't be done I'll ask someone else. If the city of Cucuta won't let me operate I'll move to a different city or country.

 

[Stealth923]

I am happy to increase to $6 per person, this might sounds like alot now, but if adoption actually takes hold, this will be a drop in the ocean compared to what Dash's monthly budget will be. We need to take risks and at the end of the day, this is only helping people who clearly need it more than us!

With escrow @greencandle_jeremy @Green Candle can you facilitate escrow for this as its a large project? If not then Dash Core / Instant Karma fund could do it.

@DavidHay - with escrow its important you break the milestones up into manageable chunks with estimated funds required per milestone. The proposal will need to be multi-month proposal to reduce the burden and let other projects be funded each month. If your project will take 6 months in length then you could raise a 5 month payout proposal with the same payout each month. So if its 2.6M all up then ~520k per month for 5 months is paid into escrow. As you complete the milestones the next batch of funds is released to you etc....Key is ensuring you communicate regularly and provide updates to the community/escrow to ensure a) the Masternodes dont downvote and cut funding due to lack of performance and b) escrow keeps you well funded.

I am sure the escrow provider can give you all the details you need. As this is a large project I would suggest trying to finalize business plans and put a final proposal into the network asap. Masternodes will need more than 1-1.5 weeks for a project this large to further discuss and vote.

 

[algodon.franelas]

I think you're in the right place.

Also, I think you may be surprised if you tell merchants that you are giving away $1.2M in Dash and they can have access to that market if they sign up, they might just sign up ahead of time.
It is more important to train merchants prior to users, in my opinion, because they will have to be comfortable using it in their systems to make it an economy instead of just a "free money" Bernanke-style helicopter drop free-for-all.

Hello everyone!

First of all, @DavidHay I want to say: congrats on this idea and iniciative, thanks for understanding what is going on in our country and the struggle our people is going through, but specially for being determined to do something about it.

I would like to give you my suggestions to your proposal.

1) I quoted @djcrypto because I think this is crucial for the success of your project. Merchants should be the first ones to get training and download their wallet so they can accept DASH as payment, so the 300,000 people you are going to teach how to use DASH have a real experience of how to buy goods and services with their wallets. Nothing can beat this kind of learning.
In DASH Venezuela we have developed an Entrepreneurship Program, and have teached over 100 merchants already. We would be happy to help you with this.

2) I think what @AlejandroE pointed out is very important and true. You are saying 4 USD is 2 weeks wages in Venezuela, but you want to work in Cucuta-Colombia, where the economic reality is another. And also, even though there are a lot of Venezuelans in Cucuta, they most probably are not in a position to start really adopting cryptocurrency, because they probably do not have a device that serves this purpose.
So, what if you worked in a Venezuelan city, and if you want it to be near the Columbia borders I suggest San Cristobal, Tachira.
This also makes sense because you would be working directly with merchants in Venezuela, helping this area to get stronger, and maybe the refugees can find a way back home.

3) If you still worry about the people who are too poor to even have a smartphone, I suggest that you also support a NGO that works directly with them.

4) @Stealth923 thank you for your idea. Yes we would be happy to get our conferences to Cucuta, or even better if they take place within Venezuela's borders, such as in San Cristobal, Tachira.

5) Of course, Dash Help participation is the natural way to go, and I am sure @AlejandroE and his team will do a great job.

6) Of course escrow is essential for a project like this.

7) Also you have to include in your budget and in your plans a safety management for you, your team and your equipments.

I hope this was helpful. I wish you good luck!

 

[AlejandroE]

Hello David, thanks for your response! I'm glad to see that you want (and you wiill) to do this no matter what happen, I really like your enthusiasm.

I will quote some of the points you mentioned and respond them:

We don't know how many illegal immigrants are in the country. If a miracle happens and we had accurate numbers from 6 months ago it wouldn't be close to accurate today.

You are right, we can't have the exact numbers, but at least we should have an idea; as you know when you make a market research you just pick a little sample of the population you are targetting and then you make projections (usually, this works pretty well). You need to go to Cucuta first, make some surveys, talk to some Venezuelans and know their reality (you have to see this in person!), talk to some NGO's that could be willing to help you. In this way you will understand much better your market.

Once the idea is funded and I am in Colombia

I will be repetitive, you need to go to Cucuta first and know your market at the first hand.

I have 120,000 youtube subscribers, cryptobobby who I was in New York with last weekend has 130,000. Doug Polk is my neighbor has 180,000 and Nick from Datadash has 270,000.

This is important and it's awesome, this project must be shown on each corner of the globe. It is also important that we gain the attention from local media (this will happen) but it would be nice if you contact them before setting up the plan and they will spread the word in Cucuta.

Minimum wage in Colombia is 77,000 pesos ($28) 1.2 million Colombians earn minimum wage. Venezuelans especially people without documents are paid much less.
https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/colombia-hikes-minimum-wage-7-percent-for-2016/11465

I already read the article you quoted but I think you missed something, the 77,000 pesos it's reffering to the transportation subsidy, if you read some lines above it says that the minimun wage in Colombia was 689,455 pesos (aprox 229$) in 2015. These are the links where I found that the current minimun wage in Colombia is 781.242 pesos (aprox 260$). http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2017/12/30/colombia-aumenta-salario-minimo-en-un-59/ and http://www.elpais.com.co/economia/salario-minimo-2018-asi-quedo-el-aumento-en-colombia.html

For a family of 4 this would equal $16. People claiming this crypto will come from lots of different finical situations. Some of these family's only eat 1 meal a day. Do you know how much rice and beans $16 can buy? This is no small gift.

I know that food in Colombia is very cheap, but I don't know the exact costs. That's why we need to do a market research in ground!!

Please let me know your opinions about going to Cucuta with an specific plan to make the market researh I have told you, and also tell me your opinion about running a test plan in little scale to learn a lot and gain experience.

Regards.

 

[GrandMasterDash]

@DavidHay I understand your fast and direct approach, but please work closely with @algodon.franelas and heed her advice, her work with dash in Venezuela has been exceptional. If you do that, I am confident the dash network will surpass your expectations.

 

[DavidHay]

1) I quoted @djcrypto because I think this is crucial for the success of your project. Merchants should be the first ones to get training and download their wallet so they can accept DASH as payment, so the 300,000 people you are going to teach how to use DASH have a real experience of how to buy goods and services with their wallets. Nothing can beat this kind of learning.
In DASH Venezuela we have developed an Entrepreneurship Program, and have teached over 100 merchants already. We would be happy to help you with this.

I don't object to this. I'm not sure it's a wise use of resources at the start because I think without demand the merchants have little incentive to adopt. I have a lot of confidence in the free market adopting and believe in young entrepreneurs hungry for opportunities . I would happily welcome the Dash Enterprenuership Program to run along side this in project in Cucuta. I suspect they will see much higher conversion rates once the crypto is already circulating in the community.

2) I think what @AlejandroE pointed out is very important and true. You are saying 4 USD is 2 weeks wages in Venezuela, but you want to work in Cucuta-Colombia, where the economic reality is another. And also, even though there are a lot of Venezuelans in Cucuta, they most probably are not in a position to start really adopting cryptocurrency, because they probably do not have a device that serves this purpose.
So, what if you worked in a Venezuelan city, and if you want it to be near the Columbia borders I suggest San Cristobal, Tachira.
This also makes sense because you would be working directly with merchants in Venezuela, helping this area to get stronger, and maybe the refugees can find a way back home.

We have had a lot of conversations on Discord about security and honestly we are worried about Cucuta. I don't see any way to work within Venezuela, it is simply too dangerous for foreigners and journalists. Remember this is a blue print to show it can be done. That is why I'm submitting proposals to Dash, PIVX, Smartcash while and the same time seeing how possible it is to seek private funds. I'm not trying to play one against the other, I'm trying to show people how many options are open to them. Once this project is successful I will use my youtube channel to encourage people in other cities to do the same. Venezuela has the worlds worst economy and best use case for crypto so it should be the first country to see mass adoption.

I have people arriving in Cucuta early next week and will get a better understanding of the situation on the ground.

3) If you still worry about the people who are too poor to even have a smartphone, I suggest that you also support a NGO that works directly with them.

I can't be sure how many people have cellphones. People will collecting the money will come from a wide variety of economic situations. We are also looking into the use of paper wallets and a major crypto (sorry not dash) has some technology that would remove the need for cellphones. I'll work on getting better information.

4) @Stealth923 thank you for your idea. Yes we would be happy to get our conferences to Cucuta, or even better if they take place within Venezuela's borders, such as in San Cristobal, Tachira.

Is anyone trying to suggest that I can safely travel to San Cristobal?

5) Of course, Dash Help participation is the natural way to go, and I am sure @AlejandroE and his team will do a great job.
Yes I want to involve as many people in the community as possible.

6) Of course escrow is essential for a project like this.
Yes, I have no issues with that.

7) Also you have to include in your budget and in your plans a safety management for you, your team and your equipments.
I have rough budgets at the moment. Lots of unknowns but I also have build in a 22% safety margin overall and a 400% safety margin on operations because that is a small part of the overall budget full of unknowns. As I get more information we will update the business plan and budget.

Hello everyone!

First of all, @DavidHay I want to say: congrats on this idea and iniciative, thanks for understanding what is going on in our country and the struggle our people is going through, but specially for being determined to do something about it.

I would like to give you my suggestions to your proposal.

1) I quoted @djcrypto because I think this is crucial for the success of your project. Merchants should be the first ones to get training and download their wallet so they can accept DASH as payment, so the 300,000 people you are going to teach how to use DASH have a real experience of how to buy goods and services with their wallets. Nothing can beat this kind of learning.
In DASH Venezuela we have developed an Entrepreneurship Program, and have teached over 100 merchants already. We would be happy to help you with this.

2) I think what @AlejandroE pointed out is very important and true. You are saying 4 USD is 2 weeks wages in Venezuela, but you want to work in Cucuta-Colombia, where the economic reality is another. And also, even though there are a lot of Venezuelans in Cucuta, they most probably are not in a position to start really adopting cryptocurrency, because they probably do not have a device that serves this purpose.
So, what if you worked in a Venezuelan city, and if you want it to be near the Columbia borders I suggest San Cristobal, Tachira.
This also makes sense because you would be working directly with merchants in Venezuela, helping this area to get stronger, and maybe the refugees can find a way back home.

3) If you still worry about the people who are too poor to even have a smartphone, I suggest that you also support a NGO that works directly with them.

4) @Stealth923 thank you for your idea. Yes we would be happy to get our conferences to Cucuta, or even better if they take place within Venezuela's borders, such as in San Cristobal, Tachira.

5) Of course, Dash Help participation is the natural way to go, and I am sure @AlejandroE and his team will do a great job.

6) Of course escrow is essential for a project like this.

7) Also you have to include in your budget and in your plans a safety management for you, your team and your equipments.

I hope this was helpful. I wish you good luck!

 

[Frame 48]

Hey David, our team is working on a video series about Dash adoption in different countries around the world.

Our initial focus was on Zimbabwe and the work that Kuvacash is doing there but Venezuela has always been on our radar and we've been in touch with many of the teams down there as we work on pre-production.

We'd love to chat with you about media coverage on this and how it could fit into the Venezuela story.


So you have a better idea about who we are, here's a link to our website and the teaser we put together for Zimbabwe.

 

[DavidHay]

Hey David, our team is working on a video series about Dash adoption in different countries around the world.

Our initial focus was on Zimbabwe and the work that Kuvacash is doing there but Venezuela has always been on our radar and we've been in touch with many of the teams down there as we work on pre-production.

We'd love to chat with you about media coverage on this and how it could fit into the Venezuela story.


So you have a better idea about who we are, here's a link to our website and the teaser we put together for Zimbabwe.

I've watched the video before, it's great. We share the same vision. This is how crypto will reach a tipping point. We can do what politicians and governments can't.

Happy to talk my email is [email protected]

 

[Efietskop]

Reading the ideas here, this is really exciting. It could be great for crypto while at the same time offering a real solution to many people!

But if we want to let this known to the world, maybe there's also a place for Strike Social in this? @pmckenna12

 

[DavidHay]

I have someone that will be in Cucuta Colombia on Monday. He is crossing the boarder from Venezuela and can answer any questions you have.

I don't think there's any way to get solid or accurate numbers on cell phone adoption. Our best plan might be to ask people on the ground and gauge their response.

 

[Arthyron]

I have someone that will be in Cucuta Colombia on Monday. He is crossing the boarder from Venezuela and can answer any questions you have.

I don't think there's any way to get solid or accurate numbers on cell phone adoption. Our best plan might be to ask people on the ground and gauge their response.

Great, I think having a solid, firsthand grasp of what's going on in your target market will do a lot to address some of the reservations of MNOs. Please keep us posted!

 

[GrandMasterDash]

If David isn't so hasty, we can get a really substantial outcome by coordinating and bringing the various dash contractors to work on this.

 

[Efietskop]

I've been thinking about this. For this to work won't we need to reduce our InstantSend fees? If a weeks wage is a couple of dollars a fee of 6 cents per transaction is quite substantial

 

[TheSingleton]

I've been thinking about this. For this to work won't we need to reduce our InstantSend fees? If a weeks wage is a couple of dollars a fee of 6 cents per transaction is quite substantial

Yes InstantSend might be a bit to expensive for this use-case but i think 0-conf transactions should work fine.

 

[algodon.franelas]

Hey @DavidHay

I really believe both San Cristóbal or Cucuta are equally dangerous.

I have been thinking in another alternative...

What about going to Medellin or/and Bogotá and working closely with the venezuelans inmigrants associations in those cities.

I would incline first for Medellín, for 2 reasons:
1) There is already an interesting presence of the DASH Community there, with @ec1warc1 @sambarbosa Mireya @George Donnelly
2) There is an interesting technological movement in that city.

What does the community think?

 

[George Donnelly]

Hey @DavidHay
What about going to Medellin or/and Bogotá and working closely with the venezuelans inmigrants associations in those cities.

I would incline first for Medellín, for 2 reasons:
1) There is already an interesting presence of the DASH Community there, with @ec1warc1 @sambarbosa Mireya @George Donnelly
2) There is an interesting technological movement in that city.

What does the community think?

A couple other benefits that come to mind:

- The Venezuelans here (I'm in Medellín) are more stable and settled. They're less likely to move on, as the economy here is better than elsewhere. IOW, they came to Medellín for a reason and are not just passing through (like in Cúcuta). With a stable group of people, we can build a more stable Dash community. Let's say there's an initial trial for 1,000 families. We now have 1,000 families who have an incentive to work together to spread adoption of Dash, especially to merchants. These folks are getting jobs in the local economy and can influence their employers. In fact, we can employ some of them to be full-time merchant liaisons. Dress them in Dash vests, produce Dash adoption materials, and we can visit tens of thousands of merchants, have merchant conferences, teach merchants en masse - because I can assure you the merchants here are very business-oriented and are thirsty for an opportunity like Dash.

- We can do better follow-up with the recipients to see how they used their crypto, learn from this and adjust our next trial for greater success. Whereas Venezuelans in Cúcuta, a lot just move through to other cities in Latam and a lot are coming back and forth over the border irregularly. The Venezuelans in Medellín are more stable and settled.

- Sadly, the Venezuelan migrants are not always being well-received by the Colombians. There is a lot of distrust. In Cúcuta that means that associating Dash with the migrants could mean greater difficulty for merchant adoption as well as once the crisis passes, merchants may forget about Dash. In Medellín, however, where there is more societal trust right now, putting Dash into the hands of migrants could build bridges if we get the merchants to recognize the value of Dash first. IOW in Cúcuta, we're asking the merchants to accept a new digital currency from distrusted migrants whereas in Medellín we get the merchants to see the value and then the migrants bring that valuable something to the merchants. I don't know. Maybe.

- Cúcuta is in a state of chaos according to my friend at the UN and news reports. Medellín is a lot more well-organized. Stability is good because people pay more attention, people have more time for new things.

- The Venezuelans in Cúcuta sadly are in a desperate state, and I think it's going to be a great challenge for them to not cash their crypto out to Colombian Pesos right away. The Venezuelans in Medellín (I'm in touch with a bunch of them) are considerably less desperate. I think we'll have an easier job getting them to see the bigger picture, so we can build a crypto economy here. Because if beneficiaries just cash their Dash out at as soon as they get it, all we have done is implement an expensive refugee voucher program. We can and must do a lot better than that.

 

[CarlosTrujillo]

I think it's a good idea. I would just like to know more about the methodology and execution that you plan to carry out. I think the market study that @AlejandroE talks about is extremely important to know the current situation and how you can improve it. Greetings and much success.

 

[George Donnelly]

I think it is a mistake to focus on merchants before users. Merchants stock their stores with what people demand, that's how a free economy is suppose to work.

I've done sales in the past. Do you know how hard this idea is to pitch to merchants? Now you want to add the handicap of 0% adoption in the local community?

I believe you attack this problem from the other side. If you inject capital into a community and distribute it equally to everyone while educating them so they understand how it work some merchants will adopt quickly and make money others will refuse and loose money.

Now imagine this scenario. You own a small shop, a guy comes along and gives everyone in the community gold coins. How long do you think it's going to take before some stores start accepting gold coins?

People from Colombia and Venezuela. Can you add some insight?

I'm a 17-year resident of Colombia and have experience with displaced people here.

As I have mentioned to you privately, David, there must be merchant adoption first. Otherwise, these understandably desperate migrants are going to cash their crypto out for Colombian Pesos at their first opportunity and merchants will never even hear about them having Dash.

Why? Because they wake up every morning hungry, they go to sleep every night hungry. If they are lucky enough to get an internet connection, they get texts daily about their children, parents and other loved ones waking up and going to sleep hungry, too.

These folks are so desperate that they are taking 5 day bus rides to Peru, leaving their children behind, in search of work. They are so desperate that they are offering themselves for prostitution, mortgaging their passports for $28 mil / $9 to a pimp to get a clean bill of health. And then they are locked in. And there is so much competition among prostitutes that they can't get a client and they are not eating and they can't move on because the pimp has their passport. So they sell their hair to get back to square 1. I kid you not.

http://www.semana.com/on-line/multi...nas-que-llegan-a-prostituirse-a-cucuta/558113

That is if we can even get them to come out and give up their fingerprints. There is a huge group of Venezuelan migrants who are undocumented right now. The Colombian government is deporting them. The only way they can get back in is with a VZ passport. Maduro is not giving out passports easily and at about USD$30 they are quite expensive. This all adds up to stark terror at the prospect of being identified and registered - because the GOC might use that to deport them.

Without merchant adoption first (among many other things), Dash would still benefit from the claim that we aided migrants, but I personally would like to see $2 million in Dash spark a self-sustaining Dash economy. With some smart planning and a little extra work, we can do it.

And then that $2 million can get multiplied many times over, and the example your project sets will be that much more important and emulable.

AlejandroE makes some excellent points here. Getting accurate data will be almost impossible. We don't know how many illegal immigrants are in the country. If a miracle happens and we had accurate numbers from 6 months ago it wouldn't be close to accurate today.

...

Minimum wage in Colombia is 77,000 pesos ($28) 1.2 million Colombians earn minimum wage. Venezuelans especially people without documents are paid much less.
https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/colombia-hikes-minimum-wage-7-percent-for-2016/11465

Accurate data is indeed a challenge but the UN has very good data and my UN friend has direct access to it. I can't share files directly but I can share some of the information privately.

As Alejandro pointed out, minimum wage in Colombia is actually 10x the number you have there. It is $781,242 COP or USD$ 273. That said, El Tiempo and the UN both say that Venezuelan migrant families can get by on $50 per month.

http://www.salariominimocolombia.net/

Venezuelans are getting hired for less than the minimum wage, but that is illegal and the GOC is actively shutting that down. They've already shut down 10 businesses who were doing this in Cúcuta according to I think it was a Semana article.

I ADORE your idea, David. The challenge is in implementing it in a way that fits into the local context and that actually has a solid chance at sparking an ongoing local crypto-economy in Cúcuta.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm working with some UN contacts and am building some GOC contacts as well, will travel to Cúcuta in April for 3 days and will document everything. I'll be talking both to non-profit leaders and the migrants themselves, ideally government people, too. I'm talking to Dash Force News about them sponsoring the trip. I'll share everything I learn in this thread.

 

[GrandMasterDash]

@George Donnelly How much are you looking for?

 

[George Donnelly]

@George Donnelly How much are you looking for?

Sponsorship for the trip? My budget is looking like $2500. If my vlogging rig gets stolen, $3700.

EDIT: And in return I'm fully willing to say the videos are sponsored by someone. I can produce a set of videos in a certain style, I can talk to certain people, or whatever. I pitched it to DFN as them sending a reporter to a refugee crisis that both nation-states and the non-profit sector are dropping the ball on (mostly true). We can frame it that way to show off how Dash can roll in as a stateless institution to fill a desperately needed role.