The Cryptonite business model—trading human capital across a trusted social media network.
Cryptonite offers innovators a modern, media-sharing ‘trusted network’ that accelerates access to intelligence, investors, strategic partners and advisors, and the ability to build their global reputations and make great things happen.
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As legendary VC Tim Draper rightly observes, ‘Who you know, what you know, and when you know it is the currency of the global Silicon Valley.’ Building a successful career requires establishing a network of key advisors, partners, referral sources, and investors. People must also keep up with the innovations disrupting their industry and changing the way professionals work. To thrive, professionals must build their individual brands around referencable and validated modern skills, knowledge, and expertise. Cryptonite’s core promise is to provide an arena where good, smart people can seek each other out, join forces, and make great things happen.
OUR NEW CHALLENGES [+]
The biggest professional challenge in a post-Coronavirus world is staying connected and relevant in a virtual world. Even before COVID hit, 70 percent of American professionals worked remotely at least in part of their week, and independent contractors performed one in five jobs. The pandemic has only accelerated the pace of the virtual professional movement. The upside is less commuting and more freedom. The downside is a steep decline in personal and creative encounters at live business meetings, events, and social gatherings. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs always stressed the importance of the serendipity factor in Silicon Valley—the unplanned encounters between fellow entrepreneurs and co-workers.
To find meaningful work in a scattered world, people must master modern communications apps (e.g., Slack, Zoom, Telegram, and CRM) and leverage online communities to stay current, collaborate, and gain visibility. Trust in media and social networks is at an all-time low, however. Consumers are increasingly repelled by invasive ads, dopamine-driven engagement tactics, fake news, and censorship.
There are growing demands from consumers and governments for more transparency from the online Goliaths regarding their policies and practices on some of the most pressing issues of our time — individual privacy, data security, and freedom of expression. First-generation social media networks still rely on antiquated and userous revenue models, driven by gathering and selling private data. Consumers no longer want to see these tech giants reaping billions by trading their personal data like a commodity on the ‘attention economy exchange’ and selling their privacy to third-party data brokers.
OUR NOBLE CAUSE [+]
Cryptonite addresses these challenges by offering a peer-to-peer network connecting proven industry professionals in the global Silicon Valley. In the new virtual era, the need for a modern online home for entrepreneurs and investors to stay visible and connected has become even more critical. The heart of Cryptonite is a content sharing and commentary environment focused on the business of technology and its impact on culture and geopolitics. Our members tap into the meta-intelligence of Cryptonite’s pre-qualified industry ‘Wizards’ by following their thoughts and forecasts on technology business trends and the hottest emerging companies. Members also enjoy a powerful and rich social network where they identify and access global experts and investors who can help them build great companies and steer better careers.
Cryptonite also stands out from the social media pack by making the ‘Trusted Network Pledge’ to provide our members with complete data transparency, ownership, privacy control, and revenue-sharing (in the form of Cryptonote PRO (CPRO) token rewards) for adding value to the community and achieving positive mutual outcomes. Cryptonite also uniquely empowers its members through a peer-to-peer vouching, rating, and community policing culture. Every member who does not verify their identity is labeled a ‘Voyeur’ and may only view content. Cryptonite encourages its members to operate out on the edge of the network, creating high-value, actionable content while also vouching for and protecting each other.
CUTTING-EDGE CONTENT [+]
The Cryptonite homepage serves as a ‘table of contents’ edited from a venture capitalist perspective. Our focus is to identify the top trends, hottest companies and follow where the risk capital flows. Our editorial team reviews hundreds of authoritative media sources and blogs to curate, tag, and post 40 critical news and highly-informative features every day. Our editors also write opinion pieces, produce live social-casts, break insider news, and create and manage the Cryptonite Top 250 Companies and the Top 100 Risk Investors lists. The numbers behind the top companies and other 3rd-party digital asset and blockchain market data and indices are regularly featured for our members in highly actionable formats.
Our Cryptonite Live social-casting platform allows our inside team and industry ‘guest hosts’ 30 hours of weekly interactive, live video programming time. Cryptonite Live shows highlight top entrepreneurs, companies, trends, and investors. Social-cast viewers can rate and reward guests with CPRO, comment in real-time, and see and connect with others watching the show. Non-interactive versions of every show are simultaneously broadcasted on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, archived in interactive form on Cryptonite, and in video-format-only on Cryptonite’s YouTube channel. All our shows will also be distributed as a podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, Facebook, and SoundCloud.
The third media face of Cryptonite is our community-driven EliXr page. Designed as ‘a Reddit for the innovation set.’ EliXr is where our Contributing Commentators share content and comment on and debate the future of innovation and its impact on business and culture. Members use the EliXr page to exchange and test ideas, showcase knowledge, seek expert opinion, and identify new opportunities. Like Reddit, members personalize their experience by choosing topic ‘meta-tags’ and joining Cryptonite ‘Tribes’ (think subreddits). Our Tribes are hand-curated by our editors to meet specific quality and management standards, much in the way Apple qualifies its 3rd-party apps. Tribes will also be subject to ongoing peer-reviews and ratings. Research shows that the most valuable and productive member interchanges often occur in smaller communities within social networks such as Facebook groups and Subreddits, where people feel more comfortable speaking up and asking questions.
To maintain content quality and credibility, only pre-qualified Contributing Commentators may share and comment on the Cryptonite and EliXr pages. Authenticated Standing Members may view and rate all shared content and reward CPRO, but may not share content or comment on main page posts. Standing Members can join and participate in Tribes and Ask EliXr, and rise to Contributing Commentator status with peer support. To date, Cryponite has built a qualified list of over 200,000 proven entrepreneurs, big company executives, industry experts, and risk investors to invite to be initial Contributing Commentators. The list of Contributing Commentators will expand significantly over time under our reward-driven member recommendation program and ongoing efforts to qualify and invite more global industry players to our Commentator ranks.
SOCIAL NETWORK FOR GLOBAL INNOVATORS [+]
Cryptonite has been carefully designed to multiply serendipitous encounters between like-minded professionals. Members are highlighted throughout the entire Cryptonite experience, with easy one-click, peer-to-peer e-mail, message, vouch, rate, and reward access to each other.. Cryptonite member profiles highlight each member’s top social links (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium), displays the meta-tags that best describe their knowledge and skills, and showcases members who have vouched for them. Each member profile includes a MyStream section highlighting the content they and their connections share, comment upon, and rate. The Cryptonite recommendation engine also regularly introduces members to other like-minded professionals.
Cryptonite members own and control their data via private-key cryptography, and their data is secured through distributed-storage. Cryptonite also shares revenue with their members by regularly rewarding tokens (CPRO) for all positive contributions to the community.
Cryptonite also provides members the power to easily build, refine, search, filter, and manage their connections. With one click, our members can download their connection lists with complete contact data and group message any contact sort in a highly personalized way. No other social network profile offers the authenticity, personal analytics and introductions, and ease of use that Cryptonite provides its members.
BUILDING HUMAN CAPITAL [+]
Building professional capital requires hard work, visible results, and recognition from your peers. The Cryptonite member reputation and reward system assign ‘PowerPoints’ and corresponding CPRO rewards to members for positive contributions and achievements within the network. In the Power Stats section of a member profile, people see how they earned their PowerPoints and rewards and compare their Power Ranking versus their peers according to subject meta-tags, such as AI, regenerative medicine, robotics and cryptocurrencies. Members are also provided ongoing guidance on how to improve their ratings and earn more CPRO. The goal is to create a reputation system that rewards the same traits and actions it takes to succeed in the global Silicon Valley.
Over the first year, Cryptonite data scientists will be collecting and analyzing historical member behavior data to refine and strengthen the weighting system behind our reputation engine. The longer-term plan is to develop an AI-based neural network (affectionally referred to as Sherpa) that continually feeds member data and knowledge back into the system to dynamically gain new insights and unlock all kinds of hidden and untapped value for our members. Over time, Sherpa will help members discern their interests and competitive skill sets, create connection visualizations, provide introductions, and make content and career-oriented recommendations.
THE GLOBAL SILICON VALLEY [+]
Cryptonite refers to its target market as the ‘global Silicon Valley’ — the most robust job and wealth creation engine on the planet. The top 5 (and 7 out of 10) of the most valuable public companies today were originally backed by modern venture capital investors. The total market capitalization for the top 10 tech companies now exceeds $7 trillion, and they employ over 3 million people.
Our market is driven by crafty entrepreneurs leveraging blockchain, AI, life science, and clean technology innovation to achieve a more private, secure, healthier, sustainable, and self-empowered planet. Cryptonite members represent the pioneers and early adopters within the world’s billion professionals. They demonstrate the greatest appetite for risk and command the world's highest business and consumer purchasing power.
In 2019 risk capital-backed companies had a record-breaking year for exits totaling $250 billion, with nearly 80 percent from IPOs. A CBInsights global ‘Unicorn’ tracking report also estimates that right behind these newly public Internet companies is a legion of 440 private companies currently valued over $1 billion each, with a combined market cap of another $1.4 trillion. According to the NVCA/Pitchbook annual survey, these unicorns emerged from the current pack of over 50,000 operating venture/angel-backed companies.
THE CRYPTOCOSM [+]
Cryptonite’s market focus cuts across all the innovation sectors funded by high-growth, risk investors. Our brand rightly infers we have a particular passion for what George Gilder refers to as the emerging Cryptocosm. A legion of unnamed entrepreneurs is currently working away, building a new blockchain technology-based economic infrastructure to replace the current Internet/cloud-computing model. In the Cryptocosm, people own and control their own data through public/private key cryptography. Data security through distributed storage and eliminating the control of centralized authorities and Big Tech and are the major benefits. World Wide Web creator, Tim Berners-Lee, said the blockchain has the potential to reduce the influence of big Internet companies and return the web to his original vision.
On another side of the entrepreneurial planet, it is hard to ignore that bitcoin has outperformed every other global asset class in the last ten years, including real estate, gold, and the S&P 500. Over 5,000 cryptocurrencies were launched during this decade, and trading volumes reached multi-billion dollar heights, with only a tiny percentage of the global population participating. On November 6, 2020, the entire crypto-economy was worth $455 billion, of which BTC represents $287 billion of that value. Pantera’s Co-Chief Investment Officer and Augur founder, Joey Krug, expects altcoins to gain a significantly larger market share relative to bitcoin over the next couple of years. In 2019 the VCs invested $2.8 billion in 807 crypto deals, and this trend is projected to continue.
The top new crypto-friendly funds include Pantera, Polymath, Digital Currency Group, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Fenbushi Capital, and Boost VC. The traditional VCs who have gone crypto include Andreessen, Draper, Sequoia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Union Square, IDG Capital, RRE Ventures, First Round Capital, and 500 Startups.
Our view is the world will see economic disruption like never before, spawning a whole new generation of companies who are already re-writing the way we will work, play, and transact all over again.
HOW WE MAKE MONEY [+]
Cryptonite has three primary operating revenue sources: 1) paid memberships, 2) $ProShop fees and commissions, 3) Innovation Influencer Network fees and commissions. A significant additional income source will come from the future appreciation and liquidity of the CPRO issued to Cryptonite for being the altcoin’s original creator and its first market-maker.
Freemium Membership Program
Cryptonite offers both free and paid membership programs, as outlined in the inset chart. Paid members enjoy advanced search and filtering functions, personal introductions, more analytics, greater messaging access, and heightened visibility within the network.
Cryptonite’s membership development plan has four distinct direct marketing and sales strategies: 1) direct email marketing to our qualified database of 6.5 million global Silicon Valley contacts, 2) an altcoin reward and community recognition program for qualified member referrals, 3) an ongoing original content-driven social marketing effort, and 4) direct-selling ‘branded Tribes’ and bulk subscriptions to professional services firms, technology, and media companies, high-end consumer brands, trade associations, university groups, and non-profit organizations.
Paid members enjoy a visibility boost through wider content and video reel distribution, deeper views to people and content search results, more analytics, and more personalized introductions.
The $ProShop—An e-store for all things professional
Cryptonite’s second-largest source of operating income will come from $ProShop network management fees and sales commissions. In discerning and managing a successful career path in a world of rapid change and disruption, savvy professionals must remain current. To support these ongoing education needs, Cryptonite created the $ProShop — a private blockchain-based online store and expert service network for global professionals. The $ProShop offers a highly-vetted and growing selection of third-party research, data and communication apps, live and virtual event tickets, continuing education programs, webinars, and access to leading experts. As membership grows, high-end consumer products and travel and leisure services will be offered in the $ProShop as well.
While Cryptonte is the creator and operator of the $ProShop, the online store will also be linked to and promoted by a growing number of other professional-oriented online communities referred to as CPRO Network Partners. CPRO Network Partners are incentivized with a 15 percent commission on all sourced sales, paid automatically in CPRO at the moment of the transaction. Cryptonite earns a 15 percent commission on its sales and a 15 percent management fee on all $ProShop sales for vetting and securing high-quality goods and services, network design, and administration. To maximize $ProShop sales, Cryptonite has incorporated the GoCrypto point-of-sales system. In addition to paying in fiat and CPRO (for a discount), buyers may also pay with other altcoins pre-specified by Cryptonite based upon current market conditions, value, and liquidity.
Innovation Influencer Network
Cryptonite’s third source of operating revenue will come from the Innovation Influencer Network, a private blockchain-based match-making platform that connects brand sponsors with proven industry thought-leaders. Operated by Cryptonite, the Innovation Influencer Network’s goal is to help unleash and reward the new class of innovation industry micro-influencers rising out of the global Silicon Valley. The growing mistrust of traditional media has all but killed modern advertising and given birth to the $8 billion ‘influencer marketing’ industry. As Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has observed, ‘A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. An authentic referral from a proven influencer is the Holy Grail of advertising.’
In a self-service optimized environment, professional services firms, technology, media companies, and high-end consumer brands can identify and pay CPRO rewards to influential members to create authentic 60-second ‘Be Reel’ video testimonials featured across the Cryptonite and other participating CPRO Network Partner sites.
Network Partners who connect their members into the Innovation Influencer Network and feature Be Reels on their sites earn a 10 percent commission for all sales referrals paid immediately upon each transaction. Cryptonite earns a 10 percent commission for its sales and a 10 percent management fee on Influencer Network sales for vetting and securing high-quality brand sponsors, network design, and administration.
CPRO Token Creation and Distribution
A potentially very significant source of Cryptonite’s asset appreciation and revenue and cash will come from its allocation of CPRO. Under the current crypto-economics plan, Cryptonite and our stakeholders will be issued up to 20 percent of the overall CPRO utility token mint to be used for our member award program and to programmatically sell in the open and secondary crypto markets over time when additional expansion capital is required. The value and liquidity of the CPRO are driven by the expansion of buyers and sellers in the $ProShop and the Influencer Network.
THE COMPETITORS [+]
First-generation social networks have evolved into over-featured, noisy, and deeply mistrusted platforms, where ‘opinion’ often morphs into ‘attack and kill.’ Sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter do more to spread the infobesity epidemic, and seed mistrust than help people overcome these challenges.
As noted above, Cryptonite is distinguished from our competitors by our commitment to member privacy, rewards, and the promise never to sell member data. Cryptonite maintains greater data integrity and security by storing member data across distributed networks. Members are empowered with their own crypto-key to easily share, download, and delete their encrypted data in real-time. Cryptonite’s peer-to-peer vouching, rating, and reward system also empowers community members to validate each other and help call out bad content and bad actors.
Our view is that reward tokens will play a large role in social media's future but is still in the experimental stage in this sector. In May 2020, Reddit launched its own cryptocurrency reward token running on the Ethereum network. Members earn ‘Community Points” based on their contributions to a subreddit, and members can trade them for Reddit premium features, but not on a cryptocurrency exchange. They also serve as a measure of a member's reputation in the community. In 2017, Twitter’s live video service Periscope created the ‘Super Heart’ virtual gift that members buy for cash in the Apple and Android mobile stores and can give to other members during live broadcasts. Steem is the only blockchain-based social network with an Ethereum-based, tradeable reward token.
Editorially, Cryptonite is distinguished from our competitors by our global network of Contributing Commentators who curate content and provide expert commentary and advice. No other technology business media brand offers more scope and depth of insider knowledge and commentary than Cryptonite.
THE BOTTOM LINE [+]
Cryptonite measures its success by the number of meaningful, verified relationships and game-changing outcomes (e.g., new knowledge, jobs, hires, fundings, partnerships, customers, and advisors) our members initiate on our network. Cryptonite was therefore designed to accelerate the rate by which our members gain critical market intelligence, identify key resources, build professional capital, and take action.
Cryptonite recognizes that a small change in one’s career plan or startup idea in the present can create explosive new opportunities over the long-term. Our job is to give earnest people a safe place to gather together and create a better life.
JOIN THE REVOLUTION [+]
If you would like to join us on this amazing journey as a partner, advisor, contributor, or investor, please feel free to reach out in the comment section below or get in touch with us directly at editor@cryptoniteventures.com.
