"Unfortunately, we've decided not to fund SwiftDemand. We were really impressed with the number of participants you have on the platform and the fact that people are doing transactions. However we struggled to convince ourselves that there was an underlying big business here. If this is going to be something that is economically meaningful to people to allow them to live on it, then it would be hard to for this to also be a billion dollar company and would probably be better suited to a non-profit."
The email shows two big misunderstandings in how SwiftDemand works. It's on me for not temporarily taking control of the interview once I realized the lens they were viewing SwiftDemand through.
>The email shows two big misunderstandings in how SwiftDemand works.
Well, since an HN comment isn't under the pressure of a 10-minute speed date and you can take control of your own narrative right here in this forum... Can you gather your thoughts and explain in 1 or 2 concise sentences how SwiftDemand works?
Your concise sentences should basically answer:
+ What's the revenue model? Is it memberships/subscriptions or ad revenue? Why would the buyers (consumers or businesses) pay money into the SwiftDemand ecosystem?
+ how SwiftDemands YC's $150k seed investment at 7% equity turns into ~$50 million. (Those example numbers assume YC's 7% being diluted twice down to ~4% with subsequent investments, and a ~$1+ billion dollar exit valuation.)
Your webpage mentioning "everyone gets 100 Swifts a day" and "3% fee" doesn't really explain the commercial _value_ of the UBI blockchain. This would also explain the motivation of _why_ people would pay non-Swifts currency like $USD to convert it into Swifts UBI blockchain.
Your other comment summarizing it to "to become a global currency that focuses on social economic good in the form of UBI" doesn't really connect the dots of how YC gets a ~$50 million return on their investment.
zaguios|7 years ago
"Unfortunately, we've decided not to fund SwiftDemand. We were really impressed with the number of participants you have on the platform and the fact that people are doing transactions. However we struggled to convince ourselves that there was an underlying big business here. If this is going to be something that is economically meaningful to people to allow them to live on it, then it would be hard to for this to also be a billion dollar company and would probably be better suited to a non-profit."
The email shows two big misunderstandings in how SwiftDemand works. It's on me for not temporarily taking control of the interview once I realized the lens they were viewing SwiftDemand through.
ryanmercer|7 years ago
Ouch. I started to write a reply to this but it ended up being more appropriate as a blog post as it cascaded a bunch of thoughts and feelings. https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-...
jasode|7 years ago
Well, since an HN comment isn't under the pressure of a 10-minute speed date and you can take control of your own narrative right here in this forum... Can you gather your thoughts and explain in 1 or 2 concise sentences how SwiftDemand works?
Your concise sentences should basically answer:
+ What's the revenue model? Is it memberships/subscriptions or ad revenue? Why would the buyers (consumers or businesses) pay money into the SwiftDemand ecosystem?
+ how SwiftDemands YC's $150k seed investment at 7% equity turns into ~$50 million. (Those example numbers assume YC's 7% being diluted twice down to ~4% with subsequent investments, and a ~$1+ billion dollar exit valuation.)
Your webpage mentioning "everyone gets 100 Swifts a day" and "3% fee" doesn't really explain the commercial _value_ of the UBI blockchain. This would also explain the motivation of _why_ people would pay non-Swifts currency like $USD to convert it into Swifts UBI blockchain.
Your other comment summarizing it to "to become a global currency that focuses on social economic good in the form of UBI" doesn't really connect the dots of how YC gets a ~$50 million return on their investment.
MrsPeaches|7 years ago