The SocialGRADE Project - Pitch1
Before there ever was an idea for a company, there was a stressed out dad at a barbecue being asked by his oldest daughter whether or not she could have a Facebook page. What followed was another daughter coming online, a lot of arguments, and a ton more stress. I imagined that there must be a smarter, more scaleable way to tackle the problem and help others in similar situations. In September, 2013 I attended Lean Startup Machine at 1776 in Washington, D.C. in order to perform validated learning and determine whether or not I had a company, not merely a good idea. In January of 2014 I moved to New York City to launch the company in full, securing a friends and family round by October of 2014. I was riding high on a wave of momentum, but unfortunately nothing lasts forever. I never quite found the product/market niche due to unforeseen negative feedback associated with the deluge of notifications for parents when kids broke the established contract rules, but I still felt there was a good idea somewhere in the mix. Many companies are solid ideas with implementation or technology challenges and this was one of them. To put it bluntly, I didn’t do a good job. Monitoring kids online was like trying to drink the ocean and there was no good way, yet, to turn this my idea into a profitable business so we closed up shop. Tail firmly between my legs, I returned to work as an IT profession in 2016 as a cybersecurity consultant and immediately fell in love with my job. Besides being in a red-hot vertical within the industry, an additional unforeseen benefit was it placed me squarely in the orbit of bleeding edge technologies where I discovered bitcoin, the concept of digital currencies, and the blockchain. I’ll talk about each of those in detail in later posts, but the big takeaway is that there exists the technology allowing any person to create a secure digital token, assign it a real-world monetary value value, exchange them for products and services via encrypted transactions, and store them in a virtual wallet. The technology has been around since 2009 when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto (still unknown) set out the idea for his/her/their digital currency model in a white paper and released to the masses in 2009 for open use. Here I was flying my kite, struck by lightning, and knocked out of both my shoes AND socks. For the rest of this story, visit anthonybraddy.com.
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The SocialGRADE Project - Pitch1
- 1. SocialGRADE, Inc. navigating the world of social together. Anthony Braddy MIT FINTECH Module 2.6 60- second Pitch Deck
- 2. SocialGRADE 2 ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE Summer 2009 Our Humble Beginnings Before there ever was an idea for a company, there was a stressed out dad at a barbecue being asked by his oldest daughter whether or not she could have a Facebook page. What follows is another daughter coming online, a lot of arguments, and a lot of stress Sept 2013 Jan/Feb 2014 October 2014 March 2015 SocialGrade Launches! SocialGrade attends Lean Startup Machine on the campus of1776 in Washington, DC. to validate whether the problem actually exists. New York, New York, Big City of Dreams SocialGrade opens a second office space in New York City focused on helping establish a positive social presence in the NYC tech community. SocialGrade launches in alpha and begins refining our notification and grading algorithm. Homecoming SocialGrade, Inc. begins community building in North Carolina and dedicates itself to helping build a technology community. Show Me The Money, Pt. 1 SocialGrade, Inc. closes a friends and family round and is formally restructured as a Delaware C- Corp
- 3. SocialGRADE 3 CHALLENGES THAT MADE US RETHINK THE PRODUCT Notifications Notifications for every infraction created more anxiety for parents than opportunities to address behavior Efficiency Challenges Inexperience The ambitious nature of this project to include even images created operating inefficiencies that could not be overcome. There was not enough initial capital to handle the human resources limitations Without strong mentorship and as a first time entrepreneur, I did not have what it took as a leader to make significant traction before reaching the end of our runway AND THEN I GOT AN INVITATION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING…
- 4. SocialGRADE 4 HERE’S WHAT I BROUGHT TO THE TABLE When validating our initial assumptions during Lean Startup Weekend, we made an interesting observation. Not only did kids want to be involved in setting the parameters for behavior monitoring, but parents wanted them to be as well. 90% of parents surveyed agreed they would use a product that notified them when their kids misbehaved online that also did not require direct logins. 70% of kids did not mind being passively monitored if rewards were offered for good grades.
- 5. SocialGRADE WHAT ELSE DOES HAVING A BLOCKCHAIN ENABLE? Integratingeconomy, marketplace,andvalues Our mission is to build an open-source infrastructure for the creation of social economies Establishsocialstandards foravarietyofcommunities This is achieved by establishing social norms via smart contract that establish rules for payment and exchange rates.
- 6. SocialGRADE 6 Scores & Rewards TRACKING IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF WALLETS
- 7. SocialGRADE 7 Detailed Reporting METRICS IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF WALLETS
- 8. SocialGRADE 8 Superlatives & Discovery COMMUNITY IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF WALLETS
- 9. The SocialGRADE PROJECT a 501(c)(3) to cultivating the world of social value from navigating the world of social together.
Editor's Notes
- SUMMER 2009 Our Humble Beginnings Before there ever was an idea for a company, there was a stressed out dad at a barbecue being asked by his oldest daughter whether or not she could have a Facebook page. What follows is another daughter coming online, a lot of arguments, and a lot of stress SEPTEMBER 2013 SocialGrade Launches! SocialGrade attends Lean Startup Machine on the campus of1776 in Washington, DC. to validate whether the problem actually exists. JANUARY 2014 New York, New York, Big City of Dreams SocialGrade opens a second office space in New York City focused on helping establish a positive social presence in the NYC tech community. FEBRUARY 2014 Let's Build SocialGrade launches in alpha and begins refining our notification and grading algorithm. OCTOBER 2014 Show Me The Money, Pt. 1 SocialGrade, Inc. closes a friends and family round and is formally restructured as a Delaware C-Corp MARCH 2015 Homecoming SocialGrade, Inc. begins community building in North Carolina and dedicates itself to helping build a technology community.
- SUMMER 2009 Our Humble Beginnings Before there ever was an idea for a company, there was a stressed out dad at a barbecue being asked by his oldest daughter whether or not she could have a Facebook page. What follows is another daughter coming online, a lot of arguments, and a lot of stress SEPTEMBER 2013 SocialGrade Launches! SocialGrade attends Lean Startup Machine on the campus of1776 in Washington, DC. to validate whether the problem actually exists. JANUARY 2014 New York, New York, Big City of Dreams SocialGrade opens a second office space in New York City focused on helping establish a positive social presence in the NYC tech community. FEBRUARY 2014 Let's Build SocialGrade launches in alpha and begins refining our notification and grading algorithm. OCTOBER 2014 Show Me The Money, Pt. 1 SocialGrade, Inc. closes a friends and family round and is formally restructured as a Delaware C-Corp MARCH 2015 Homecoming SocialGrade, Inc. begins community building in North Carolina and dedicates itself to helping build a technology community.
- Roughly 90% of parents surveyed agreed they would use a product that notified them when their kids misbehaved online that also did not require direct logins. The surprise was that if offered rewards for good social grades, 70% of kids also did not mind being passively monitored. When validating our initial assumptions during Lean Startup Weekend, we made an interesting observation. Not only did kids want to be involved in setting the parameters for behavior monitoring, but parents wanted them to be as well. Enter, the contract.
- Keeping Score SocialGrade measures the number of posting violations against the number of overall posts to calculate an overall score as well as individual scores on each social media platform. For premium users, SocialGrade also tracks the amount of time spent on social media and number of times social media applications are opened during a 24 hour period. Rewards Rewards are exclusive perks given to kids who positively use social media and operate within the social contract between themselves and their parents. Every day, SocialGrade users receive amazing products, special discounts and VIP access because of their positive behaviors!
- Detailed Reporting Detailed Reporting tracks Additional Post Details Post Frequency Trending Reports Daily Scoring Report Trends Social Media Type Usage Percentages Demerits Demerits track parental notifications whenever an infraction occurs in real-time, daily, or weekly. Specific details are available in the detailed summary screen
- Exploring with Superlatives Discovery: Find kids similar to you or in your interest groups using our superlative system Most Athletic - Is there a game on? If so, you're probably watching it. Most Shy - Nothing wrong with just seeing what everyone else is doing. Besides being loud just isn't your style. Most Creative - You future superstar…how do you even concentrate when you're not sharing your genius with the digital world? Most Likely to Succeed - Welcome back Mr./Ms. Jobs. Oh, you're not him? Could have fooled me, because you're all about your business. Most Inspirational - If anybody needs a shoulder to cry on or words of encouragement, you're right there by their side. What a great way to be. Most Outgoing - Sit down. Stay still. Stop talking. What, you can't? Oh, yeah, that's right, because how else would everyone know about your awesome!