Polinate AMA Recap
Polkastarter: Hi everyone and welcome to another exciting Polkastarter AMA, this time with the @azeemk, Co-founder and COO and @BabarShabir, Co-founder and CEO from Polinate. Welcome and thank you for taking the time today to join us!
Babar Shabir: Hey everyone, thanks for having us, it's an honor to be here with such a fantastic community today!
Azeem Khan: Hey everyone, it's a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for having us. So excited about this opportunity with Polkastarter. Can't wait to hear and answer some questions with you all today.
Polkastarter: 😎Alright!
We’ll first have a few questions to Azeem and Babar directly, before we open it up for community questions. Let’s get started!
Could you please first introduce yourselves?
Babar: I'm Babar the CEO and Co-Founder of Polinate. I've been in the crypto space since 2017 helping a multitude of projects from concept to market.I have developed an extended network in the emerging technologies space creating vast exposure and links at governmental, corporate and professional levels. Some of these include guiding the FCA on regulations in the crypto space in the UK from 2018-2020, helping the expansion of large exchanges into the European market between 2018-2019 and helping projects turn their ideas into products.
Azeem: Hello everyone, I'm Azeem. I am a co founder and COO of Polinate.
I got into the crypto space sort of as a joke back in 2014 when I tried launching Kim Coindashian. All I did was put up a landing page and Twitter account. It got massive traction with the press. Soon after had to stop because of issues around legals but it got me fascinated with the future of crypto.
I've spent some time in the sports and entertainment industry being around mostly hip hop people. I was a contributor with the Huffington Post for years and started to build great relationships in the space.
Then I ran a web/mobile development shop for a year where we did work with Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, Rae Sremmurd, Bryson Tiller, and so on.
Spent some time after running an esports agency that was co-founded by an executive at Roc Nation, which is Jay Z's sports and entertainment company.
Then for a year before this I spent time as the head of growth and partnerships at a mobile game company called Aglet, which is like Pokemon Go for sneakerheads. Been quite a journey to get to being here today.
Polkastarter: Impressive!
Can you tell us more about the vision behind Polinate, and why are you launching it?
Azeem: The entertainment industry is one that is extremely difficult to navigate. Even more so when you come from a space of being in a financially difficult place.
You're simply more prone to being taken advantage of. It's one of those businesses where people tend to learn from their mistakes, but the problem is that those mistakes are once they usually can't be reversed. The kinds of contracts that they sign lock them and the IP of their creativity away, sometimes forever.
It's a place where dreams are sold with a much worse reality. In more recent times, Taylor Swift, who's as big of an artist as is humanly possible was facing major issues because the owners of her master recordings were people she wasn't a fan of. But there was nothing she could do.
So, if even one of the largest people in the space can have those problems then it only makes sense almost everyone else does too.
What I love about what we can provide here is that artists can find ways to create leverage around their work before having to go into signing any deals, even if they choose to sign them afterwards. And that is priceless.
Other than that, it's an industry where nepotism and power laws run wild. Meaning there's tons of really talented people who never really get to start. And that's what we really hope to change.
Babar: The idea of Polinate was conceived in a discussion with Terra Virtua whilst we were discussing the discovery of creativity and we realised that everyone is so busy in the efforts of pushing out NFTs that there was no real solution in helping creativity thrive. There are multitudes of creatives out there with untapped potential just because they don't have the social or financial capital shouldn't be a barrier for anyone not to get a chance. However, we didn't want to cap Polinate at only discovery of creativity and Azeem being from the entertainment and creative industry introduced the topic of the difficulties of people in the entertainment space and having rights to their IP, masters and so on and that's when the concept of Polinate came together as a whole and became what it is today.
Polkastarter: What a mission! 🤩
Polkastarter is a huge believer that the team and talent behind the project is one of the most important factors for success. Tell us more about the team behind Polinate, and how your experience has led you here?
Babar: So you've already got the info on me and Azeem but regarding the rest of the Team:
CTO - Naeem Ahmed is a Dubai based IT professional working in software application design, architecture & development covering different verticals from medical, insurance, blockchain, business intelligence and loyalty applications for clients like HSBC, Master Card, VISA and Emirates. Naeem has 7 frontend/backend Devs working under him and 4 blockchain devs.
Head of Strategy - David Atkinson is renowned in the Blockchain space for his contributions to notable projects, forming their token economy and strategy. Notable projects that he has worked with include Holochain and Terra Virtua, both now on Binance.
Azeem: Having spent so much time in the entertainment world and intimately understanding the problems that people have in it, I was immediately drawn to the idea.
Starting a platform to help empower those through financial means for people who were looking to launch their creative ideas is just amazing.
The thing about Polinate is that right now we're really launching what is in ways only the start of what we see as possible utilizing the platform. What I'm really excited about is rolling the other ideas and features we have out over time.
Azeem: Also, just a quick one for the Polkastarter community
We had a really cool announcement we wanted you to hear first.
We recently signed on an advisor:
Julius Preite is Vice President of Animation at Fox Entertainment company and over the last 25 years has worked on every animated show that aired on the network. Shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Futurama, Bobs Burger to name a few. His artwork has graced many magazine covers including Rolling Stone, Playboy, Filter, TV Guide, and Animation, and the Hollywood Reporter. He has received multiple illustration and marketing awards including the SPD SPOTS! for his Rolling Stones illustrations, the Folio Ozzie Illustration Award, various industry awards through Promax, and Key Art Awards. He also won Best Teaser Poster of the year for his award-winning 2007 theatrical campaign for The Simpsons Movie. (Homer reaching for a donut)
Prior to his move to Fox Broadcasting, he studied fine art illustration and painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, but quickly took to animation when The Simpsons animation studio gave him his first job after moving to Los Angeles at the age of 21.
Julius has had several successful side projects including the animated Ben Folds music video From Above, where he received a best director and best animated short award. He sold two original animated series’ Crumbsnatchers, a children’s animated show, to Sesame Workshop and The Dictator, an animated series to FOX.
Julius plans to bring his multiple decade expertise and understanding of the creative space, as well as the plethora of relationships he’s built in that time to help on a variety of aspects for this project.
Polkastarter: 🤗 Wow!
So let's talk about Polinate’s competitive advantage, especially in entertainment. What differs you from other similar projects?
Azeem: Honestly, in the crypto space we've got a first mover advantage at this time because there aren't any other competitors in the decentralized world.
In the centralized one we've got competitors like Patreon and Kickster. Where we differ though is that being a permissionless platform enables us to really take hold in Africa, South America, South East Asia, and all the other places where the unbanked live. Not having fees. Being specifically catered towards creatives too.
One of the major things though is that with my background in the space, plus the advisors we have on board compared to any traditional crypto company , it puts us in a reallllly good place.
In the simplest of terms, we have "cool", which is scant in crypto land at this time.
Instead of focusing simply on crypto PR we can bring in mainstream media, influencers, artists, authors, and people with followings that aren't in crypto now to bolster our efforts. There really isn't anything like it right now.
Polkastarter: Can you tell our community a bit more about your $POLI token, particularly about the token utility and your token generation event (TGE)?
Babar: The POLI token is an integral part of the ecosystem that allows users to enjoy its numerous benefits, participate in different functions, and earn rewards for participation. Its value accrues from providing a convenient and safe method of payment and settlement between different participants of the Polinate network.
The extent of reward depends on the value invested or the amount of POLI tokens staked in the ecosystem. The tokens are also used as economic incentives offered to encourage participants to contribute and maintain the network. It serves as a token for users to participate in activities to subsequently enjoy the perks, privileges, and memberships.
In addition to this, the POLI token value also accrues from using it as a liquidity pair for pTKN. The participants of Polinate like users and creators can also lock their tokens to access membership tiers and subsequently rewards pertaining to different tiers. It will facilitate token holders to gain early or limited access to different token pools for reward issuance as well as random airdrops from creators in the Polinate ecosystem.
POLI tokens are used for funding various projects and for the “Polinate Seeders Programme”.
Participants of the Polinate ecosystem who stake digital assets, promote projects, or take part in the liquidity pools for funding projects are rewarded with POLI tokens depending on the user’s contribution.
Polkastarter: We'd love to hear a bit more about your upcoming roadmap. 🕵️ What key features are you developing?
Babar: Roadmap wise we have a lot going on, we'll be launching the Polinate platform on Polygon within the coming weeks for crypto savvy creators followed by the Conceirge service for users who aren't so crypto Savvy so we can bring an easy and efficient onboarding process for users and creatives. In terms of a summarised list:
Q3 - Platform V1 Launch
- Membership is live
- Liquidity Mining live
- V1 of Token as an Event platform launch
- Ability to distribute product to multiple addresses
- Ability to seed events
Q4 - Token as an Event V2
- Introduce multiple sales types
- Whitelist integration
- Campaign reputations score integration
- KYC/ID intergation
- Token as an Event V2
Q1 2022
- On Chain distribution
- On-Chain dispute resolution
- Curatable campaigns platform
- Anybody can create, platform curates
We've been working on Polinate for a while now and we will hopefully have a product not too far from the IDO itself, ensuring users can capitalise on what we're building without having to wait months on end for a product to finally utilise the token itself.
Polkastarter: And speaking of website, could you please share the link with our community as well as your social media channels, so they can make sure to follow you and be kept up to date on your progress?
Babar: Website: www.polinate.io visit the about us section for more info
Telegram: https://t.me/polinate
Telegram ANN: https://t.me/polinateannouncements
Twitter: https://twitter.com/polinate_io
We've got a lot of upcoming announcements so make sure to follow to stay on top!
Polkastarter: Sure will! 🤗
Great, thank you both!
Let's open the chat for a brief window to give our community a chance to ask their questions, and don’t forget, that after the AMA, @azeemk and @BabarShabir will choose the 1 best question and hand out 1 whitelist spot for their upcoming IDO (don’t forget you will need to KYC fast and on time). 🙏
COMMUNITY QUESTIONS
Hunny Kaushal: With the unpredictability and volatility of the market which is unavoidable ,how will your project still manage to grow and make money for stakeholders?
Azeem: This isn't like a traditional defi product that is going to give you some sort of APY returns. But if you're getting access to creators before they take off, you're in a position where those rewards can end up being worth so much more than any initial investment.
Imagine having had the chance to invest in an artist like Drake back in 2009 when it was still massively clear that he was going to be successful.
That's something we do everyday. We champion our favorite artists but the only thing we get for it is the social proof of being able to say "I told you so".
What this does is add to that because you find a new way to support artists who are coming up and then have proof through the rewards you're able to redeem as well.
If this was simple another defi play in the market that had no way of differentiating itself from the others, I'd have no interest in taking part in it.
jessica hong: Polinate Introducing pTKN, a new concept. pTKN is 'Token-as-an-Event' (TaaE). You determine the gifts you will give your supporters and wrap them into tokens. Your pTKN can be determined in the Polinate for a certain period of time. "My question." Does using pTKN have a limited time? How long is the time frame given for pTKN trading? so if we want to trade we have to wait for the right time? What if we trade at a certain time when we want to trade do you have any other solutions about this?
Azeem: So, the trading period isn't an indefinite one. There's a predetermined amount of time that the pTKN will sell for. Whether that's 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or so on, that period ends. And when it does end the people left holding the tokens can only then redeem the rewards with that.
One of the main benefits here is that it helps create fair market prices. Raising the prices up to do a rug pull doesn't make sense when you know that you could be left at the end with just the ability to redeem rewards.
Babar: Hey Jessica, this is an interesting question and one we're glad you asked.
pTKN is the token that's created by a creator for their raise, this token is only within the Polinate ecosystem and cannot be transferred on traded outside of Polinate. The token is designed using a dutch auction mechanism which means that the price of the token comes down until someone purchases at what they deem 'fair value'. The trading then begins and fans/investors can purchase or trade the pTKN for a specified amount of time. Once the trading period is over and the creator has raised the funds they're looking to raise the trading stops. When all trading stops the only thing you can do with pTKN is claim it against the rewards set out by the creator to begin with.
This mechanism allows users to back their favourite artists from the beginning with fair value and stops whales coming in sending the price up because if no one is willing to purchase the token at a high price then the whale is stuck with tokens they may never have wanted.
It also allows social proof, if the creator you backed at the start of their journey makes it to the top then you can say you were there at the beginning of their journey.
What Azeem has sent above is an example of this.
Dope boy: Do you screen creators and what kind of creators are selected first?
Babar: To start with we will screen creators to ensure we're getting legitimate creators on board. However, we will incorporate trustscores to make it more decentralised that will take into consideration things such as who is providing liquidity for the creators pools, who is the Patron (co-signing the creator), have they done a raise before and did they deliver, confirming their socials that are linked to their projects and so on. This is set to come in Q4 as per the roadmap under 'Campaign reputation scores'
Polkastarter: Congrats @jesicahing on being the winner of the whitelist spot for their upcoming IDO ! Polinate team will contact you in PM and give you all information regarding KYC etc.
And that's a wrap!
Thank you for your time and for the illuminating answers on Polinate.
Really looking forward to the launch of $POLI and to welcome you to the Polkastarter Family and continue working together in the future. 🥰💪
Babar: Thank you so much for having us! If any of you have any further questions please join our communities and we'll be happy to answer!
Azeem: Pleasure being able to chat with you all today. Sorry we couldn't get to all the questions
Polkastarter: I'm sure we will have more time to catch up with the community in the future! Thank you both
Thanks to everyone for tuning in. This will be the end of this AMA, thank you everyone for joining us! The chat will now open back up.