[Journey] - Starting a SaaS for cryptocurrency and DeFi

[wmx11]

I have been lurking on BHW for quite a while, probably like the majority of the users.

I have decided to launch a SaaS for cryptocurrency and DeFi projects. We are offering analytics, full tracking, custom tracking, marketing tracking, and other tools to help them manage their projects.

It's going to be a fun journey to monetize it and make the project stick out from the rest.

Some takeaways:
1. The domain name has "the" in the beginning. But I do hope it's not going to hinder the process.
2. I have a small team of 3 people reaching out to projects and they don't want to get paid in the near future which is a "success" to some degree.
3. We have already listed a few projects that meet our criteria.
4. Social media has been a challenge to grow since it's not my strongest field but I'm willing to learn as much as possible.

Ways to monetize:
1. Listing is a paid service. A project has to pay $X,XXX one time fee to get listed and start tracking.
2. Marketing tracking is a paid subscription at $XXX per month.
3. Promotions
4. Social media promotions
5. Launch a token that would incentivize users to buy it and use it on the website
6. Press releases
7. Commissions from creators

Early goals:
1. At least 1,000 visitors per month
2. Keep the website free of ads
3. Consistently publish content
4. Grow social media accounts

Long-term goals:
1. At least 50-100k visitors per month by the middle of Q1 of 2023
2. Grown social media accounts
3. Our own token
4. Decentralized use cases such as nodes (that will require running software)

Main expenses:
1. Infrastructure and hosting (5 servers running on DigitalOcean)
2. Domain
3. Marketing (currently spent $0 on it)


What does it look like now?
2022-10-10
- 300 users per month
- 2.6k views per month
- 1 Article
- 10 listed projects

Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated.

 

[Followlix]

My two cents:

Everything in DeFi at the moment is word-of-mouth, especially selling services to DeFi projects, so I’d suggest focusing on that.

Do not launch your own token, it can be the downfall of your business. For example, Yield Watch was a project providing analytics services to users, and it was pretty popular at start. They launched their own token and their IPO had tons of support, but now they’ve been completely eaten by DeBank, a protocol with no token.

 

[wmx11]

My two cents:

Everything in DeFi at the moment is word-of-mouth, especially selling services to DeFi projects, so I’d suggest focusing on that.

Do not launch your own token, it can be the downfall of your business. For example, Yield Watch was a project providing analytics services to users, and it was pretty popular at start. They launched their own token and their IPO had tons of support, but now they’ve been completely eaten by DeBank, a protocol with no token.

I've noticed that DeFi is mostly word-of-mouth. Everywhere I go I see similar faces and similar groups. But that is how we built a lot of connections.

Well, you have a point on not launching the token. I have a different vision than locking everything behind the token. It could be more complementary to the business.
And different than Yield Watch or DeBank we track market data, holders data, socials data, provide analytics on that data. You could say it's a more in-depth approach compared to regular portfolio trackers.

 

[Followlix]

I've noticed that DeFi is mostly word-of-mouth. Everywhere I go I see similar faces and similar groups. But that is how we built a lot of connections.

Well, you have a point on not launching the token. I have a different vision than locking everything behind the token. It could be more complementary to the business.
And different than Yield Watch or DeBank we track market data, holders data, socials data, provide analytics on that data. You could say it's a more in-depth approach compared to regular portfolio trackers.

Depends on how you use the token and if it really has any purpose. For example, a great utility token is ChainLink, you could research on that.

Also, adding another cent to the two above, direct contact works best when approaching new clientele, but make sure you contact the right person. Do not spam all Telegram admins with the same message, like everyone does right now.

 

[wmx11]

Depends on how you use the token and if it really has any purpose. For example, a great utility token is ChainLink, you could research on that.

Also, adding another cent to the two above, direct contact works best when approaching new clientele, but make sure you contact the right person. Do not spam all Telegram admins with the same message, like everyone does right now.

The token would be used in something like ChainLink or The Graph. That's the "Going decentralized" aspect. Essentially we would create a network of nodes that aggregate data for listed projects. Something like an oracle network but with our own twist.

And yes, I fully agree with you hence why we have a different approach to contacting potential customers. It's more involved, and takes more time but the success rate is pretty great.

 

[Followlix]

The token would be used in something like ChainLink or The Graph. That's the "Going decentralized" aspect. Essentially we would create a network of nodes that aggregate data for listed projects. Something like an oracle network but with our own twist.

And yes, I fully agree with you hence why we have a different approach to contacting potential customers. It's more involved, and takes more time but the success rate is pretty great.

Seems like a plan, and from what you’re saying I have a feeling you’ve researched it well.

Good luck in your journey!

 

[wmx11]

Seems like a plan, and from what you’re saying I have a feeling you’ve researched it well.

Good luck in your journey!

Research plays a huge role in getting where you want!

Appreciate it!

 

[Kenneton]

Fellow of crypto SaaS here.

I have to agree with others regarding launching a token. We considered a token model or forming a DAO with NFT ownership instead of charging monthly subscriptions for our product. But we realized that would not add value, just volatility. We stayed with a flat fee per month since making a DAO and selling NFTs would:

1) not be appropriate to cover monthly fees (hundreds of dollars each month and rising for data storage);

2) would not incentivize us to stay in the project long-term and keep improving it, as we would be compensated at the start from the NFT sale / token launch. It would be really tempting to soft rug and leave the DAO ourselves if the prices went up, and I think long-term that would tarnish our relationships with all the degen frens we made along the way.

For us it was the right choice. We made decent money for about 5 months (I think doing NFT or token model would yield less) and then the bear market knocked us down + a lot of hyped competitors formed with good connections and relationships with our customer base.

 

[wmx11]

So, let's talk about the update!

2022-11-15
- 400 new users
- 3k views
- 2 Articles
- 12 projects
- New tool to help projects track marketing campaign

Now I have an ongoing Twitter campaign. I've grown the account to 800 followers this month. I'm also working on my own personal Twitter account.

Landed a few valuable partnerships that should bring us traffic and clients in the following months.

Profit for October
$2,000 from sales

 

[wmx11]

Fellow of crypto SaaS here.

I have to agree with others regarding launching a token. We considered a token model or forming a DAO with NFT ownership instead of charging monthly subscriptions for our product. But we realized that would not add value, just volatility. We stayed with a flat fee per month since making a DAO and selling NFTs would:

1) not be appropriate to cover monthly fees (hundreds of dollars each month and rising for data storage);

2) would not incentivize us to stay in the project long-term and keep improving it, as we would be compensated at the start from the NFT sale / token launch. It would be really tempting to soft rug and leave the DAO ourselves if the prices went up, and I think long-term that would tarnish our relationships with all the degen frens we made along the way.

For us it was the right choice. We made decent money for about 5 months (I think doing NFT or token model would yield less) and then the bear market knocked us down + a lot of hyped competitors formed with good connections and relationships with our customer base.

That is true. I have decided to go with a simple stablecoin payment for the services. I then generate an invoice that I use with my accountant.
This way I don't lose with the volatility.

I do think that a token could be something "on the side" that could drive traffic, incentives through actual use cases instead of being used as a payment option.

 

[Little_Jacob]

That is true. I have decided to go with a simple stablecoin payment for the services. I then generate an invoice that I use with my accountant.
This way I don't lose with the volatility.

I do think that a token could be something "on the side" that could drive traffic, incentives through actual use cases instead of being used as a payment option.

I wish you good luck on your new journey, seems like a healthy start!

I believe a token might be a sensible thing to introduce, maybe for the future.. but as for the volatiloty you can keep stable coin payment method and include token based fee that is adjusting to that fixed fee along with price movements but give a percentage discount if peeps use your token to pay for it. But again.. nfts and tokens have bad rep right now so maybe is not the best moment for that.. I will follow your journey, thanks for sharing with us!

 

[wmx11]

I wish you good luck on your new journey, seems like a healthy start!

I believe a token might be a sensible thing to introduce, maybe for the future.. but as for the volatiloty you can keep stable coin payment method and include token based fee that is adjusting to that fixed fee along with price movements but give a percentage discount if peeps use your token to pay for it. But again.. nfts and tokens have bad rep right now so maybe is not the best moment for that.. I will follow your journey, thanks for sharing with us!

Appreciate the reply!

Yes, a token currently brings no additional value. I would love to introduce a token if it makes sense to do so. I find a lot of projects create token where there is no need for them but somehow people still buy and use it even if it brings 0 value.

Also, stablecoins are way better since I created a backend system that converts orders into invoices and converts the stablecoin value to my native currency. It's easier for my accountant!

 

[crypto7figs]

hey bro, what's the platform? Looking forward

 

[wmx11]

hey bro, what's the platform? Looking forward

I'm working on tracking market, holders, and socials data for cryptocurrency projects that list with us. Also, I'm adding discord events and announcements integration with possible notification system in the future. A transparency grading system based on the audit, KYC, and community sentiment. We partnered up with a few crypto projects, a new L1 blockchain, and Flux nodes, and we will likely add a crypto bridge to swap those listed projects.

There's a lot going on right now and I will need a lot of articles to really boost organic traffic.

 

[Mr.Brill]

Do you further down the line thinking about having a token as well?

 

[wmx11]

Do you further down the line thinking about having a token as well?

At this moment it's rather difficult to justify having a token. If we happen to move towards a node system - having people run aggregation software - then we will more than likely have a token.

 

[crypto7figs]

I'm working on tracking market, holders, and socials data for cryptocurrency projects that list with us. Also, I'm adding discord events and announcements integration with possible notification system in the future. A transparency grading system based on the audit, KYC, and community sentiment. We partnered up with a few crypto projects, a new L1 blockchain, and Flux nodes, and we will likely add a crypto bridge to swap those listed projects.

There's a lot going on right now and I will need a lot of articles to really boost organic traffic.

sent you a dm

 

[wmx11]

Another update!

2022 - 12 - 31
- 52 new users
- 4k views
- 2 new Articles
- 1 new project addition
- Added Discord Announcements, Events tracking, quiz generation system, transparency scores, voting, and community comments. Added social sharing to all of them to increase exposure with the help of users.

Twitter has grown to 2,291 followers
Discord has grown to 1,2k members, sadly only 1% of them are active

December sales and profit:
$1.5k

Total profit in 4 months:
$7.6k

I'm currently exploring ideas to use AI to help grow the traffic by helping me write articles, generate answers to the most frequent questions, and transcribe audio files.

2023 will pose some challenges as I need to create an attractive sales copy and provide some value to regular people coming to the website. 4k views per month is nowhere enough to monetize it through ads. I hope to push out enough articles and use BHW backlinks and ad services.

Thank you for following!

 

[Mr2k]

Good luck on your journey looks like you know what your doing

 

[wmx11]

2023 - 01 - 22
- 107 registered users
- 9k views
- 1 new project addition


Twitter: 2,029 Followers. A lot of inactive or otherwise uninterested people have unfollowed.
Discord is sitting at 1.1k members. Inactive people are leaving. I can see more activity on the channel now.

January sales and profit:
$1.5k

No marketing has been done yet. I'm working on a plan for low-competition keywords and articles to grow my organic traffic. Most of the traffic is currently direct and word-of-mouth.
I'm also adding a tracker for NFTs, allowing pre-launch projects to list and have their own table with metrics.

Since NFT projects have large and tight-knit communities, I hope to bring a few % of them over to my project as recurring visitors.

After I reach at least 10k monthly views I will start selling ad space on the website.

Future plans and features:
- NFT tracker
- Internal referral system
- Referral system as a service
- Reworked campaign tracker. Turn it into a campaign tracker as a service
- Social media and community analysis
- Expand on the crypto networking hub
- Probably release NFTs to attract funding and allow users to perform certain actions through simple menatization