Summary
There are some problems with new coins being made currently
- Blockchain they are built upon need to be able to adapt
- Companies need to properly market their coins
- Companies need to state the problem, what their coin will do to fix the problem, and the after effects of the coin being implimented.
Introduction
In this post I want to talk about the problems with the introduction of new coins, the introduction part of a coin's life cycle shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Source: Brosir n.d.
There are some issues I am seeing right out of the bat with some coins, and these will be variables any investor should take into consideration.
The blockchain build
Determining what is built into a coin's block chain can show just how flexible or inflexible a coin can be to adapt to a new financial environment.
For example, Bitcoin is currently having trouble with scaling. Essentially it is becoming increasingly harder to process transactions between people selling and buying bitcoins due to the structure of it's block chain (cointelegraph, n.d.). If this continues, bitcoin will be in a massive competitive disadvantage when other competitors start moving into the growth phase of their life cycle.
On the other hand, Ethereum's block chain is able to adapt and change to the financial market, meaning it is ready to improve and be more efficient.
Think of this like comparing two companies. One with a rigid long structure and one with a flat structure shown below in Figure 2. A rigid structure does not allow for greater maneuverability to a changing environment, whereas a flatter structure does. Overtime if the taller structured company does not adapt, it can become detrimentally inefficient compared to it's flatter structure rivals.
Source: Kumar 2012
Marketing
One of the biggest problems with start up coins. They do not have enough marketing to a young investor base that will wrap themselves in bed with new coins.
For example there is a coin called Wagerr, designed for betting between two different people and making transactions more efficient. Sounds like a good coin, however, in my opinion, the only real marketing that Wagerr has is from third party sources like Crypto Space. It has it's own Youtube channel, but only has 30 subs, the main introduction has only ~500 views and comments are disabled, not allowing for community discussion
Another is Veritaseum. It has a good concept of helping peer to peer smart contracts. However, in my opinion, it's marketing has some issues. The website is hard to browse, it is difficult to click tabs, there is no solid page for describing the problem Veretaseum wants to fix, scrolling down the first page, there are a lot of items on one page, finally I remember a you tube comment where someone mentioned the site was "a complete mess".
Companies need to harness more social media to sell their coins. Reddit forums, youtube, facebook. If a lot of these companies making these coins can foster a community behind their product, then their fan base should be able to do most of the selling in their initial stages. This will be further helped by the current increasing hype for cryptocurrencies and their ability to be efficient.
Companies also need to have a website dedicated to information on the coin and its progress. This is the same with a start up, it is not about what you are presenting, but how you present it. This is why presentation is soo important, why businessmen wear suits and not jogger jeans to work, why a big company prides itself on having a good looking website and interface. There will have been more times than we can fathom, where no matter how good an idea has been, an investor has been turned off because of a bad image of the investment.
You do not get a second chance at a first impression.
Purpose
Companies creating a coin need to clearly state, in a fool proof way to anyone reading their mission statement, what problem they have, how they are going to solve the problem, and what are the after effects of them solving the problem. Again, a coin like Veretaseum could benefit soo much, if it's main website had a paragraph outlining this.
Another example is Golem. It has a clear outline of what its coin and block chain will do. However it does not outline the problem that laboratories, big data analyses, graphic rendering and so on currently have.
The ultimate aim here is that companies need to sell investors their idea in a clear thought out manner, that anyone who reads their goal can understand (i.e. idiot proof). The simpler your idea is to explain, the easier it is for a person to retain it and regurgitate back to others.
Source
Brosir n.d., 'Product life cycle diagram', ProProfs, retrieved 19 June 2017, https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=product-life-cycle-diagram.
cointelegraph n.d., 'Bitcoin scaling problem explained, cointelegraph, retrieved 19 June 2017, https://cointelegraph.com/explained/bitcoin-scaling-problem-explained.
Kumar R 2012, 'Chapter 4 organizing', slideshare.net, retrieved 19 June 2017, https://www.slideshare.net/rollernischal/chapter-4-organizing