Can you help us validate a business idea based on Stellar protocol?

GrigoreIonut · Mar 26, 2020

Hey Stellar peeps,

Me and my partner have been trying to figure out a way to create a blockchain business model that can help in times of crisis, inspired by a start-up idea contest here, in Romania.

I remember reading about Stellar and its protocol that is designed specially for fintech and we came up with an idea of a crowdfunding platform based on it.

I am pretty agnostic when it comes to this, so please bare with me and tell me if this is feasible and if not, why not.

Seeing that Stellar can help facilitate inter-currency conversion and transaction with immediate transfer and withdrawal by the recipient, we thought that we could use it to create a community based crowdfunding platform.

The idea is simple - the user converts his currency into tokens and donates for a cause. The recipient can take the coins at the other end, withdraw at any time and use the money, without waiting for the campaign to end or for 2 weeks before being able to take out money.

As I said, I am pretty agnostic and I don't know if Stellar's protocol and the resources that the foundation puts at the disposal can be used to develop this solely on its architecture & tools.

Can any developers here confirm/infirm and provide feedback on this idea of ours?

We are considering partnering up with a developer who wants to work on this, especially if our idea is selected and we get the funding.

Many thanks,
Tudor.

ddombrowsky · Mar 26, 2020

It sounds like payment paths might be useful for this. I'm still learning about the concept, but it sounds like what was being talked about in https://podcast.stellar.org/episodes/stellar-news-recap-virtual-events-stellar-community-fund-and-creating-a-cash-app-on-stellar

GrigoreIonut · Mar 27, 2020

ddombrowsky thank you very much for the info man! It helps a lot!

umbrel · Mar 29, 2020

I'm a developer, don't have availability to work full time, but can probably help one way or another.
Message me on telegram https://t.me/umbre1

As for the idea: from your description it sounds like a normal crowdfunding platform, when recipient can take money out is just a small detail and usually limited by the platform to make sure funding goal is reached and contributors don't need to be refunded.
Stellar aspect here is only ability to take payments on Stellar, however community is not too big to make it worthwhile for you, you will have to go for at least BTC and probably traditional payment methods too. Payment methods are not a problem for crowdfunding, so if we ignore that, what competitive advantages do you envision or how are you going to make your platform successful?