[CLOSED] QSTN: NFT Launch in partnership with Paras

Marketing DAO Marketing DAO
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Guild name (if applicable)

QSTN: Re-defining data, De-Fi and NFTs on NEAR Protocol

Funding scheme: Monthly / Quarterly / Milestone-based / One-time etc.

One time

Initiative summary, be sure to include:

Background -

QSTN is an emerging Web3 platform looking to disrupt the advertising industry by giving individuals power and control over their data.

We built a web-based marketplace where users complete surveys from their favorite brands, creators and businesses in return for curated digital rewards.

The system is designed to be a frictionless Web2 to Web3 onboard which revolutionizes data, learning and the value consumers put on their personal information.

After completing a survey, users earn virtual credits which can be swapped for tokenized rewards.

Data has become a human rights issue and our goal is to bridge that gap by creating new tools on Web 3.0 which empower end-users.

Request -

Prior to launching our survey marketplace, QSTN will be featuring a collection of 1,000 digital avatars which are generatively produced in Blender.

These unique NFTs were produced in partnership with NEAR projects such as NEPBOT, DAO Records, Verida, NEARWEEK and Cypherpunk Guild to name a few.

Our mission is to sell out the entire collection as well as acquire at least 500 unique holders of the collection.

The first utility for these NFTs is users can claim the GLB file to wear their minted character in the metaverse (e.g. Cryptovoxels, Substrata).

The second utility is holders of these NFTs will be eligible to test our survey marketplace and participate in user feedback during the closed beta sessions.

Expected impact and value you foresee for the NEAR ecosystem/community

Current success -

The QSTN web application is not publicly available - we are privately testing with strategic partners prior to our Q2 2023 release.

These partners include Filecoin, Gitcoin, Octopus Network, Encode Club and Biconomy. We established relationships with these protocols after participating in their respective accelerators.

We currently have over 2000 sign ups for the beta application and over 500 users who have used our test-net V1 application.

In addition to pursuing Web3 clients, we are in discussion with the Chicago Public School System to use QSTN as an educational response tool in a blockchain specific curriculum planned for 2023.

Plans for NFT collection -

Prior to launching the survey marketplace, we want to release the NFT collection to help build community and social identifiers online and in the metaverse.

Since the first collection was generated using logos from projects building on NEAR, there is a chance for this concept to be taken multi-chain and become its own branding entity.

For now, these NFTs will grant premium access within our survey marketplace and help us identify the more active or Web3 based users within our platform.

With a goal of selling out, we want these holders to become the initial community for our marketplace and serve as on-chain metrics for a potential VC or investor.

Metrics for measuring success

Metric 1

  • Sell out the entire collection

Metric 2

  • Generate 500 unique holders of the collection on NEAR

Metric 3

  • Acquire press or notable links around NEAR, the NFTs and our upcoming survey marketplace

Metric 4

  • Build community around the NFTs and their release

Metric 5

  • Partner with notable NEAR press accounts to generate excitement
  • NEAR Coverage
  • NEAR Insider
  • NEAR Daily
  • NEAR Blockchain
  • NEAR Vietnam
  • NEAR India
  • NEAR Korea
  • NEAR Media & News
  • NEARITY

Estimated timeline and achievement milestones

March

  • Begin marketing in partnership with KOLs on NEAR and media agencies

April

  • Host the mint and sell out the entire collection

May

  • Begin to acquire press articles

  • Links to similar, previously funded forum proposals (if applicable)

We received an initial new grant which is solely focused on the development of the survey marketplace

This proposal is to assist with marketing and acquisition cost for our NFT collection which is a prelude to the marketplace

Funding Details
* Total requested amount in USD and NEAR (price based at the time of posting)
* NEAR Wallet ID / DAO
* Wallet owner’s name

Total requested amount -
$6,000 USD

Graphic design cost to promote collection =
$500 per month x 2 month duration = $1000

NEAR Insider =
$1500 per month x 2 month duration = $3000

NEAR giveaway for AMAs with NEAR Insider, NEAR Vietnam, Paras =
$200

NFT website listings =
Various costs based on provider = $1800

NEAR Wallet ID -
qstn.near

Wallet owner’s name -
Orrin Campbell

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cc @marketingdao-council

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Hello ! Could you please share milestones reports ?

  • grant from NF
  • grant from Human guild
  • grant from Mintbase.

Thanks.

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Milestone Report for Human Guild: Grant 1

Grant: $50,000 to develop V1 iteration of the survey marketplace

Results:

  1. Incorporation: We used the grant to incorporate the business as QSTN LLC in Wyoming, which helped us establish a legal entity for our survey marketplace. We received a certificate of authority to operate and headquarter ourselves in New York.
  2. Trademark and Copyright: The grant enabled us to trademark and copyright our business name and logo, which protected our intellectual property.
  3. Marketing Manager: We hired Flying Rhino Guild as our marketing manager for 1 year, which helped us build brand awareness and attract users to our platform.
  4. V1 Creation: The grant allowed us to create V1 of our survey marketplace, which was designed similarly to Google Forms and Survey Monkey. We created a self-service portal for businesses to conduct surveys and collect quality data.
  5. Hackathons and Accelerators: During this time, we participated in the Encode Club NFT hackathon and the 1871 x Verizon BLK Tech accelerator, where we presented our prototype. We also joined the Gitcoin KERNEL Block 5 accelerator, which provided us with mentorship, networking opportunities, and resources to grow our business.

Moving Forward:
After testing V1 in the Encode Club NFT hackathon, we decided to pivot our business model to focus on a more viable revenue stream and gamification within the portal. We used the lessons learned from V1 to improve and iterate on our survey marketplace for V2.

Milestone Report for NEAR Foundation: Grant 2

Grant: $100,000 to develop V2 iteration of the survey marketplace

Results:

  1. Patent: We used $50,000 of the grant money to patent our “System and method for mining tokens with user data” in the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Portugal.
  2. NFT Collection: We built our NFT mint website in collaboration with Paras, where we plan to host a generative NFT mint in April. Each NFT is a digital avatar that can be worn in the metaverse.
  3. V2 Creation: Based on customer feedback from V1, we used the grant money to develop a new UI and UX, along with the corresponding backend. We realized that it would be best to create a closed system with gamification for both the user and businesses, resulting in a greater chance of repeat action.
  4. Mobile Application: We used the funds to begin developing the UI and UX for the mobile application, which is the last deliverable for NEAR Foundation.
  5. Hackathons and Accelerators: We participated in several programs during this time, including the Encode Club x Filecoin NFT hackathon (where we placed 2nd), Filecoin Accelerator (where we presented on Demo Day), Octopus Network x Huobi accelerator program (where we won the Star Prize), and Amazon Black Business Accelerator program.
  6. NF Status: We have completed three of the four milestones for the NEAR Foundation grant, with the last one requiring us to deliver the mobile application.
  7. Team: We used the grant money to hire two graphic designers, two software developers, a chief legal officer, and a marketing agent.
  8. Legal Documents: We used the funds to create our terms and conditions, privacy policy, and GDPR statement.

Overall, the NEAR Foundation grant helped us make significant progress towards our goal of creating a user-centric and gamified survey marketplace that leverages the power of blockchain technology. The funds have allowed us to invest in critical areas such as intellectual property, mobile application development, and team expansion. We are excited to continue building on our progress and achieve our long-term vision of empowering users and businesses to participate in a new paradigm of data ownership and monetization.

Milestone Report for Mintbase: Grant 3

Grant: $10,000 to integrate Mintbase into our survey marketplace

Results:

  1. We used this grant to facilitate the UI and UX design costs required to create a seamless workflow where users on QSTN can mint their owned media into our respective store in Mintbase. We wanted to provide our users with the opportunity to tokenize their owned media with ease.
  2. We hired a software developer to begin work on this integration and made significant progress. We are now in the final stages of development and are planning to deliver the integration within the next 3-4 weeks before Mintbase has their demo day.
  3. In addition to the integration, we used some of the funds to include Mintbase’s logo in our generative NFT series and provide GLB functionality, allowing users to wear Mintbase’s logo in the metaverse.
  4. The integration with Mintbase is the only deliverable for this grant. We have been working diligently to ensure that the integration is a success. We met with Mintbase last week, as well as during ETHDenver, to keep them updated on our progress.

Overall, this grant has enabled us to create a valuable integration for our users, which will provide them with the ability to easily tokenize their media. This will increase engagement with our platform and offer a new revenue stream for our users. We are excited to deliver this integration soon and look forward to the future collaboration with Mintbase.

General Status Report:

  1. The V2 survey marketplace will be 100% complete in 3 weeks as we are currently in discussion with NYU and L’Oreal as early adopters
  2. The NFT collection is ready to be minted and we are confirming the release date with Paras
  3. The mobile application UI and UX will be done in 2 weeks and we are seeking a Developer DAO Grant to build out the gamification and added features
  4. The Mintbase integration will be delivered before May 1st
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Thanks for your proposal Orrin,

I support this proposal. Reasoning and notes:

  • It would be unfair and even unreasonable to a project that has been building for over a year and has achieved milestones along the way such as multiple grants from NF to be rejected funding for Marketing initiatives once they are close to launch. I believe the Marketing DAO owes it to the wider community to give every project the highest chance of success.
  • Open question to the team - I am not convinced that an NFT collection would be the best use of finds. However, I am trusting the team to have a better understanding of their business model and to have consulted with multiple parties throughout accelerator programs, etc.
  • It is clear that if QSTN is to succeed as a project, it would have a meaningful impact on several of the key metrics including overall users, transactions on-chain, and net value generated through advertising model, etc.
  • I also believe that if QSTN were to succeed, they would serve as a model to guide and inspire a new generation of builders as to the things that can be built on NEAR. I would personally also like to see more content from the QSTN about their journey and ‘Why NEAR’.
  • I’ve also been heavily influenced by the initiative with the Chicago Public School system. Not only is it a meaningful metric for traction but I see the QSTN team also playing an important role in nurturing their local community. This would create strong cross-pollination between Marketing spend and the nascent Regional Communities program.

Good luck,

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Hi @qstn

Thank you for your proposal. Before approving, we need to get a better understanding of the deliverables.

From your marketing partnerships with KOls, Near, and Media Agencies:

Can you please provide specifics and deliverables for your marketing initiatives?

1. Social Media

  • Which channels?
  • Publication frequency (how many posts)
  • Type of posts (Informative, Promotional, Educational?)
  • Media Format (Video, Images, Text?)

2. PR:
Through what process and channel do you plan on getting press coverage?

3. AMA
Are you running your own or working with partners?

4. NFT listings
Which provider?
Which websites?

5. Twitter Ads
Which countries do you plan on targeting with twitter ads?

Without deliverables, I’m unable to give this my approval.

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Hi @qstn thanks for the proposal and for sharing the reports as requested by @Dacha. I am inclined to support you based on the reasoning posted here by @satojandro, but I also agree with @Klint that we do need to see specific info around deliverables before we can approve.

Also, we can’t support funding for paid ads, so the line item about Twitter ads will need to be removed/revised in the post.

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Hello David and Dacha,

Thank you for your questions. Here are the specifics and deliverables for our marketing initiatives:

  1. Social Media
  • Channels: Twitter, Telegram, Discord and Instagram
  • Publication frequency: 1-2 posts per day
  • Type of posts: Informative, Promotional, and Educational
  • Media Format: Images, Text, and occasionally videos
  1. PR
  • We plan on getting press coverage by reaching out to NEAR-related media outlets and journalists. We will cross promote with other NEAR projects, schedule press releases and promote on social media platforms to publicize our mint, NFT collection and survey marketplace.

NEAR Pages we will contact -
Community pages: NEAR Protocol

  • NEAR Big News
  • NEAR Blockchain
  • NEAR Coverage
  • NEAR Daily
  • NEAR Insider
  • NEAR Mates
  • NEAR Media & News
  • NEAR Native
  • NEARITY

Nationality pages: NEAR Protocol

  • NEAR China
  • NEAR France
  • NEAR Kenya
  • NEAR Korea
  • NEAR Nigera
  • NEAR Philippines
  • NEAR Singapore
  • NEAR TĂźrkiye
  • NEAR VN

NFT pages: NEAR Protocol

  • NEAR Meme
  • NEAR NFT

Newsletters we will contact -

  • NFT Evening
  • The Drop
  1. AMA
  • We are in discussion with NEAR Insider, NEAR Vietnam, Wax NEAR and Paras to host AMA sessions with their communities.
  1. NFT listings
  • The specific providers and websites for NFT listings will depend on their availability and relevance at the time of launch. However, we plan to initially launch on Paras and Mintbase, and scale to include Apollo42 and Few & Far.
  1. Twitter Ads
  • I removed this line from the original request

I hope this answers your questions and provides a better understanding of our marketing deliverables.

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Hello! Given feedback from significant Ecosytem nodes, I can’t approve your proposal. Have a great day!

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Can you share that feedback in the interest of transparency, please?

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  • $160 000 and still waitlist stage (actually even more, NF spent extra to support QSTN via grants for Flying Rhino in the past + $50000 Octopus , + $15000 Ocean);

  • Currently, we are focused on WAU and transactions. Even if the dApps launch in a week (no), I don’t see an active community that will use QSTN

  • We need to invest Community money in already launched project in Our Ecosystem on the market;

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The team promised mainnet one year and 4 months ago.

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It’s a similar story to the Naksh NFT marketplace—thousands of grant dollars and nothing on Dapp’s radar.

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Nearity (marketing dao grantee) is already supports QSTN

The same. Marketing DAO grantees. You don’t need money to work with them.

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Also you can always refer to NearExplorer

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Awesome roadmap and great project.

Except the partnership with @Near_Insider . They always have a transparency issue in all activities. I will prefer other promoters & activities plans, rather than near insider.

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Hi @qstn i have reviewed your proposal and replies to comments from fellow council.

The delay in launch and questions about the value to the NEAR cosystem leaves me unable to support this proposal in its current form.

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Thanks @qstn for answering the questions asked. From what I understand based on your responses, community input and feedback from other council members such as @Dacha, the team has received a significant amount of funding from numerous sources and has not yet achieved its roadmap. I totally understand that startup life comes with all kinds of twists and turns and changes to original plans. That said, for us to allocated funds and endorse an investment in the platform at this stage and with your past funding history, I would need to see evidence that you can get to launch/market.

In terms of a way forward, what I would recommend is to leverage the relationships with the projects that are funded by the Marketing DAO for initial exposure (Near Insider, Near Vietnam, Wax, etc.) and come back to us in the future when you can show that you’ve reached the next milestone in your roadmap and have some data to share around audience engagement through those initial efforts.

I can’t support the proposal in this form, and because you do not have support from the majority of the council, I am closing this.

Last but not least, if anyone mentioned on this thread (i.e. @near.insider, NEAR Vietnam team, @waxnear) has concerns about the council’s recommendations, reach out, we are happy to set up a call to understand more.