The path to the button "loot" on the road from the rake
In this article I want to tell you how we created a cryptocurrency startup, and what came of it.
0. Product Idea
The idea is to make a “loot” button.
It is clear that there is no such button that, when pressed, sends “those very precious ones”, although there are services that promise this. And yet, we tried to maximize the idea.
It was clear to us that the “loot” button is something complicated inside, but at the same time simple outside connected with money or assets, packed into an intuitive interface.
How could such a service look like? For example, the “Follow” button, when clicked, the system begins to repeat the trading actions of one of the professional traders. The user can only follow the change in balance fascinated.
Realizable? Yes. Great, sawing!
')
What they did right: The idea is interesting and inspiring.
What was done wrong: We started working without a detailed and detailed project.
The classic Russian FINTECH startup: developers densely, marketers empty.
Initially, the composition was of 6 people: 2 programmers, 2 managers, 1 trader, 1 marketer.
Later, the team became 4 programmers, 2 managers, 2 marketers, 1 coder, 1 trader, 1 designer.
Everyone is insanely talented, and as a god star. With such introductory, the structure of communications turned out to be “flat”.
Udalenka caught on, but not much. In a startup, a lot is solved in the course of oral informal communication. With high speed and constant changes, it is important to be in context.
What they did right: they recruited diverse specialists, they worked very well together. They did not inflate the team (two-pizza team), which helped to be fast and flexible.
What they did wrong: They accepted a content manager, who was not interested in the topic of the crypt, had to part.
To implement chosen crypto-exchange Binance on the following criteria:
We were not satisfied with creating the web version of the system, because the priority was in the speed of access to the balance, mobility, security, and access to the wallet without any extra authentication. And this option was found, we created a Telegram-bot, which connects to the exchange.
Telegram was chosen because of the wide possibilities for creating bot interfaces, and also because this messenger is popular among the crypto community.
The main code was written in JS, and after some time, its flexibility and dynamic typing began to slow down progress. It was decided to switch to TypeScript.
What did you do right: Chose the exchange and messenger right - both platforms continue to grow.
What they did wrong: Lost time in a dynamically-typed language.
In the beta version, the balance of the wallet was displayed, notifications of trading operations were received, there was a profit fixation button.
Those. the task was absent, therefore some functions were invented in the course of development, for example, the “FIX” button. This button instantly translated all coins into a stable currency if the market began to fall. So saved on the growth. Nice to know that you have a stopcock.
Balance screen from the first version:
Now the balance interface looks different:
What did the right thing: Run as early as possible.
What they did wrong: Then I had to redo much.
We chose an English-speaking audience, because, in theory, they are more loyal to cryptocurrency, and the size of such an audience is considerable. All content was created in English, without professional translators, on their own.
4.1. Social networks
I wanted to be everywhere in the network, which means nowhere, so I chose the platforms where the crypto audience is sitting the most. Telegram (news channel + chat), Medium, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tradingview were hit at the sight.
So far, no resource brings the desired effect, but the content stubbornly continues to be published.
4.2. FB Targeting
Due to the subject of the “cryptocurrency” page, several licenses had to be presented for FB requirements. More specifically, this is the “Coin Listing Document”, the “Public Document of the ICO” and something else. We didn’t have these papers, because we are a “software” that works with the crypto exchange, therefore, on another attempt to explain this in the ban report, a thick bolt was placed on moderation. Additionally, in the eternal ban 3 advertising offices flew away, it was impossible to provide access to the management of a banned office.
4.3. Telegram advertising posts
A separate story about the cost of advertising posts in crypto channels, it is unreasonably expensive. And there is another story that 60% of the audience of channels are either boosted by bots, or people who do not follow the content all the time, therefore posts collect 30-40% of views from the total mass, and then the post is removed forever.
Where it was possible to place native advertising forever, showed a satisfactory result.
Example: t.me/tgTONru/316
4.4. Programmatic advertising
A monthly package was bought for contextual advertising in the Hybrid service, but so far there has not been a launch, because the site is not ready for “super targeted” traffic, and there are more doubts in the product.
Contextual advertising on Google was not launched in order to save the budget, and for the same reason, questionable content on the site.
4.5. Lead Collaborations
No opinion leader made a review of the product, did not recommend its audience.
During the negotiations, only refusals have been received so far, or advertising costs 6-digit space.
What did you do right: The bet on native advertising worked.
What they did wrong: We received a weak result from social networks. They did not use such platforms as Linkedin, Reddit, large crypto-forums. Email-contacts were not collected anywhere, therefore this type of marketing was projected.
Monetization occurs by paying a monthly subscription to the premium features of the bot, and is paid using BTC. Before paying, you must first enter the API keys through which the account is connected to the exchange, then inside the bot to find the wallet menu, and transfer the BTC equivalent to $ 30 to the specified crypto account. After that, the internal settlement coin will be credited, for which access is paid.
What you did right: There is a clear model of monetization.
What they did wrong: To pay, the user needs to click somewhere 20 different buttons, and this is only at best. In addition, the monetization model later had to be changed (about this in the next article).
The bot admins can see how many users have logged into the bot, but this was not enough for the marketer, and I wanted to know which buttons users click on. And with the condition that you need to enter the API keys to connect, you need to know how many people got to the main menu, and not just pressed the START button and exit.
For this account, they screwed Google Analytics to the bot, and set up events. How this is done is written in this article ( https://habr.com/ru/en/post/442610/ ).
What they did right: They were not afraid and made friends Telegram and GA.
What you did wrong: All right.
I want to show the first version of the site, creating a wow effect, but it turned out to be very useless in terms of sales.
( https://benice-tools.imtqy.com/benice-space-landing/index.html )
After the realization of a beautiful dummy, the site became more serious and “corporate”.
( https://benice.tools/ )
What you did right: The structure of the site immediately changed depending on the overall vision of the project.
What they did wrong: They did not explore the audience and tried to please everyone at the same time.
In Telegrams there is a category of publics that publish trading signals (recommendations for profitable deals). These public have VIP channels, where higher quality signals. Public administrators have shown interest in integrating our bot with their channels, and since we have laid out a system of interest payments in the bot, for them this is an additional way to monetize and simplify their routine.
Previously, in order to apply the signal, it was necessary to place trade orders on the stock exchange. With our own service, you can forget about this difficult routine and fear of the exchange interface.
Now trading signals will be applied automatically, even when users are offline.
So, despite all the obstacles, the project is up and running. On the one hand, this is a chance to thank the crypto community. On the other hand, the service daily makes life easier for the creators. The process of the birth of the service was fascinating, and we do not intend to stop.
0. Product Idea
The idea is to make a “loot” button.
It is clear that there is no such button that, when pressed, sends “those very precious ones”, although there are services that promise this. And yet, we tried to maximize the idea.
It was clear to us that the “loot” button is something complicated inside, but at the same time simple outside connected with money or assets, packed into an intuitive interface.
How could such a service look like? For example, the “Follow” button, when clicked, the system begins to repeat the trading actions of one of the professional traders. The user can only follow the change in balance fascinated.
Realizable? Yes. Great, sawing!
')
What they did right: The idea is interesting and inspiring.
What was done wrong: We started working without a detailed and detailed project.
1. Team
The classic Russian FINTECH startup: developers densely, marketers empty.
Initially, the composition was of 6 people: 2 programmers, 2 managers, 1 trader, 1 marketer.
Later, the team became 4 programmers, 2 managers, 2 marketers, 1 coder, 1 trader, 1 designer.
Everyone is insanely talented, and as a god star. With such introductory, the structure of communications turned out to be “flat”.
Udalenka caught on, but not much. In a startup, a lot is solved in the course of oral informal communication. With high speed and constant changes, it is important to be in context.
What they did right: they recruited diverse specialists, they worked very well together. They did not inflate the team (two-pizza team), which helped to be fast and flexible.
What they did wrong: They accepted a content manager, who was not interested in the topic of the crypt, had to part.
2. Implementation
To implement chosen crypto-exchange Binance on the following criteria:
- Open API
- The largest in terms of trading volume (over 50% of the market)
- Many currency pairs
- There are no major hacks and account thefts in its history.
(UPD: while writing an article, some incident did happen, but everything ended well for the exchange)
We were not satisfied with creating the web version of the system, because the priority was in the speed of access to the balance, mobility, security, and access to the wallet without any extra authentication. And this option was found, we created a Telegram-bot, which connects to the exchange.
Telegram was chosen because of the wide possibilities for creating bot interfaces, and also because this messenger is popular among the crypto community.
The main code was written in JS, and after some time, its flexibility and dynamic typing began to slow down progress. It was decided to switch to TypeScript.
What did you do right: Chose the exchange and messenger right - both platforms continue to grow.
What they did wrong: Lost time in a dynamically-typed language.
3. Pilot version
In the beta version, the balance of the wallet was displayed, notifications of trading operations were received, there was a profit fixation button.
Those. the task was absent, therefore some functions were invented in the course of development, for example, the “FIX” button. This button instantly translated all coins into a stable currency if the market began to fall. So saved on the growth. Nice to know that you have a stopcock.
Balance screen from the first version:
Now the balance interface looks different:
What did the right thing: Run as early as possible.
What they did wrong: Then I had to redo much.
4. Promotional methods
We chose an English-speaking audience, because, in theory, they are more loyal to cryptocurrency, and the size of such an audience is considerable. All content was created in English, without professional translators, on their own.
4.1. Social networks
I wanted to be everywhere in the network, which means nowhere, so I chose the platforms where the crypto audience is sitting the most. Telegram (news channel + chat), Medium, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tradingview were hit at the sight.
So far, no resource brings the desired effect, but the content stubbornly continues to be published.
4.2. FB Targeting
Due to the subject of the “cryptocurrency” page, several licenses had to be presented for FB requirements. More specifically, this is the “Coin Listing Document”, the “Public Document of the ICO” and something else. We didn’t have these papers, because we are a “software” that works with the crypto exchange, therefore, on another attempt to explain this in the ban report, a thick bolt was placed on moderation. Additionally, in the eternal ban 3 advertising offices flew away, it was impossible to provide access to the management of a banned office.
4.3. Telegram advertising posts
A separate story about the cost of advertising posts in crypto channels, it is unreasonably expensive. And there is another story that 60% of the audience of channels are either boosted by bots, or people who do not follow the content all the time, therefore posts collect 30-40% of views from the total mass, and then the post is removed forever.
Where it was possible to place native advertising forever, showed a satisfactory result.
Example: t.me/tgTONru/316
4.4. Programmatic advertising
A monthly package was bought for contextual advertising in the Hybrid service, but so far there has not been a launch, because the site is not ready for “super targeted” traffic, and there are more doubts in the product.
Contextual advertising on Google was not launched in order to save the budget, and for the same reason, questionable content on the site.
4.5. Lead Collaborations
No opinion leader made a review of the product, did not recommend its audience.
During the negotiations, only refusals have been received so far, or advertising costs 6-digit space.
What did you do right: The bet on native advertising worked.
What they did wrong: We received a weak result from social networks. They did not use such platforms as Linkedin, Reddit, large crypto-forums. Email-contacts were not collected anywhere, therefore this type of marketing was projected.
5. Monetization
Monetization occurs by paying a monthly subscription to the premium features of the bot, and is paid using BTC. Before paying, you must first enter the API keys through which the account is connected to the exchange, then inside the bot to find the wallet menu, and transfer the BTC equivalent to $ 30 to the specified crypto account. After that, the internal settlement coin will be credited, for which access is paid.
What you did right: There is a clear model of monetization.
What they did wrong: To pay, the user needs to click somewhere 20 different buttons, and this is only at best. In addition, the monetization model later had to be changed (about this in the next article).
6. Metrics
The bot admins can see how many users have logged into the bot, but this was not enough for the marketer, and I wanted to know which buttons users click on. And with the condition that you need to enter the API keys to connect, you need to know how many people got to the main menu, and not just pressed the START button and exit.
For this account, they screwed Google Analytics to the bot, and set up events. How this is done is written in this article ( https://habr.com/ru/en/post/442610/ ).
What they did right: They were not afraid and made friends Telegram and GA.
What you did wrong: All right.
7. Website
I want to show the first version of the site, creating a wow effect, but it turned out to be very useless in terms of sales.
( https://benice-tools.imtqy.com/benice-space-landing/index.html )
After the realization of a beautiful dummy, the site became more serious and “corporate”.
( https://benice.tools/ )
What you did right: The structure of the site immediately changed depending on the overall vision of the project.
What they did wrong: They did not explore the audience and tried to please everyone at the same time.
8. What's next?
In Telegrams there is a category of publics that publish trading signals (recommendations for profitable deals). These public have VIP channels, where higher quality signals. Public administrators have shown interest in integrating our bot with their channels, and since we have laid out a system of interest payments in the bot, for them this is an additional way to monetize and simplify their routine.
Previously, in order to apply the signal, it was necessary to place trade orders on the stock exchange. With our own service, you can forget about this difficult routine and fear of the exchange interface.
Now trading signals will be applied automatically, even when users are offline.
9. Summary
So, despite all the obstacles, the project is up and running. On the one hand, this is a chance to thank the crypto community. On the other hand, the service daily makes life easier for the creators. The process of the birth of the service was fascinating, and we do not intend to stop.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/453106/
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