Cardano Catalyst Newsletter

Problem

1. 4 million startups were established in 2020
2. There are only 7000 crypto projects available
3. You can count the ones on Cardano with your hands
4. Many entrepreneurs are not yet aware about blockchain / Cardano / Catalyst.

Solution

• A curated newsletter facilitates access to information about Cardano in general and Project Catalyst in particular.
• Readers will gain insights into the value of the Cardano blockchain ecosystem and learn about opportunities, projects and processes at Catalyst.

Success metric

• 10 submitted proposals coming from outside the Cardano ecosystem
  (#CardanoCatalystNewsletter or #CCnews mentioned in Catalyst proposals) within the first 3 months
• 12 newsletters send out in 3 months
• 50.000 subscribers after 3 months

Outlook

• enough feedback and input to apply for additional 3 months funding.
• 100.000 subscribers and 50 proposals after 6 months
• 1.000.000 subscribers and 1000 proposals after 12 months

Competition

• Accelerators, incubators, VCs, and business angel clubs provide funding and support for startups.
• We have several sources to get information about Cardano: Newsletters/blogs/YouTube channels, Cardano fans on Twitter, …
• We have very few sources about Catalyst.
• It takes a lot of time to track all activities and except the relevant ones.
• There is no Cardano Catalyst Newsletter available.

Target group
Tech-savvy entrepreneurs who are looking for (additional) funding, want to build a powerful team with Cardano experts, and want to get valuable feedback from the community.

Market size

Potentially all entrepreneurs who want to change the world and see blockchain as opportunity.

Team

• Wave 1: me (to start small)
• Wave 2: me + 1-3 volunteers from the Community
• Wave 3: Editors from the Community (I can but must no longer be part of the team)

Growth potential

• Wave 1: F5 - think big, start small (covered with this F5 proposal)
• Wave 2: F7 - improve + start decentralisation
• Wave 3: F9 - full decentralisation + scale

Timeline & work break down
Week 1: (starting in the next week after official approval)

• organise email address from Cardano Foundation (preferred), IOG or emurgo. Fallback: Create own landing page + email address. Potential: partner with 60-Day Online Marketing Campaign (F5- proposer outreach) for the case that both proposals are going to be selected. (Disclaimer: both work also individually independent from each other)
• influencer outreach to (a) inform them about planned activities, (b) ask for information (to be potentially shown on newsletter) and (c) ask for active communication/referral
• setup landing page to opt-in (a) via Cardano Foundation/IOG or (b) own one to proof Wave 1.
• collect information from influencers, YouTubers, blogs, Tweets, Google Alerts

Week 2:

• consolidate information in google.doc (accessible by community)
• create and integrate layout in newsletter tool
• create first version (offer community to provide feedback)
• do test run with 5 dummy-accounts + volunteers (out of the catalyst community)
• every 2 weeks we ask for feedback via google.forms in order to improve the newsletter
• start of communication "register for mailing list" via (a) influencers, (b) content partners (c) cardano community. Risk: not enough subscribers (mitigation: post in relevant comments at YouTube, Blogs, Tweets + ask Charles, Fred to announce new newsletter) ; Potential: organic growth

Week 3-14

• research, consolidation, summary creation (in English language), final edit, distribution
• gathering feedback
• run A/B tests (to improve conversion)
• enter information in google.sheets to create a simple dashboard (amount of subscribers, NPS-feedback, #CardanoCatalystNewsletter or #CCnews mentioned in Catalyst proposals)

Financials

• 1500 USD for week 1+2
• 113 USD for 3 months sendinblue.com license*
• 6000 USD for 12 x 500 USD per week
• Total: 7613 USD
  *(25$ (month 1 / 10.000 mails), 39$ (month 2 / 20.000 mails) + 54 (month 3 / 40.000 mails)

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  WHY (we need a newletter)
• Newsletters help you connect with more customers.
• Newsletters increase your business's credibility and authority.
• Newsletters are low-risk and high-reward.
• Newsletters boost your content marketing strategy.
• Newsletters are customizable for stronger engagement.
• Newsletters enhance your analytics.
• Newsletters are long term.
  (Source: https://compose.ly/strategy/advantages-of-having-a-newsletter/))
  According to Hubspot, email has an ROI of around 3800%
  There are some newsletters (e.g. cadanews.com) out there, but none (as far as I know) is covering the scope and aiming to convert to more Catalyst proposers like this proposal.
  I am reading a lot about Crypto in general and Cardano specific and would love to provide a consolidated pice of information to all Entrepreneurs (business + tech) in the world on a weekly base.