Report: Near Nordic - Community Building and Engagement [May/June]
Summary:
The story of Near Nordic is a complicated one. I hope I can calm some of my critics with this overview and provide some insights into what has been accomplished and where things have slowed.
At the same time, this is a bit of a cathartic endeavor (venting).
As I’ve stated in numerous posts, this was an ambitious initiative. Without additional funding, the project lost momentum.
That being said, I wanted to over-deliver across the board. With all the hundreds of extra hours poured into this project, hopefully the project can find more momentum in the future.
Report for May / June
Near Nordic Roadmap
Phase 1) Establish the Community
Branding, Website, Social media channels, Content production
Phase 2) Grow the Program / Build the Pipeline
Roadmap, Create content [SoMe, Video, Blogs, etc], Launch event
PR / Engagement, Local partnerships with Web3 Communities, Organizations, Universities etc
Phase 3) Partnerships and Growth
Establish the Near Nordic Accelerator, Form strong ecosystem partnerships (Universities, Corporates, and Investors, Prepare the program (All modules, templates, frameworks), Apply for Near Grants, Outline future events, Support Web3 Startups from in receiving funding
Updates
Having seen other ecosystem hubs get funding and take-off, I rolled up my sleeves.
Highlights:
- Meetings with various Near Foundation folks, in February, March, and April.
- Shut down my business (Growth Marketing Agency) to be taken more seriously (strongly suggested on numerous occasions by Near Foundation members)
- Went full-time building out the accelerator program
- Launch Event for Near Nordic held on May 5th
- Numerous pitches and deck updates per the Near Foundation requests
- Agreed to a smaller grant funding range on May 11th
- Market crashes on May 12th (Thanks Luna)
- Radio Silence from Near until June
- Told to “hold tight”
- Rebranded to Layer Three Ventures due to lack of Near Foundation Funding
- Still Promoting Near Protocol at events and Near Grants for startups
Near Nordic Program Documentation
Hundreds of hours went into developing the supporting materials, and documentation.
These were not compensated but were part of building the overall accelerator program, operations, and standing up the ecosystem hub.
Near Nordic Documentation [PDF]
The Near Nordic related projects were built under the stipulation that grant funding was around the corner.
And while I’d love to share everything, I’m still making an effort to get my program off the ground.
Other ecosystem hubs were funded with millions of dollars from the Near Foundation.
The only reason I haven’t been able to reach the same results or better is due to the lack of funding.
Without the resources that come with proper funding, it’s impossible for me to reach the same results as other ecosystem hubs.
Near Nordic Social Media
With the amount of time, effort, and energy that went into bolstering some of the social media efforts, I can say with absolutely certainly that we missed our goals here.
Near Nordic Social Media Overview [PDF]
Retrospective on Social Media
Formalize Ecosystem Partners and PR
Near Nordic Partnerships [PDF]
]Partners fall into 6 Categories
- Academia
- Funding Partners
- Community Partners
- Coprorate Partners
- Web3 Ecosystem
- Government Partners
Event Partnerships, Keynotes, and Workshops
Creating relationships and pipeline for accelerator participants, grantees, funding, and partnerships
Presentations:
Focus on covering the current opportunities and weaving in Near / Near Grants
Academia / Accelerators:
Rockstart
Format: 2x 2 Hour Workshops + 1 Hour Workshops With 4 Startups
Date: November 14 and 15
Topic: Targeting and Aqusition
Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (US)
Format:Keynote Presentation / / Q&A
Date: PENDING
Topic: Building Your Web3 Startup
Rockstart
Format: Workshop
Date: October 13
Topic: Growth-Hacking in Web3
Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) / Aalto University (Finland)
Format: Keynote / Meetup
Date: October 14
Topic(s): Enterpreneurship in Web3
CPH Business (Denmark)
Format: Workshop / Lecture
Date: October 29
Topic: Entering Web3 and Becoming a Web3 Builder
Antler:
Format: Workshop
Date: October 3
Topic: Growth-Hacking your Web3 Startup
2x Nordic Fintech Week
Format: Keynote
Date: September 27
Topics(s): The future of finance - Understanding Web3 / How to launch your first Web3 project
GSUSI - First International Conference on Sustainable Energy Blockchain & Cryptocurrency (SEBC-2022)
Format: Keynote
Topic: How to launch and Grow Your Sustainable Energy Web3 Project
August 2
Global NFT Summit 2022
Format: Panel
Topic: Fractionalisation with NFTs
July 28
2x Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Format: Panel Host / Moderator
Date(s): July 27 / June 28
Topic(s): NFT Evolution and the Future Of Crypto Assets / The metaverse will fuse the real world with the digital world. So why should you care? "What is the Metaverse and Why Does It Matter?
Event: TMRW CONF Entering the Metaverse part 2: Impact, Opportunities and Regulatory Considerations
Format: Panel Host
Topic: Entering the Metaverse part 2: Impact, Opportunities and Regulatory Considerations
May 12
Academic Partners
Pipeline for Early Partners and Participants in the Accelerator Program
Current Ongoing Conversations:
- CPH Business - Lectures / Workshops - Watch Workshop
- DTU - Mentorship / Workshops
- KEA - Lectures / Workshops
- Aalto - Workshop / Meetup for Visitng MBA students from Finland
- IT University of Copenhagen - Lectures / Workshops / Mentors
Funding Partners
Establishing contacts for investment in the fund, direct investment in startups, and partnerships for supporting first cohorts of the accelerator.
Approaching targets for funding and future opportunities for early Web3 investment for startups and the accelerator program:
Case Study - Near Nordic - 1st Outreach Project 2300+ Investors
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XNhYCdscn-hlIo7v0hTEgB82OWn6f27y/
Targeting:
- Funds of Funds
- Family Offices
- Private Equity Firms
- Hedge Funds
- Angels / Super Angels
- High Net Worth Individuals
Discovery
List discovery, acquisition, and segmenting investors by:
- Investor type
- Region
- Investment focus
- Recent / Previous activity in Blockchain / Fintech / Deeptech
Enrichment
Normalizing Investor lists via core fields - Email and contact discovery and manual validation of organization
- Name
- Title
- Validated Email (Active)
- Organization Name
- Website
- Logo
Hyper-personalization
- AI generated / Manual checked first line
- Meme creation
- Logo Extraction
Outreach Sequences
- 9x email sequences with merge fields for hyper personalization
- 3x Separate Warmed-Up Email Addresses from 3x domains
- 3x contacts per organization
Follow-up / Chasing
- Answering questions about the initiatives, program, team, deal-flow, etc.
- Alternative offer: Provide deal-flow for future investment
- Scheduling Initial and Secondary Meetings
- Forwarding selected decks
- Connecting on Linkedin
- Tracking / CRM
Results:
- 75 scheduled investor meetings
- New loose partnerships for early / late stage VCs
- Startup Introductions - Connecting a handful of selected projects with investor meetings
- Community partners
Community Partners
Events: Local and international events for spreading the word about Near Nordic and opportunities to build on Near.
Event Partners:
- Targeting
- Discovery
- Enrichment
- Outreach / Speaker Application
- Tracking
Targeting
- Webinars [Online Events]
- Podcasts
- Events [Local, Europe, North America]
Discovery:
- Manual search
- Event listings
- Scrapping / Aggrigation
- Manual Data entry
Example of North American Sheet:
Outreach / Speaker Application
- Submission process: Submit speaker form
- Automated Email Outreach [Sequenced emails + merge fields]
- Follow-up
Tracking:
Tracking responses from various events
Event / General Partnerships
- Nordic Blockchain Association - Ongoing conversations for future events in Copnehagen
- Paras - Possible future event in Copenhagen
Media Partnerships
Nordic Fintech Magazine.com
30 Minute Interview The Ownership Economy: How Web3 will change the Game for Business and Finance - Taylor Ryan, General Manager of Layer Three Ventures & CEO at Klint - Nordic Fintech Magazine
Full Length Interview Video:https://youtu.be/2edaVii2Y8k
Cryptok.dk/
Video Posted on Tiktok
Podcast Appreance:
Speaking about Near, Web3, and Near Nordic - Recorded in July / August
- Guest - Wild User Interviews Podcast
- Guest - Ready Layer one Podcast
Notable Event Partnerships [Speaker]
- Nordic Fintech Week - [September 27-28 ] Copenhagen
- Nextblockexpo.com - [November 23-24] Berlin
Accelerator Partners:
4 - Cannot publicly disclose all organization’s names
- Workshops
- Mentorships / Advisory for specific web3 projects
Coprorate Partners
Ongoing meetings with various global organizations specializing in:
- Banking
- Shipping / Logistics
- Heating / Cooling / Waterpumps
- Internet hosting / Cloud
Purpose of the partnerships varies:
- Pilot project opportunities
- Access to Funding
- Data Samples
- Resources / Free Tools
- Events
Due to the sensitive nature of these partnerships, I am not comfortable listing out the details of these organizations.
Web3 Ecosystem
A large part of our focus was meeting with individual startups to understand their business model, current progress, needs (funding / support), and review their decks.
Those that matched the right criteria for potential grants were walked through the grants process on Near’s Website.
Startup Pick Deck Submissions
- May - 38 Statups
- June - 16 Startups
- July - 20 Startups
- August - 8 Startups
Applications come directly through the application on the website, via email, and linkedin.
Note the names have been blocked out as this is currently my dealflow
Startups Referred to Near’s Grant Program
Project Summary: NFT Fashion - Marketplace / Minting Platform
Status: Approved for funding / Awarded then Withdrawn
Project: Gaming Monetization Platform
Status: Past first round of funding - pending in milestones submission
Project: Chrome Extension for using Near to make Payments
Status: Pending upon delivery of additional materials.
Project: Dex Platform
Status: Pushed through to Proximity
Mentors:
- 8 mentors currently prepared to support various startups
- 2 Legal mentors / advisors / formation of swiss association
Pairing with Layer Three Ventures:
Funding for Near Nordic is being run directly through layer three ventures to keep the entities separate. Funding comes through to Layer Three Ventures and the program is run as “Near Nordic.”
Government Partners
These are extremely slow going. Hoping for more traction soon. The reality is the government is extremely slow to acknowledge the importance of this sector.
- Introduction and correspondances with chairman of the board to largest government fund in Denmark.
- Selection of grants / funding from https://ted.europa.eu/
- Feedback on Near Nordic pitch deck
In Summary
Near Nordic has had different degrees of growth and success since its inception.
The nature of a full-time accelerator program requires investment and commitment from an ecosystem and leadership.
The element of “bad timing” has made carrying Near Nordic a real challenge. With that said, I’ve still got hope that this project will be picked up.
Thanks for the support and don’t hesitate to provide any feedback.
Best
Taylor AKA Klint