[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.
Produce a weekly thread and article on topics that the community finds valuable. Previous topics have included explanations of financial matters, tutorials and guides on how to stake and take self-custody, and overviews of elements of Cardano.
Here are some examples:
Staking hub (a collection of tutorials on staking and self-custody): https://flantoshi.com/staking-hub/
Why you should buy ADA: https://flantoshi.com/2022/04/29/why-you-should-invest-in-cardano/
The Philosophy of Memes: https://medium.com/cardano-journal/memecoins-nfts-hot-garbage-or-a-good-investment-the-philosophy-of-memes-c108c124cfd8
Each article seeks to educate the audience and make them think about crypto in a novel way, thereby increasing financial literacy and improving the knowledge of the audience.
[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
I will provide an easy onboarding point for the Ethereum community to engage with Cardano content without having to know the Cardano-specific jargon beforehand.
Already I am being contacted by Ethereum community members for advice and guidance regarding how best to make sense of Cardano as an ecosystem (here’s an example of a communication that happened today https://twitter.com/flantoshi/status/1538481989946310658?s=20&t=mVLGo6cz4APLWBHd6U_a5Q)
By funding this initiative, I expect to continue and extend my reach to thousands of people, as attested by my growing monthly Medium stats. I intend on becoming a neutral ground wherein which Ethereum users can read accessible information that is both relevant for their migration, and which will excite them about switching to Cardano.
[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
A successful assassination attempt by Vitalik Buterin, after he realizes that I’ve been helping siphon users from Ethereum!
…Jokes aside, I’m a professional writer, I’ve never missed a deadline in my entire career and I intend to keep it that way.
My biggest realistic risk is my wrists hurting as I spend too much time at the computer as is. This can cause debilitating pain, but I have taken steps to acquire ergonomic equipment, and some is even considered in this proposal.
There is also the risk that I may be too busy to do the work. That said, the very success of this funding proposal would greatly eliminate this problem, as it would reduce, or potentially eliminate, the opportunity cost incurred from doing work that isn’t remunerated. Consequently, I'll not take on as many clients and prioritize this content.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.
1 Article + 1 Twitter Thread = 1 Week
This isn’t the Manhattan Project, I just write educational content that people like.
But I expect to write at least one article that is 1,500 words per week. Over the course of a month, that should be 6,000 words and over the 3-month duration covered in this proposal, it will be 24,000 words or about half of a small non-fiction book.
Catalyst auditors will be able to see my progress on Medium and on Twitter, as well as pointed monthly updates on www.catalystaudit.com.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.
The following estimates are based on an assumption of $50 per hour (which is lower than my professional rate). To produce an article and thread takes roughly a day’s work, depending on length, which includes:
Research: 1-3 Hours
Writing: 3-5 Hours
Editing: 1-2 Hours
In other words, it takes about 5 hours on the low end and it can be 10+ hours on the high end. For example, the article “Why you SHOULD Invest in Cardano” (<https://flantoshi.com/2022/04/29/why-you-should-invest-in-cardano/>) is about a quarter of a non-fiction book-length and it took about a week’s worth of effort of full-time effort. That said, when that particular article was published on Medium it got cut in three.
So, given the high variability in content length, I will take a base assumption of 8 hours, which implies a per-article cost of $400. If we take this assumption of a weekly article & thread over the course of four months (one full Catalyst cycle), then the estimate is $6400 in terms of labour costs.
In addition to that, there are hosting costs for the Flantoshi.com website and ergonomic equipment. Since a portion thereof has already been paid, I’m estimating an additional $250.
The total would be $6650.
I will apply for more funding in the next round, as I want to remain accountable to the community, rather than ask for a pile of cash upfront.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.
Me, myself and I!
Though that’s not entirely true, I occasionally rope in my girlfriend (@morimochi_art) and my friend (@Toca_Jaime) to edit the articles. On one occasion I even asked Cardano Whale to give an article a look, and he was gracious enough to give me his time.
While I am admittedly pseudonymous at the moment, I have worked under my real identity with IOHK, Maladex and various other projects. I've also produced a well-received economic history book.
While perhaps not a substitute for my real-life identity, my content on Medium and Twitter should give a good idea of who I am as a person, and what my skillset is.
@Flantoshi
EDIT: Proof I'm the "real" Flantoshi as per CRQONE's request [https://twitter.com/flantoshi/status/1542492922410663936?s=20&t=BLQx-u_pt8J-3CqoVx4BYQ]
[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.
Yes! I still have rent to pay and I intend on continuing my work of educating the wider public on Cardano, crypto and finance.
I’ve deliberately kept the timeframe narrow to prove to the community that I am a flan of my word. If this proposal gets funded, I’ll likely have a proposal that has a six-month duration rather than four, as I’ll have proven to the community that I’m a reliable person.
[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?
I intend on publishing 1 thread on Twitter and 1 article every week. Monthly updates regarding the progress will be available on www.catalystaudit.com.
[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?
As much as I would like to say that reading my articles will lay the seeds of a new era of enlightenment and reason, I’m a bit more realistic.
By the end of the four months, I hope to have continued educating my community, and created a platform that encourages discussion and promotes knowledge of Cardano and financial literacy.
I also intend to have onboarded at least a few Ethereum developers and users into the Cardano ecosystem.
[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.
It’s entirely new, I’m a Catalyst virgin, please be gentle.