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Sea Launch

Sea Launch

1 year ago

📖 Guide to NFT terms: an NFT glossary.

NFT lingo can be overwhelming. As the NFT market matures and expands so does its own jargon, slang, colloquialisms or acronyms.

This ever-growing NFT glossary goal is to unpack key NFT terms to help you better understand the NFT market or at least not feel like a total n00b in a conversation about NFTs on Reddit, Discord or Twitter.


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1:1 Art

Art where each piece is one of a kind (1 of 1). Unlike 10K projects, PFP or Generative Art collections have a cap of NFTs released that can range from a few hundreds to 10K.

1/1 of X

Contrary to 1:1 Art, 1/1 of X means each NFT is unique, but part of a large and cohesive collection. E.g: Fidenzas by Tyler Hobbs or Crypto Punks (each Punk is 1/1 of 10,000).

10K Project

A type of NFT collection that consists of approximately 10,000 NFTs (but not strictly).


A

AB

ArtBlocks, the most important platform for generative art currently.

AFAIK

As Far As I Know.

Airdrop

Distribution of an NFT token directly into a crypto wallet for free. Can be used as a marketing campaign or as scam by airdropping fake tokens to empty someone’s wallet.

Alpha

The first or very primitive release of a project. Or Investment term to track how a certain investment outdoes the market. E.g: Alpha of 1.0 = 1% improvement or Alpha of 20.0 = 20% improvement.

Altcoin

Any other crypto that is not Bitcoin. Bitcoin Maximalists can also refer to them as shitcoins.

AMA

Ask Me Anything. NFT creators or artists do sessions where anyone can ask questions about the NFT project, team, vision, etc. Usually hosted on Discord, but also on Reddit or even Youtube.

Ape

Someone can be aping, ape in or aped on an NFT meaning someone is taking a large position relative to its own portfolio size. Some argue that when someone apes can mean that they're following the hype, out of FOMO or without due diligence. Not related directly to the Bored Ape Yatch Club.

ATH

All-Time High. When a NFT project or token reaches the highest price to date.

Avatar project

An NFT collection that consists of avatars that people can use as their profile picture (see PFP) in social media to show they are part of an NFT community like Crypto Punks.

Axie Infinity

ETH blockchain-based game where players battle and trade Axies (digital pets). The main ERC-20 tokens used are Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Smooth Love Potions (formerly Small Love Potion) (SLP).

Axie Infinity Shards

AXS is an Eth token that powers the Axie Infinity game.


B

Bag Holder

Someone who holds its position in a crypto or keeps an NFT until it's worthless.

BAYC

Bored Ape Yacht Club. A very successful PFP 1/1 of 10,000 individual ape characters collection. People use BAYC as a Twitter profile picture to brag about being part of this NFT community.

Bearish

Borrowed finance slang meaning someone is doubtful about the current market and that it will crash.

Bear Market

When the Crypto or NFT market is going down in value.

Bitcoin (BTC)

First and original cryptocurrency as outlined in a whitepaper by the anonymous creator(s) Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin Maximalist

Believer that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency needed. All other cryptocurrencies are altcoins or shitcoins.

Blockchain

Distributed, decentralized, immutable database that is the basis of trust in Web 3.0 technology.

Bluechip

When an NFT project has a long track record of success and its value is sustained over time, therefore considered a solid investment.

BTD

Buy The Dip. A bear market can be an opportunity for crypto investors to buy a crypto or NFT at a lower price.

Bullish

Borrowed finance slang meaning someone is optimistic that a market will increase in value aka moon.

Bull market

When the Crypto or NFT market is going up and up in value.

Burn

Common crypto strategy to destroy or delete tokens from the circulation supply intentionally and permanently in order to limit supply and increase the value.

Buying on secondary

Whenever you don’t mint an NFT directly from the project, you can always buy it in secondary NFT marketplaces like OpenSea. Most NFT sales are secondary market sales.


C

Cappin or Capping

Slang for lying or faking. Opposed to no cap which means “no lie”.

Coinbase

Nasdaq listed US cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase Wallet is one of Coinbase’s products where users can use a Chrome extension or app hot wallet to store crypto and NFTs.

Cold wallet

Otherwise called hardware wallet or cold storage. It’s a physical device to store your cryptocurrencies and/or NFTs offline. They are not connected to the Internet so are at less risk of being compromised.

Collection

A set of NFTs under a common theme as part of a NFT drop or an auction sale in marketplaces like OpenSea or Rarible.

Collectible

A collectible is an NFT that is a part of a wider NFT collection, usually part of a 10k project, PFP project or NFT Game.

Collector

Someone who buys NFTs to build an NFT collection, be part of a NFT community or for speculative purposes to make a profit.

Cope

The opposite of FOMO. When someone doesn’t buy an NFT because one is still dealing with a previous mistake of not FOMOing at a fraction of the price. So choosing to stay out.

Consensus mechanism

Method of authenticating and validating a transaction on a blockchain without the need to trust or rely on a central authority. Examples of consensus mechanisms are Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS).

Cozomo de’ Medici

Twitter alias used by Snoop Dogg for crypto and NFT chat.

Creator

An NFT creator is a person that creates the asset for the NFT idea, vision and in many cases the art (e.g. a jpeg, audio file, video file).

Crowsale

Where a crowdsale is the sale of a token that will be used in the business, an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is the sale of a token that’s linked to the value of the business. Buying an ICO token is akin to buying stock in the company because it entitles you a share of the earnings and profits. Also, some tokens give you voting rights similar to holding stock in the business. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently ruled that ICOs, but not crowdselling, will be treated as the sale of a security. This basically means that all ICOs must be registered like IPOs and offered only to accredited investors. This dramatically increases the costs and limits the pool of potential buyers.

Crypto Bags/Bags

Refers to how much cryptocurrencies someone holds, as in their bag of coins.

Cryptocurrency

The native coin of a blockchain (or protocol coin), secured by cryptography to be exchanged within a Peer 2 Peer economic system. E.g: Bitcoin (BTC) for the Bitcoin blockchain, Ether (ETH) for the Ethereum blockchain, etc.

Crypto community

The community of a specific crypto or NFT project. NFT communities use Twitter and Discord as their primary social media to hang out.

Crypto exchange

Where someone can buy, sell or trade cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Cryptography

The foundation of blockchain technology. The use of mathematical theory and computer science to encrypt or decrypt information.

CryptoKitties

One of the first and most popular NFT based blockchain games. In 2017, the NFT project almost broke the Ethereum blockchain and increased the gas prices dramatically.

CryptoPunk

Currently one of the most valuable blue chip NFT projects. It was created by Larva Labs. Crypto Punk holders flex their NFT as their profile picture on Twitter.

CT

Crypto Twitter, the crypto-community on Twitter.

Cypherpunks

Movement in the 1980s, advocating for the use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. The movement contributed and shaped blockchain tech as we know today.


D

DAO

Stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. When a NFT project is structured like a DAO, it grants all the NFT holders voting rights, control over future actions and the NFT’s project direction and vision. Many NFT projects are also organized as DAO to be a community-driven project.

Dapp

Mobile or web based decentralized application that interacts on a blockchain via smart contracts. E.g: Dapp is the frontend and the smart contract is the backend.

DCA

Acronym for Dollar Cost Averaging. An investment strategy to reduce the impact of crypto market volatility. E.g: buying into a crypto asset on a regular monthly basis rather than a big one time purchase.

Ded

Abbreviation for dead like "I sold my Punk for 90 ETH. I am ded."

DeFi

Short for Decentralized Finance. Blockchain alternative for traditional finance, where intermediaries like banks or brokerages are replaced by smart contracts to offer financial services like trading, lending, earning interest, insure, etc.

Degen

Short for degenerate, a gambler who buys into unaudited or unknown NFT or DeFi projects, without proper research hoping to chase high profits.

Delist

No longer offer an NFT for sale on a secondary market like Opensea. NFT Marketplaces can delist an NFT that infringes their rules. Or NFT owners can choose to delist their NFTs (has long as they have sufficient funds for the gas fees) due to price surges to avoid their NFT being bought or sold for a higher price.

Derivative

Projects derived from the original project that reinforces the value and importance of the original NFT. E.g: "alternative" punks.

Dev

A skilled professional who can build NFT projects using smart contracts and blockchain technology.

Dex

Decentralised Exchange that allows for peer-to-peer trustless transactions that don’t rely on a centralized authority to take place. E.g: Uniswap, PancakeSwap, dYdX, Curve Finance, SushiSwap, 1inch, etc.

Diamond Hands

Someone who believes and holds a cryptocurrency or NFT regardless of the crypto or NFT market fluctuations.

Discord

Chat app heavily used by crypto and NFT communities for knowledge sharing and shilling.

DLT

Acronym for Distributed Ledger Technology. It’s a protocol that allows the secure functioning of a decentralized database, through cryptography. This technological infrastructure scraps the need for a central authority to keep in check manipulation or exploitation of the network.

Dog coin

It’s a memecoin based on the Japanese dog breed, Shiba Inu, first popularised by Dogecoin. Other notable coins are Shiba Inu or Floki Inu. These dog coins are frequently subjected to pump and dumps and are extremely volatile. The original dog coin DOGE was created as a joke in 2013. Elon Musk is one of Dogecoin's most famous supporters.

Doxxed/Doxed

When the identity of an NFT team member, dev or creator is public, known or verifiable. In the NFT market, when a NFT team is doxed it’s a usually sign of confidence and transparency for NFT collectors to ensure they will not be scammed for an anonymous creator.

Drop

The release of an NFT (single or collection) into the NFT market.

DYOR

Acronym for Do Your Own Research. A common expression used in the crypto or NFT community to disclaim responsibility for the financial/strategy advice someone is providing the community and to avoid being called out by others in theNFT or crypto community.


E

EIP-1559 EIP

Referring to Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559, commonly known as the London Fork. It’s an upgrade to the Ethereum protocol code to improve the blockchain security and scalability. The major change consists in shifting from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism (PoW) to a low energy and lower gas fees proof-of-stake system (PoS).

ERC-1155

Stands for Ethereum Request for Comment-1155. A multi-token standard that can represent any number of fungible (ERC-20) and non-fungible tokens (ERC-721).

ERC-20

Ethereum Request for Comment-20 is a standard defining a fungible token like a cryptocurrency.

ERC-721

Ethereum Request for Comment-721 is a standard defining a non-fungible token (NFT).

ETH

Aka Ether, the currency symbol for the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain.

ETH2.0

Also known as the London Fork or EIP-1559 EIP. It’s an upgrade to the Ethereum network to improve the network’s security and scalability. The most dramatic change is the shift from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism (PoW) to proof-of-stake system (PoS).

Ether

Or ETH, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum

Network protocol that allows users to create and run smart contracts over a decentralized network.


F

FCFS

Acronym for First Come First Served. Commonly used strategy in a NFT collection drop when the demand surpasses the supply.

Few

Short for "few understand". Similar to the irony behind the "probably nothing" expression. Like X person bought into a popular NFT, because it understands its long term value.

Fiat Currencies or Money

National government-issued currencies like the US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR) or Great British Pound (GBP) that are not backed by a commodity like silver or gold. FIAT means an authoritative or arbitrary order like a government decree.

Flex

Slang for showing off. In the crypto community, it’s a Lamborghini or a gold Rolex. In the NFT world, it’s a CryptoPunk or BAYC PFP on Twitter.

Flip

Quickly buying and selling crypto or NFTs to make a profit.

Flippening

Colloquial expression coined in 2017 for when Ethereum’s market capitalisation surpasses Bitcoin’s.

Floor Price

It means the lowest asking price for an NFT collection or subset of a collection on a secondary market like OpenSea.

Floor Sweep

Refers when a NFT collector or investor buys all the lowest listed NFTs on a secondary NFT marketplace.

FOMO

Acronym for Fear Of Missing Out. Buying a crypto or NFT out of fear of missing out on the next big thing.

FOMO-in

Buying a crypto or NFT regardless if it's at the top of the market for FOMO.

Fractionalize

Turning one NFT like a Crypto Punk into X number of fractions ERC-20 tokens that prove ownership of that Punk. This allows for i) collective ownership of an NFT, ii) making an expensive NFT affordable for the common NFT collector and iii) adds more liquidity to a very illiquid NFT market.

FR

Abbreviation for For Real?

Fren

Means Friend and what people in the NFT community call each other in an endearing and positive way.

Foundation

An exclusive, by invitation only, NFT marketplace that specializes in NFT art.

Fungible

Means X can be traded for another X and still hold the same value. E.g: My dollars = your dollars. My 1 ether = your 1 ether. My casino chip = your casino chip. On Ethereum, fungible tokens are defined by the ERC-20 standard.

FUD

Acronym for Fear Uncertainty Doubt. It can be a) when someone spreads negative and sometimes false news to discredit a certain crypto or NFT project. Or b) the overall negative feeling regarding the future of the NFT/Crypto project or market, especially when going through a bear market.

Fudder

Someone who has FUD or engages in FUD about a NFT project.

Fudding your own bags

When an NFT collector or crypto investor speaks negatively about an NFT or crypto project he/she has invested in or has a stake in. Usually negative comments about the team or vision.


G

G

Means Gangster. A term of endearment used amongst the NFT Community.

Gas/Gas fees/Gas prices

The fee charged to complete a transaction in a blockchain. These gas prices vary tremendously between the blockchains, the consensus mechanism used to validate transactions or the number of transactions being made at a specific time.

Gas war

When a lot of NFT collectors (or bots) are trying to mint an NFT at once and therefore resulting in gas price surge.

Generative art

Artwork that is algorithmically created by code with unique traits and rarity.

Genesis drop

It refers to the first NFT drop a creator makes on an NFT auction platform.

GG

Interjection for Good Game.

GM

Interjection for Good Morning.

GMI

Acronym for Going to Make It. Opposite of NGMI (NOT Going to Make It).

GOAT

Acronym for Greatest Of All Time.

GTD

Acronym for Going To Dust. When a token or NFT project turns out to be a bad investment.

GTFO

Get The F*ck Out, as in “gtfo with that fud dude” if someone is talking bull.

GWEI

One billionth of an Ether (ETH) also known as a Shannon / Nanoether / Nano — unit of account used to price Ethereum gas transactions.


H

HEN (Hic Et Nunc)

A popular NFT art marketplace for art built on the Tezos blockchain. Big NFT marketplace for inexpensive NFTs but not a very user-friendly UI/website.

HODL

Misspelling of HOLD coined in an old Reddit post. Synonym with “Hold On for Dear Life” meaning hold your coin or NFT until the end, whether that they’ll moon or dust.

Hot wallet

Wallets connected to the Internet, less secure than cold wallet because they’re more susceptible to hacks.

Hype

Term used to show excitement or anticipation about an upcoming crypto project or NFT.


I

ICO

Acronym for Initial Coin Offering. It’s the crypto equivalent to a stocks’ IPO (Initial Public Offering) but with far less scrutiny or regulation (leading to a lot of scams). ICO’s are a popular way for crypto projects to raise funds.

IDO

Acronym for Initial Dex Offering. To put it simply it means to launch NFTs or tokens via a decentralized liquidity exchange. It’s a common fundraising method used by upcoming crypto or NFT projects. Many consider IDOs a far better fundraising alternative to ICOs.

IDK

Acronym for I Don’t Know.

IDEK

Acronym for I Don’t Even Know.

Imma

Short for I’m going to be.

IRL

Acronym for In Real Life. Refers to the physical world outside of the online/virtual world of crypto, NFTs, gaming or social media.

IPFS

Acronym for Interplanetary File System. A peer-to-peer file storage system using hashes to recall and preserve the integrity of the file, commonly used to store NFTs outside of the blockchain.

It’s Money Laundering

Someone can use this expression to suggest that NFT prices aren’t real and that actually people are using NFTs to launder money, without providing much proof or explanation on how it works.

IYKYK

Stands for If You Know, You Know This. Similar to the expression "few", used when someone buys into a popular crypto or NFT project, slightly because of FOMO but also because it believes in its long term value.


J

JPEG/JPG

File format typically used to encode NFT art. Some people also use Jpeg to mock people buying NFTs as in “All that money for a jpeg”.


K

KMS

Short for Kill MySelf.


L

Larva Labs/ LL

NFT Creators behind the popular NFT projects like Cryptopunks,Meebits or Autoglyphs.

Laser eyes

Bitcoin meme signalling support for BTC and/or it will break the $100k per coin valuation.

LFG

Acronym for Let’s F*cking Go! A common rallying call used in the crypto or NFT community to lead people into buying an NFT or a crypto.

Liquidity

Term that means that a token or NFT has a high volume activity in the crypto/NFT market. It’s easily sold and resold. But usually the NFT market it’s illiquid when compared to the general crypto market, due to the non-fungibility nature of an NFT (there are less buyers for every NFTs out there).

LMFAO

Stands for Laughing My F*cking Ass Off.

Looks Rare

Ironic expression commonly used in the NFT Community. Rarity is a driver of an NFT’s value.

London Hard Fork

Known as EIP-1559, was an Ethereum code upgrade proposal designed to improve the blockchain security and scalability. It’s major change is to shift from PoW to PoS consensus mechanism.

Long run

Means someone is committed to the NFT market or an NFT project in the long term.


M

Maximalist

Typically refers to Bitcoin Maximalists. People who only believe that Bitcoin is the most secure and resilient blockchain. For Maximalists, all other cryptocurrencies are shitcoins therefore a waste of time, development and money.

McDonald's

Common and ironic expression amongst the crypto community. It means that Mcdonald’s is always a valid backup plan or career in the case all cryptocurrencies crash and disappear.

Meatspace

Synonymous with IRL - In Real Life.

Memecoin

Cryptocurrency like Dogecoin that is based on an internet joke or meme.

Metamask

Popular crypto hot wallet platform to store crypto and NFTs.

Metaverse

Term was coined by writer Neal Stephenson in the 1992 dystopian novel “Snow Crash”. It’s an immersive and digital place where people interact via their avatars. Big tech players like Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and other independent players have been designing their own version of a metaverse. NFTs can have utility for users like buying, trading, winning, accessing, experiencing or interacting with things inside a metaverse.

Mfer

Short for “mother fker”.

Miners

Single person or company that mines one or more cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Both blockchains need computing power for their Proof of Work consensus mechanism. Miners provide the computing power and receive coins/tokens in return as payment.

Mining

Mining is the process by which new tokens enter in circulation as for example in the Bitcoin blockchain. Also, mining ensures the validity of new transactions happening in a given blockchain that uses the PoW consensus mechanism. Therefore, the ones who mine are rewarded by ensuring the validity of a blockchain.

Mint/Minting

Mint an NFT is the act of publishing your unique instance to a specific blockchain like Ethereum or Tezos blockchain. In simpler terms, a creator is adding a one-of-kind token (NFT) into circulation in a specific blockchain.

Once the NFT is minted - aka created - NFT collectors can i) direct mint, therefore purchase the NFT by paying the specified amount directly into the project’s wallet. Or ii) buy it via an intermediary like an NFT marketplace (e.g: OpenSea, Foundation, Rarible, etc.). Later, the NFT owner can choose to resell the NFT, most NFT creators set up a royalty for every time their NFT is resold.

Minting interval

How often an NFT creator can mint or create tokens.

MOAR

A misspelling that means “more”.

Moon/Mooning

When a coin (e.g. ETH), or token, like an NFT goes exponential in price and the price graph sees a vertical climb. Crypto or NFT users then use the expression that “X token is going to the moon!”.

Moon boys

Slang for crypto or NFT holders who are looking to pump the price dramatically - taking a token to the moon - for short term gains and with no real long term vision or commitment.


N

Never trust, always verify

Treat everyone or every project like something potentially malicious.

New coiner

Crypto slang for someone new to the cryptocurrency space. Usually newcomers can be more susceptible to FUD or scammers.

NFA

Acronym for Not Financial Advice.

NFT

Acronym for Non-Fungible Token. The type of token that can be created, bought, sold, resold and viewed in different dapps. The ERC-721 smart contract standard (Ethereum blockchain) is the most popular amongst NFTs.

NFT Marketplace / NFT Auction platform

Platforms where people can sell and buy NFTs, either via an auction or pay the seller’s price. The largest NFT marketplace is OpenSea. But there are other popular NFT marketplace examples like Foundation, SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, Rarible, Hic et Nunc (HeN), etc.

NFT Whale

A NFT collector or investor who buys a large amount of NFTs.

NGMI

Acronym for Not Going to Make It. For example, something said to someone who has paper hands.

NMP

Acronym for Not My Problem.

Nocoiner

It can be someone who simply doesn’t hold cryptocurrencies, mistrust the crypto market or believes that crypto is either a scam or a ponzi scheme.

Noob/N00b/Newbie

Slang for someone new or not experienced in cryptocurrency or NFTs. These people are more susceptible to scams, drawn into pump and dumps or getting rekt on bad coins.

Normie/Normy

Similar expression for a nocoiner.

NSFW

Acronym for Not Suitable For Work. Referring to online content inappropriate for viewing in public or at work. It began as mostly a tag for sexual content, nudity, or violence, but it has envolved to range a number of other topics that might be delicate or trigger viewers.

Nuclear NFTs

An NFT or collectible with more than 1,000 owners. For the NFT to be sold or resold, every co-owners must give their permission beforehand. Otherwise, the NFT transaction can’t be made.


O

OG

Acronym for Original Gangster and it popularized by 90s Hip Hop culture. It means the first, the original or the person who has been around since the very start and earned respect in the community. In NFT terms, Cryptopunks are the OG of NFTs.

On-chain vs Off-chain

An on-chain NFT is when the artwork (like a jpeg, video or music file) is stored directly into the blockchain making it more secure and less susceptible to being stolen. But, note that most blockchains can only store small amounts of data.

Off-chain NFTs means that the high quality image, music or video file is not stored in the blockchain. But, the NFT data is stored on an external party like a) a centralized server, highly vulnerable to the server being shut down/exploited. Or b) an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), also an external party but more secure way of finding data because it utilizes a distributed, decentralized system.

OpenSea

By far the largest NFT marketplace in the world, currently.


P

Paper Hands

A crypto or NFT holder who is permeable to negative market sentiment or FUD. And does not hold their crypto or NFT for long. Expression used to describe someone who sells as soon as NFTs enter a bear market.

PFP

Stands for Picture For Profile. Twitter users who hold popular NFTs like Crypto Punk or BAYC use their punk or monkey avatar as their profile picture.

POAP NFT

Stands for Proof of Attendance Protocol. These types of NFTs are awarded to attendees of events, regardless if they’re physical or virtual, as proof you attended.

PoS

Stands for Proof of Stake. A consensus mechanism used by blockchains like Bitcoin or Ethereum to achieve agreement, trust and security in every transaction and keep the integrity of the blockchain intact. PoS mechanisms are considered more environmentally friendly than PoW as they’re lower energy and in emissions.

PoW

Stands for Proof of Work. A consensus mechanism used by blockchains like Bitcoin to achieve agreement, trust and security and keep the transactional integrity of the blockchain intact. PoW mechanism requires a lot of computational power, therefore uses more energy resources and higher CO2 emissions than the PoS mechanism.

Private Key

It can be similar to a password. It’s a secret number that allows users to access their cold or hot wallet funds, prove ownership of a certain address and sign transactions on the blockchain.

It’s not advisable to share a private key with anyone as it makes a person vulnerable to thefts. In case someone loses or forgets its private key, it can use a recovery phrase to restore access to a crypto or NFT wallet.

Pre-mine

A term used in crypto to refer to the act of creating a set amount of tokens before their public launch. It can also be known as a Genesis Sale and is usually associated with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in order to compensate founders, developers or early investors.

Probably nothing

It’s an ironic expression used by NFT enthusiasts to refer to an important or soon to be big news, project or person in the NFT space. Meaning when someone says probably nothing it actually means that it is probably something.

Protocol Coin

Stands for the native coin of a blockchain. As in Ether for the Ethereum blockchain or BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Pump & Dump

The term pump means when a person or a group of people buy or convince others to buy large quantities of a crypto or an NFT with the single goal to drive the price to a peak. When the price peaks, these people sell their position high and for a hefty profit, therefore dumping the price and leaving other slower investors or newbies rekt or at a loss.


R

Rarity

Rarity in NFT terms refers to how rare an NFT is. The rarity can be defined by the number of traits, scarcity or properties of an NFT.

Reaching

Slang for an exaggeration over something to make it sound worse than what it actually is or to take a point/scenario too far.

Recovery phrase

A 12-word phrase that acts like backup for your crypto private keys. A person can recover all of the crypto wallet accounts’ private keys from the recovery phrase. Is not advisable to share the recovery phrase with anyone.

Rekt

Slang for wrecked. When a crypto or NFT project goes wrong or down in value sharply. Or more broadly, when something goes wrong like a person is price out by the gas surge or an NFT floor price goes down.

Right Click Save As

An Ironic expression used by people who don’t understand the value or potential unlocked by NFTs. Person who makes fun that she/he can easily get a digital artwork by Right Click Save As and mock the NFT space and its hype.

Roadmap

The strategy outlined by an NFT project. A way to explain to the NFT community or a potential NFT investor, the different stages, value and the long term vision of the NFT project.

Royalties

NFT creators can set up their NFT so each time their NFT is resold, the creator gets paid a percentage of the sale price.

RN

Acronym for Right Now.

Rug Pull/Rugged

Slang for a scam when the founders, team or developers suddenly leave a crypto project and run away with all the investors’ funds leaving them with nothing.


S

Satoshi Nakamoto

The anonymous creator of the Bitcoin whitepaper and whose identity has never been verified.

Scammer

Someone actively trying to steal other people’s crypto or NFTs.

Secondary

Secondary refers to secondary NFT marketplaces, where NFT collectors or investors can resell NFTs after they’ve been minted. The price of an NFT or NFT collection is determined by those who list them.

Seed phrase

Another name for recovery phrase is the 12-word phrase that allows you to recover all of the crypto wallet accounts’ private keys and regain control of the wallet. Is not advisable to share the seed phrase with anyone.

Seems legit

When an NFT project or a person in the NFT community looks promising and the real deal, meaning seems legitimate. Depending on the context can also be used ironically.

Seems rare

An ironic expression or dismissive comment used by the NFT community. For example, It can be used sarcastically when someone asks for feedback on an NFT they own or created.

Ser

Slang for sir and a polite way of addressing others in an NFT community.

Shill

Expression when someone wants to promote or get exposure to an NFT they own or created.

Shill Thread

It’s a common Twitter strategy to gain traction by encouraging NFT creators to share a link to their NFT project in the hopes of getting bought or noticed by the NFT Community and potential buyers.

Simp/Simping

A NFT holder or creator who comes off as trying to hard impress an NFT whale or investor.

Sh*tposter

A person who mostly posts meme content on Twitter for fun.

SLP

Acronym for Smooth Love Potion. It’s a token players can earn as a reward in the NFT game Axie Infinity.

Smart Contract

A self-executing contract where the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller are directly written into the code and without third party or human intervention. Ethereum is a blockchain that can execute smart contracts, on the contrary to Bitcoin which does not have that capability.

SMFH

Acronym for Shaking My F*cking Head. Common reply to a person showing unbelievable idiocy.

Sock Puppet

Scam account used to lure noob investors into fake investment services.

Snag

It means to buy an NFT quickly and for a very low price. Can also be known as sniping.

Sotheby’s

Very famous auction house that has recently auctioned Beeple’s NFTs or Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks’ NFT collections.

Stake

Crypto term for locking up a certain amount of crypto tokens for a set period of time to earn interest. In the NFT space, there are popping up a lot of projects or services that allow NFT holders to earn interest for holding a certain NFT.

Szn

Stands for season referring to crypto or NFT market cycles.


T

TINA

Acronym for There Is No Alternative. Example: someone asks “why are you investing in BTC?”, to which the reply is “TINA”.

TINA RIF

Acronym for There Is No Alternative Resistance Is Futile.

This is the way

A commendation for positive behavior by someone in the NFT Community.

Tokenomics

Referring to the economics of cryptocurrencies, DeFi or NFT projects.


V

Valhalla

Ironic use of the Viking “heaven”. Meaning someone’s NFT collection is either going to be a profitable and blue chip project, therefore they can ascend to Valhalla or is going to tank and that person will have to work at a Mcdonald’s.

Vibe

Term used to express a positive emotional state.

Volatile/Volatility

Term used to describe rapid market fluctuations and crypto or NFT prices go up and down quickly in a short period.


W

WAGMI

Acronym for We Are Going to Make It. Rally cry to build momentum for a crypto or NFT project and lead even more people into buying, shilling or supporting a specific project.

Wallet

There can be a hot or cold wallet, but both are a place where someone can store their cryptocurrency and tokens. Hot wallets are always connected to the Internet like MetaMask, Trust wallet or Phantom. On the contrary cold wallets are hardware wallets to store crypto or NFTs offline like Nano Ledger.

Weak Hands

Synonymous with Paper Hands. Someone who immediately sells their crypto or NFT because of a bear market, FUD or any other negative sentiment.

Web 1.0

Refers to the beginning of the Web. A period from around 1990 to 2005, also known as the read-only web.

Web 2.0

Refers to an iteration of Web 1.0. From 2005 to the present moment, where social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, Twitter, etc reshaped the web, therefore becoming the read-write web.

Web 3.0

A term coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood and it’s an idea of what the future of the web could look like. Most peoples’ data, info or content would no longer be centralized in Web 2.0 giants - the Big Tech - but decentralized, mostly thanks to blockchain technology. Web 3.0 could be known as read-write-trust web.

Wen

As in When.

Wen Moon

Popular expression from crypto Twitter not so much in the NFT space. Refers to the still distant future when a token will moon.

Whitepaper

Document released by a crypto or NFT project where it lays the technical information behind the concept, vision, roadmap and plans to grow a certain project.

Whale

Someone who owns a large position on a specific or many cryptos or NFTs.


Y

Yodo

Acronym for You Only Die Once. The opposite of Yolo.

Yolo

Acronym for You Only Live Once. A person can use this when they just realized they bought a shitcoin or crap NFT and they’re getting rekt.


Original post

More on NFTs & Art

Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

1 year ago

Trading Volume on OpenSea Drops by 99% as the NFT Boom Comes to an End

Wasn't that a get-rich-quick scheme?

Bored Ape, edited by author

OpenSea processed $2.7 billion in NFT transactions in May 2021.

Fueled by a crypto bull run, rumors of unfathomable riches, and FOMO, Bored Apes, Crypto Punks, and other JPEG-format trash projects flew off the virtual shelves, snatched up by retail investors and celebrities alike.

Over a year later, those shelves are overflowing and warehouses are backlogged. Since March, I've been writing less. In May and June, the bubble was close to bursting.

Apparently, the boom has finally peaked.

This bubble has punctured, and deflation has begun. On Aug. 28, OpenSea processed $9.34 million.

From that euphoric high of $2.7 billion, $9.34 million represents a spectacular decline of 99%.

OpenSea contradicts the data. A trading platform spokeswoman stated the comparison is unfair because it compares the site's highest and lowest trading days. They're the perfect two data points to assess the drop. OpenSea chooses to use ETH volume measures, which ignore crypto's shifting price. Since January 2022, monthly ETH volume has dropped 140%, according to Dune.

Unconvincing counterargument.

Further OpenSea indicators point to declining NFT demand:

  • Since January 2022, daily user visits have decreased by 50%.

  • Daily transactions have decreased by 50% since the beginning of the year in the same manner.

Off-platform, the floor price of Bored Apes has dropped from 145 ETH to 77 ETH. (At $4,800, a reduction from $700,000 to $370,000). Google search data shows waning popular interest.

Data: Google Trends

It is a trend that will soon vanish, just like laser eyes.

NFTs haven't moved since the new year. Eminem and Snoop Dogg can utilize their apes in music videos or as 3D visuals to perform at the VMAs, but the reality is that NFTs have lost their public appeal and the market is trying to regain its footing.

They've lost popularity because?

Breaking records. The technology still lacks genuine use cases a year and a half after being popular.

They're pricey prestige symbols that have made a few people rich through cunning timing or less-than-savory scams or rug pulling. Over $10.5 billion has been taken through frauds, most of which are NFT enterprises promising to be the next Bored Apes, according to Web3 is going wonderfully. As the market falls, many ordinary investors realize they purchased into a self-fulfilling ecosystem that's halted. Many NFTs are sold between owner-held accounts to boost their price, data suggests. Most projects rely on social media excitement to debut with a high price before the first owners sell and chuckle to the bank. When they don't, the initiative fails, leaving investors high and dry.

NFTs are fading like laser eyes. Most people pushing the technology don't believe in it or the future it may bring. No, they just need a Kool-Aid-drunk buyer.

Everybody wins. When your JPEGs are worth 99% less than when you bought them, you've lost.

When demand reaches zero, many will lose.

Web3Lunch

Web3Lunch

1 year ago

An employee of OpenSea might get a 40-year prison sentence for insider trading using NFTs.

GM Friens

The space had better days. Those greenish spikes...oh wow, haven't felt that in ages. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have lost popularity. Google agrees. Both are declining.

As seen below, crypto interest spiked in May because of the Luna fall. NFT interest is similar to early October last year.

Google Trends

This makes me think NFTs are mostly hype and FOMO. No art or community. I've seen enough initiatives to know that communities stick around if they're profitable. Once it starts falling, they move on to the next project. The space has no long-term investments. Flip everything.

OpenSea trading volume has stayed steady for months. May's volume is 1.8 million ETH ($3.3 billion).

Source: Dune

Despite this, I think NFTs and crypto will stick around. In bad markets, builders gain most.

Only 4k developers are active on Ethereum blockchain. It's low. A great chance for the space enthusiasts.

An employee of OpenSea might get a 40-year prison sentence for insider trading using NFTs.

Nathaniel Chastian, an OpenSea employee, traded on insider knowledge. He'll serve 40 years for that.

Here's what happened if you're unfamiliar.

OpenSea is a secondary NFT marketplace. Their homepage featured remarkable drops. Whatever gets featured there, NFT prices will rise 5x.

Chastian was at OpenSea. He chose forthcoming NFTs for OpenSeas' webpage.

Using anonymous digital currency wallets and OpenSea accounts, he would buy NFTs before promoting them on the homepage, showcase them, and then sell them for at least 25 times the price he paid.

From June through September 2021, this happened. Later caught, fired. He's charged with wire fraud and money laundering, each carrying a 20-year maximum penalty.

Although web3 space is all about decentralization, a step like this is welcomed since it restores faith in the area. We hope to see more similar examples soon.

Here's the press release.

Source from Justice.gov

Understanding smart contracts

@cantino.eth has a Twitter thread on smart contracts. Must-read. Also, he appears educated about the space, so follow him.

Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Amelia Winger-Bearskin

1 year ago

Hate NFTs? I must break some awful news to you...

If you think NFTs are awful, check out the art market.

The fervor around NFTs has subsided in recent months due to the crypto market crash and the media's short attention span. They were all anyone could talk about earlier this spring. Last semester, when passions were high and field luminaries were discussing "slurp juices," I asked my students and students from over 20 other universities what they thought of NFTs.

According to many, NFTs were either tasteless pyramid schemes or a new way for artists to make money. NFTs contributed to the climate crisis and harmed the environment, but so did air travel, fast fashion, and smartphones. Some students complained that NFTs were cheap, tasteless, algorithmically generated schlock, but others asked how this was different from other art.

a digital Billboard showed during the 4th annual NFT.NYC conference, a four-day event that featured 1,500 speakers from the crypto and NFT space and hosted 14,000 attendees | Getty Images, Noam Galai / Contributor June 20th, 2022 in New York City Times Square

I'm not sure what I expected, but the intensity of students' reactions surprised me. They had strong, emotional opinions about a technology I'd always considered administrative. NFTs address ownership and accounting, like most crypto/blockchain projects.

Art markets can be irrational, arbitrary, and subject to the same scams and schemes as any market. And maybe a few shenanigans that are unique to the art world.

The Fairness Question

Fairness, a deflating moral currency, was the general sentiment (the less of it in circulation, the more ardently we clamor for it.) These students, almost all of whom are artists, complained to the mismatch between the quality of the work in some notable NFT collections and the excessive amounts these items were fetching on the market. They can sketch a Bored Ape or Lazy Lion in their sleep. Why should they buy ramen with school loans while certain swindlers get rich?

Long Beach, California the sign for the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT Themed Restaurant, Getty Images, Mario Tama / Staff April 9th 2022

I understand students. Art markets are unjust. They can be irrational, arbitrary, and governed by chance and circumstance, like any market. And art-world shenanigans.

Almost every mainstream critique leveled against NFTs applies just as easily to art markets

Over 50% of artworks in circulation are fake, say experts. Sincere art collectors and institutions are upset by the prevalence of fake goods on the market. Not everyone. Wealthy people and companies use art as investments. They can use cultural institutions like museums and galleries to increase the value of inherited art collections. People sometimes buy artworks and use family ties or connections to museums or other cultural taste-makers to hype the work in their collection, driving up the price and allowing them to sell for a profit. Money launderers can disguise capital flows by using market whims, hype, and fluctuating asset prices.

Almost every mainstream critique leveled against NFTs applies just as easily to art markets.

Art has always been this way. Edward Kienholz's 1989 print series satirized art markets. He stamped 395 identical pieces of paper from $1 to $395. Each piece was initially priced as indicated. Kienholz was joking about a strange feature of art markets: once the last print in a series sells for $395, all previous works are worth at least that much. The entire series is valued at its highest auction price. I don't know what a Kienholz print sells for today (inquire with the gallery), but it's more than $395.

I love Lee Lozano's 1969 "Real Money Piece." Lozano put cash in various denominations in a jar in her apartment and gave it to visitors. She wrote, "Offer guests coffee, diet pepsi, bourbon, half-and-half, ice water, grass, and money." "Offer real money as candy."

Lee Lozano kept track of who she gave money to, how much they took, if any, and how they reacted to the offer of free money without explanation. Diverse reactions. Some found it funny, others found it strange, and others didn't care. Lozano rarely says:

Apr 17 Keith Sonnier refused, later screws lid very tightly back on. Apr 27 Kaltenbach takes all the money out of the jar when I offer it, examines all the money & puts it all back in jar. Says he doesn’t need money now. Apr 28 David Parson refused, laughing. May 1 Warren C. Ingersoll refused. He got very upset about my “attitude towards money.” May 4 Keith Sonnier refused, but said he would take money if he needed it which he might in the near future. May 7 Dick Anderson barely glances at the money when I stick it under his nose and says “Oh no thanks, I intend to earn it on my own.” May 8 Billy Bryant Copley didn’t take any but then it was sort of spoiled because I had told him about this piece on the phone & he had time to think about it he said.

Smart Contracts (smart as in fair, not smart as in Blockchain)

Cornell University's Cheryl Finley has done a lot of research on secondary art markets. I first learned about her research when I met her at the University of Florida's Harn Museum, where she spoke about smart contracts (smart as in fair, not smart as in Blockchain) and new protocols that could help artists who are often left out of the economic benefits of their own work, including women and women of color.

Cheryl Finley on the right, with Hank Thomas and Dr. Deborah Willis attending the 2018 Aperture Gala at Ceder Lake on October 30th, 2018 in NYC, Photo by Patrick Mullan via Getty Images.

Her talk included findings from her ArtNet op-ed with Lauren van Haaften-Schick, Christian Reeder, and Amy Whitaker.

NFTs allow us to think about and hack on formal contractual relationships outside a system of laws that is currently not set up to service our community.

The ArtNet article The Recent Sale of Amy Sherald's ‘Welfare Queen' Symbolizes the Urgent Need for Resale Royalties and Economic Equity for Artists discussed Sherald's 2012 portrait of a regal woman in a purple dress wearing a sparkling crown and elegant set of pearls against a vibrant red background.

Amy Sherald sold "Welfare Queen" to Princeton professor Imani Perry. Sherald agreed to a payment plan to accommodate Perry's budget.

Amy Sherald rose to fame for her 2016 portrait of Michelle Obama and her full-length portrait of Breonna Taylor, one of the most famous works of the past decade.

As is common, Sherald's rising star drove up the price of her earlier works. Perry's "Welfare Queen" sold for $3.9 million in 2021.

Amy Sherald speaking about her work in front of her painting “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance) | Getty Images
Raleigh News & Observer / Contributor May 2018

Imani Perry's early investment paid off big-time. Amy Sherald, whose work directly increased the painting's value and who was on an artist's shoestring budget when she agreed to sell "Welfare Queen" in 2012, did not see any of the 2021 auction money. Perry and the auction house got that money.

Sherald sold her Breonna Taylor portrait to the Smithsonian and Louisville's Speed Art Museum to fund a $1 million scholarship. This is a great example of what an artist can do for the community if they can amass wealth through their work.

NFTs haven't solved all of the art market's problems — fakes, money laundering, market manipulation — but they didn't create them. Blockchain and NFTs are credited with making these issues more transparent. More ideas emerge daily about what a smart contract should do for artists.

NFTs are a copyright solution. They allow us to hack formal contractual relationships outside a law system that doesn't serve our community.

Amy Sherald shows the good smart contracts can do (as in, well-considered, self-determined contracts, not necessarily blockchain contracts.) Giving back to our community, deciding where and how our work can be sold or displayed, and ensuring artists share in the equity of our work and the economy our labor creates.

Photo of Amy Sherald during New York Fashion Week attending Ulla Johnson at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Getty Images
Dominik Bindl / Stringer September 2021

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Ben Chino

Ben Chino

1 year ago

100-day SaaS buildout.

We're opening up Maki through a series of Medium posts. We'll describe what Maki is building and how. We'll explain how we built a SaaS in 100 days. This isn't a step-by-step guide to starting a business, but a product philosophy to help you build quickly.

Focus on end-users.

This may seem obvious, but it's important to talk to users first. When we started thinking about Maki, we interviewed 100 HR directors from SMBs, Next40 scale-ups, and major Enterprises to understand their concerns. We initially thought about the future of employment, but most of their worries centered on Recruitment. We don't have a clear recruiting process, it's time-consuming, we recruit clones, we don't support diversity, etc. And as hiring managers, we couldn't help but agree.

Co-create your product with your end-users.

We went to the drawing board, read as many books as possible (here, here, and here), and when we started getting a sense for a solution, we questioned 100 more operational HR specialists to corroborate the idea and get a feel for our potential answer. This confirmed our direction to help hire more objectively and efficiently.

Survey findings

Back to the drawing board, we designed our first flows and screens. We organized sessions with certain survey respondents to show them our early work and get comments. We got great input that helped us build Maki, and we met some consumers. Obsess about users and execute alongside them.

Using whiteboards

Don’t shoot for the moon, yet. Make pragmatic choices first.

Once we were convinced, we began building. To launch a SaaS in 100 days, we needed an operating principle that allowed us to accelerate while still providing a reliable, secure, scalable experience. We focused on adding value and outsourced everything else. Example:

Concentrate on adding value. Reuse existing bricks.

When determining which technology to use, we looked at our strengths and the future to see what would last. Node.js for backend, React for frontend, both with typescript. We thought this technique would scale well since it would attract more talent and the surrounding mature ecosystem would help us go quicker.

Maki's tech

We explored for ways to bootstrap services while setting down strong foundations that might support millions of users. We built our backend services on NestJS so we could extend into microservices later. Hasura, a GraphQL APIs engine, automates Postgres data exposing through a graphQL layer. MUI's ready-to-use components powered our design-system. We used well-maintained open-source projects to speed up certain tasks.

We outsourced important components of our platform (Auth0 for authentication, Stripe for billing, SendGrid for notifications) because, let's face it, we couldn't do better. We choose to host our complete infrastructure (SQL, Cloud run, Logs, Monitoring) on GCP to simplify our work between numerous providers.

Focus on your business, use existing bricks for the rest. For the curious, we'll shortly publish articles detailing each stage.

Most importantly, empower people and step back.

We couldn't have done this without the incredible people who have supported us from the start. Since Powership is one of our key values, we provided our staff the power to make autonomous decisions from day one. Because we believe our firm is its people, we hired smart builders and let them build.

Maki Camp 2 team

Nicolas left Spendesk to create scalable interfaces using react-router, react-queries, and MUI. JD joined Swile and chose Hasura as our GraphQL engine. Jérôme chose NestJS to build our backend services. Since then, Justin, Ben, Anas, Yann, Benoit, and others have followed suit.

If you consider your team a collective brain, you should let them make decisions instead of directing them what to do. You'll make mistakes, but you'll go faster and learn faster overall.

Invest in great talent and develop a strong culture from the start. Here's how to establish a SaaS in 100 days.

Michael Salim

Michael Salim

11 months ago

300 Signups, 1 Landing Page, 0 Products

I placed a link on HackerNews and got 300 signups in a week. This post explains what happened.

Product Concept

The product is DbSchemaLibrary. A library of Database Schema.

I'm not sure where this idea originated from. Very fast. Build fast, fail fast, test many ideas, and one will be a hit. I tried it. Let's try it anyway, even though it'll probably fail. I finished The Lean Startup book and wanted to use it.

Database job bores me. Important! I get drowsy working on it. Someone must do it. I remember this happening once. I needed examples at the time. Something similar to Recall (my other project) that I can copy — or at least use as a reference.

Frequently googled. Many tabs open. The results were useless. I raised my hand and agreed to construct the database myself.

It resurfaced. I decided to do something.

Due Diligence

Lean Startup emphasizes validated learning. Everything the startup does should result in learning. I may build something nobody wants otherwise. That's what happened to Recall.

So, I wrote a business plan document. This happens before I code. What am I solving? What is my proposed solution? What is the leap of faith between the problem and solution? Who would be my target audience?

My note:

Note of the exact problem and solutions I’m trying to solve

In my previous project, I did the opposite!

I wrote my expectations after reading the book's advice.

“Failure is a prerequisite to learning. The problem with the notion of shipping a product and then seeing what happens is that you are guaranteed to succeed — at seeing what happens.” — The Lean Startup book

These are successful metrics. If I don't reach them, I'll drop the idea and try another. I didn't understand numbers then. Below are guesses. But it’s a start!

Metrics I set before starting anything

I then wrote the project's What and Why. I'll use this everywhere. Before, I wrote a different pitch each time. I thought certain words would be better. I felt the audience might want something unusual.

Occasionally, this works. I'm unsure if it's a good idea. No stats, just my writing-time opinion. Writing every time is time-consuming and sometimes hazardous. Having a copy saved me duplication.

I can measure and learn from performance.

Copy of the product’s What and Why’s

Last, I identified communities that might demand the product. This became an exercise in creativity.

List of potential marketing channels

The MVP

So now it’s time to build.

A MVP can test my assumptions. Business may learn from it. Not low-quality. We should learn from the tiniest thing.

I like the example of how Dropbox did theirs. They assumed that if the product works, people will utilize it. How can this be tested without a quality product? They made a movie demonstrating the software's functionality. Who knows how much functionality existed?

So I tested my biggest assumption. Users want schema references. How can I test if users want to reference another schema? I'd love this. Recall taught me that wanting something doesn't mean others do.

I made an email-collection landing page. Describe it briefly. Reference library. Each email sender wants a reference. They're interested in the product. Few other reasons exist.

Header and footer were skipped. No name or logo. DbSchemaLibrary is a name I thought of after the fact. 5-minute logo. I expected a flop. Recall has no users after months of labor. What could happen to a 2-day project?

I didn't compromise learning validation. How many visitors sign up? To draw a conclusion, I must track these results.

Landing page

Posting Time

Now that the job is done, gauge interest. The next morning, I posted on all my channels. I didn't want to be spammy, therefore it required more time.

I made sure each channel had at least one fan of this product. I also answer people's inquiries in the channel.

My list stinks. Several channels wouldn't work. The product's target market isn't there. Posting there would waste our time. This taught me to create marketing channels depending on my persona.

Statistics! What actually happened

My favorite part! 23 channels received the link.

Results across the marketing channels

I stopped posting to Discord despite its high conversion rate. I eliminated some channels because they didn't fit. According to the numbers, some users like it. Most users think it's spam.

I was skeptical. And 12 people viewed it.

I didn't expect much attention on a startup subreddit. I'll likely examine Reddit further in the future. As I have enough info, I didn't post much. Time for the next validated learning

No comment. The post had few views, therefore the numbers are low.

The targeted people come next.

I'm a Toptal freelancer. There's a member-only Slack channel. Most people can't use this marketing channel, but you should! It's not as spectacular as discord's 27% conversion rate. But I think the users here are better.

I don’t really have a following anywhere so this isn’t something I can leverage.

The best yet. 10% is converted. With more data, I expect to attain a 10% conversion rate from other channels. Stable number.

This number required some work. Did you know that people use many different clients to read HN?

Unknowns

Untrackable views and signups abound. 1136 views and 135 signups are untraceable. It's 11%. I bet much of that came from Hackernews.

Overall Statistics

The 7-day signup-to-visit ratio was 17%. (Hourly data points)

Signup to Views percentageSignup to Views count

First-day percentages were lower, which is noteworthy. Initially, it was little above 10%. The HN post started getting views then.

Percentage of signups to views for the first 2 days

When traffic drops, the number reaches just around 20%. More individuals are interested in the connection. hn.algolia.com sent 2 visitors. This means people are searching and finding my post.

Percentage of signups after the initial traffic

Interesting discoveries

1. HN post struggled till the US woke up.

11am UTC. After an hour, it lost popularity. It seemed over. 7 signups converted 13%. Not amazing, but I would've thought ahead.

After 4pm UTC, traffic grew again. 4pm UTC is 9am PDT. US awakened. 10am PDT saw 512 views.

Signup to views count during the first few hours

2. The product was highlighted in a newsletter.

I found Revue references when gathering data. Newsletter platform. Someone posted the newsletter link. 37 views and 3 registrations.

3. HN numbers are extremely reliable

I don't have a time-lapse graph (yet). The statistics were constant all day.

  • 2717 views later 272 new users, or 10.1%

  • With 293 signups at 2856 views, 10.25%

  • At 306 signups at 2965 views, 10.32%

Learnings

1. My initial estimations were wildly inaccurate

I wrote 30% conversion. Reading some articles, looks like 10% is a good number to aim for.

2. Paying attention to what matters rather than vain metrics

The Lean Startup discourages vanity metrics. Feel-good metrics that don't measure growth or traction. Considering the proportion instead of the total visitors made me realize there was something here.

What’s next?

There are lots of work to do. Data aggregation, display, website development, marketing, legal issues. Fun! It's satisfying to solve an issue rather than investigate its cause.

In the meantime, I’ve already written the first project update in another post. Continue reading it if you’d like to know more about the project itself! Shifting from Quantity to Quality — DbSchemaLibrary

Bart Krawczyk

Bart Krawczyk

7 months ago

Understanding several Value Proposition kinds will help you create better goods.

Fixing problems isn't enough.

Numerous articles and how-to guides on value propositions focus on fixing consumer concerns.

Contrary to popular opinion, addressing customer pain rarely suffices. Win your market category too.

Graphic provided by the author.

Core Value Statement

Value proposition usually means a product's main value.

Its how your product solves client problems. The product's core.

Graphic provided by the author.

Answering these questions creates a relevant core value proposition:

  • What tasks is your customer trying to complete? (Jobs for clients)

  • How much discomfort do they feel while they perform this? (pains)

  • What would they like to see improved or changed? (gains)

After that, you create products and services that alleviate those pains and give value to clients.

Value Proposition by Category

Your product belongs to a market category and must follow its regulations, regardless of its value proposition.

Creating a new market category is challenging. Fitting into customers' product perceptions is usually better than trying to change them.

New product users simplify market categories. Products are labeled.

Your product will likely be associated with a collection of products people already use.

Example: IT experts will use your communication and management app.

If your target clients think it's an advanced mail software, they'll compare it to others and expect things like:

  • comprehensive calendar

  • spam detectors

  • adequate storage space

  • list of contacts

  • etc.

If your target users view your product as a task management app, things change. You can survive without a contact list, but not status management.

Graphic provided by the author.

Find out what your customers compare your product to and if it fits your value offer. If so, adapt your product plan to dominate this market. If not, try different value propositions and messaging to put the product in the right context.

Finished Value Proposition

A comprehensive value proposition is when your solution addresses user problems and wins its market category.

Graphic provided by the author.

Addressing simply the primary value proposition may produce a valuable and original product, but it may struggle to cross the chasm into the mainstream market. Meeting expectations is easier than changing views.

Without a unique value proposition, you will drown in the red sea of competition.

To conclude:

  1. Find out who your target consumer is and what their demands and problems are.

  2. To meet these needs, develop and test a primary value proposition.

  3. Speak with your most devoted customers. Recognize the alternatives they use to compare you against and the market segment they place you in.

  4. Recognize the requirements and expectations of the market category.

  5. To meet or surpass category standards, modify your goods.

Great products solve client problems and win their category.