Interface Design

Many creators have a dedicated fanbase who do wish to support them and who deserve to be rewarded for the commitment they show. On Nexus, creators can use social tokens to ensure that support from their fans are neither one-time nor one-way transactions. The Web3 version of liking and subscribing could be owning the creator’s token, since it allows fans to both financially back the creator and potentially earn returns in the long run. They have ownership in the creator’s community, fostering closer relationships and committing further to seeing the creator succeed. These unique incentives create the opportunity for mutual growth which other membership models do not offer. 

2. Restrictive business models for creators

In the current landscape, many creators are locked in contracts where they see limited returns, or sponsorships where their creative freedoms are restricted. This is a common issue since the majority of creators receive most of their revenue through AdSense or advertising/sponsorship deals. Whether it’s Youtubers with media agencies and management companies, or musicians with record labels, or writers with publishers, digitally-native creators have been stuck in the hamster wheel of seeing pennies on every dollar that gets generated. In addition, a lot of creators conform their content to the preferences of sponsors to maximize their revenue instead of focusing on the quality or creativity of the content they are providing their audience, often to the disappointment of fans. 

Nexus upgrades creators’ relationship with their income stream: when fans support a creator’s token, it gives them the freedom to focus on releasing the best content, the stability to take back creative control, and the benefit of seeing their revenue split generously. 

3. Limited fundraising options

Traditionally, independent creators and small businesses do not have access to the same resources that big companies do. As a result, creators and new businesses often struggle to acquire funding for new projects, content, products, and other ventures. A platform like GoFundMe runs on the spirit of charity, which reduces the number of people who will realistically donate because supporters earn no tangible returns. Meanwhile, a platform like Kickstarter doesn’t offer ownership or facilitate the guaranteed distribution of value if the project grows. 

Tokenized projects on Nexus give creators, businesses, and communities superpowers that only big companies had in the past. Launching a token, similar to a micro-IPO, allows early creators to get initial funding so they can generate more value, which their supporters directly benefit from when the project grows. This allows new initiatives to gather capital that can propel the business, while fans and investors are continuously incentivized to help the brand succeed, as they also earn returns from its success. For instance, when creators tap into the power of their fanbase, their fans may be more willing to support the project early on since tokens grant special stakes in their channel, community, or brand. 

Nexus intends to target two types of users: token creators and token holders. The former group can be further divided into three subsets of core users, which are independent content creators, brands and businesses, as well as digital communities. 

1. Token Creators

a. Content Creators

Content creators such as Youtubers, streamers, artists, musicians, writers, podcasters, etc. are those who generate value for an audience, typically online. The main content platforms on which we aim to recruit creators are Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch. These creators can benefit from personal tokens by building independent, personalized token-gated communities for their most devoted fans. First, this rewards the fans who are willing to financially support a creator and who believe in their growth; in doing so, creators foster closer relationships with their fans. Second, fans contribute to the growth of the creator; because they have ownership stake in the community, they are more incentivized to see it grow, potentially promoting the creator to others while doing more to keep the community healthy. Finally, creators now have a dedicated group to whom they can open exclusive access to projects and merch (since they will likely provide a higher interaction rate), from whom they can gather ideas and feedback, etc. In the case that they need additional support on a new book, video, movie, or other creative project, they can crowdfund through the tokenized community and garner interest or excitement. In recent years, the idea of VIP or exclusive communities have become extremely popular in the creator economy because they enable fans to feel more connected to the creators they support. So, there is increasing demand for ways to create these kinds of groups. 

b. Brands & Businesses

Through social tokens, small digitally-native businesses can gain powers that only big businesses traditionally have had (e.g. investor funding and IPOs), while bigger businesses can further supercharge their growth with utility tokens. First, new or smaller businesses gain a way of crowdfunding that uniquely incentivizes supporters (as discussed previously): the company can represent its social capital as a digital asset so they could bring the future value of that capital into the present, allowing them to use it today to supercharge business growth. Furthermore, since most small companies do not have the budget to pull off big marketing stunts, they can use tokens to fund their growth marketing without affecting their current cash position. For instance, tokens offer users early bonuses without influencing the company’s current cash flow, because tokens given out today only subtract from future revenue when users redeem tokens for products or services in future. Next, more established businesses can use their branded tokens to create loyalty programs with liquidity. Users would be more incentivized to use the product if it means earning tokens that can be redeemed in the future, especially since tokens can be used to earn liquidity in the market.   

c. Communities

The growth and globalization of the internet means more online communities than ever. From research groups to watercolor artists to crypto thought leaders, communities can build strong infrastructure with token-based memberships on Nexus. Prospective members may need to purchase a certain amount of tokens to join the group in order to claim ownership in the community, allocating them voting power and an established position in the group; this will prevent unfair distribution of power in the community's organization. Furthermore, communities can choose to offer rewards (e.g. additional tokens) or release incentives that encourage members of the group to interact and keep the community healthy; this way, members have a monetary incentive to better the experience and the onus is not on just a small group of people, which is an issue that many communities face. 

2. Token Holders

Users who might be interested in buying tokens are primarily fans of creators, involved customers of businesses, or members of Web3 communities. Fans of creators, or content consumers, may be interested because they hope to be closer to their favorite creators (e.g. by earning entrance to token-gated communities), or they want to support the creators that they wish to see succeed. Similarly, people are inclined to support the businesses or causes which they believe in. Token holders may also be interested in the feeling of ownership, or buying into a project, believing in it, and hoping for its success. The additional benefits of membership in an exclusive community or the incentive of financial returns could also be appealing to users. 

First, Nexus provides a platform for creators, businesses, and communities to achieve incentive alignment: this means that their social token will allow them to collect ownership behind shared self interest and build communities with a common goal. The mutual benefit that comes with tokenized economies differentiates us from Patreon, Youtube Membership, Twitch, etc. because the fans also have the opportunity to earn valuable returns, which can be more incentivizing than one-way or one-time transactions. Nexus also offers supporters/investors the opportunity to collect ownership, an extremely valuable commodity in Web3. By sharing equity, the audience can invest in the future potential success of their favorite creator and even feel like they are part of the success themselves. 

Additionally, the membership and community behind tokenized communities gives creators new ways to reward their fans. For instance, creators can couple their tokens with exclusive merchandise and physical gifts, or set up a tier-level system where the benefits and voting power increases along with the amount of tokens being held (i.e. they can customize their token contracts). This exclusivity and “VIP” membership is really valuable because people can be very loyal and devoted to their favorite Youtubers or influencers. Moreover, these communities could generate distribution, access, authority, and trust, which are all especially rare in this day and age, thus carrying a lot of value. By stepping into our tokenized world, that value can be presented as a digital asset and invested in faster growth or more aligned growth within a community.  

Finally, a society-wide benefit of Nexus is the potential to drive crypto adoption forward. Because most people are not familiar or comfortable with investing in decentralized Web3 projects, our app aims to provide an accessible, entry-level introduction to crypto investment by introducing it through the creators and businesses that many people are already family with. To participate in the app, no prior cryptocurrency or token experience is required, and we intend to embed educational resources into the app itself for users who wish to learn more about the space. For example, we would probably program a walkthrough tutorial (one for users and one for creators) on how to use the app that would be opened when people first download it, that explains crypto concepts along the way. 

For the sake of quantifying, in our survey, we asked “How interested are you in learning more about crypto, NFTs, investing, or stocks?,” and had respondents rate on a 1 to 5 scale. Generally, more respondents selected values correlating with more interest (3-5). This indicates that even among young people (13-18) there is an increased interest in becoming more well-versed in the world of Web3. So, Nexus could be an entry level method by giving people who are excited about Youtubers and social media influencers an incentive to learn more. 

Strategy 

By leveraging new and modern technical systems and concepts like blockchain, tokenomics, and cryptocurrencies, Nexus can leapfrog the existing Web 2.0 solutions for creators and brands to create incentives for new users to join our platform. First, we plan to develop a mobile application on a blockchain platform and build a working prototype of the app, which will be beta-tested by both creators and content consumers. The technology of the app will include an efficient, cost-effective mechanism to record, calculate, report, and distribute royalty streams at scale; meanwhile, the Nexus cryptocurrency stablecoin will be used to power the app economy. We will also work with thought leaders in the crypto and Web3 industry to develop educational materials which we can embed in the app to educated users on the token space (after interviewing potential users and our target customers, we realized that although there is confusion and hesitation around the current Web3 space, a large number of people are willing and interested learn more). Upon release of the app, we intend to partner with established creators and businesses who already have a fanbase so we could collaborate on creating the first social tokens on the platform and facilitate trading. To scale, we hope that word-of-mouth and sponsorships of additional creators can establish a momentum and create a network effect that can bring our platform to mass media attention.