Team: Marketing
Cycle: 7
Period: May 1, 2022 - July 31, 2022
Amount Requested: 208,471.81 USDC
Destination: api3m.eth
Early in Cycle 6 we launched Beacons at ETHDenver which enabled developers to use Amberdata first-party data feeds for the first time. Congratulations to the API3 bounty winners! ETHDenver was definitely the marketing highlight of Cycle 6.
Later in Cycle 6 we introduced a more concrete definition of dAPIs, explaining in detail what makes them so powerful. With dAPIs being solidified in practice we now have a clear picture of the entire API3 technology stack.
As usual, we continued to announce new smart contract platform, dApp, and API provider partners who are using, or will use, Airnode.
During Cycle 6 we hired a new social media lead who has already done a tremendous job jumping in and filling some big shoes. Welcome @dumbbtcjuice!
At the end of Cycle 5 we began the practice of individual marketing team members providing weekly reports on their progress and accomplishments. Cycle 6 was the first full cycle with this more granular reporting in place. DAO members can easily see what marketing team members have done on a weekly basis here:
Scope
During Cycle 7 we hope to see Airnode (and related services) adoption on mainnets increase substantially. We’ve already seen projects such as Kassandra using Airnode in production and IdentDefi in development. But with impending mainnet launches of API3 data feeds (dAPIs & Beacons) and additional Web3 APIs (RRP), we expect to see increased mainnet usage of Airnode in Cycle 7. The marketing team will do our job and shout it from the rooftops. A particular focus will be placed on TVL/TVS promotion as well as general advertising as this adoption comes to fruition.
API3 will be a sponsor of EthCC in July and will be sure to put on a good showing at the event. A significant portion of the requested events budget is to cover EthCC. The remaining amount is so that we are capable of prepaying for an additional (TBD) conference sponsorship later in the year.
The requested content budget is larger than it has been in the past to accommodate the remaining cost of animated videos being produced by Entrecasa that are 50% prepaid, and for an extensive research report provided by Messari.
Going forward we will place an increased focus on developer outreach, advocacy, and education. To make this possible, we hope to hire one or two developer advocates with a strong technical foundation and exceptional communication/marketing skills. These team members will lead efforts such as demo/sample projects using API3 technology, educational content, competitions, and developer support.
Finally, continuing with our effort to decentralize the marketing team, in Cycle 7 we are separating the non-English language subteams into their own independent teams who manage their own DAO proposals. These teams will handle marketing, community, growth, and support for their respective regions and languages. The teams we expect see proposals from are:
- Latin America (LatAm/Spanish)
- China (Chinese)
- Vietnam (Vietnamese)
Budget
| Amount (USDC) | |
|---|---|
| Grants | 107,925.00 |
| Estimated Expenses | 232,000.00 |
| Previous Cycle | -131,453.19 |
| Total | 208,471.81 |
Grants & Expenses
Monthly Grants
These are team members who work regularly (daily) on the marketing team and have specific responsibilities.
| Member | Roles | Hours/Week | Monthly (USDC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan | Marketing Manager | 40+ | 4,375 |
| Ben | Ecosystem Partnerships Lead | 40+ | 6,800 |
| Marcus | Community Lead | 40+ | 5,000 |
| Can | Design | 40+ | 4,500 |
| Ry | Social Media | 15+ | 2,000 |
| Rachel | Media | 15+ | 1,300 |
| Midhav | Community Support | 5+ | 500 |
| BlockVenture | University Program | 15+ | 2,500 |
| TBD (2 hires) | Dev Champion | 40+ | 9,000 |
| Monthly Total | 35,975 | ||
| Cycle Total | 107,925 |
Estimated Expenses
These are variable expenses we anticipate during the cycle.
| Purpose | Amount (USDC) |
|---|---|
| Content | 56,000 |
| Events | 90,000 |
| Public Relations | 50,000 |
| Advertising & Promotion | 20,000 |
| SWAG | 12,000 |
| IT | 2,000 |
| Transaction Fees | 2,000 |
| Total | 232,000 |
Roles & Responsibilities
Ryan - Marketing Manager
Deliverables
- Accountable for overall marketing team performance
- Develop and execute marketing strategy
- Brand and content development and guidance
- Identify gaps and inefficiencies in team composition and adjust as needed
- Support all marketing team members
- Marketing team administration and finance
- Marketing team reporting
Ben - Ecosystem Partnerships Lead
Ben’s objective is to maximize the marketing benefit for the API3 ecosystem from partnerships and ecosystem members including API providers, platforms/blockchains, and dApps.
Deliverables
- Responsible for API3 partner ecosystem co-marketing
- Maximize marketing benefits with our platform, API provider, investor, and dApp partners
- Deliver mutually beneficial co-marketing with partners
- Maintain active, productive relationships with partners
- Promote API3 Alliance members to Web3
- Frequently create partner-focused and partner-generated content
- Optimally deliver partner content to dApps and platforms
- Leverage partner channels to maximize reach
- Incorporate API3 into platform partner documentation
- Participate in partner webinars, articles, and events
- Coordinate with social media lead to cross-pollinate social activity.
- Support API3 business development
- Work closely with the API3 business development team
- Be aware of BD team needs and provide marketing support
- Keep BD team informed of opportunities that arise from marketing efforts
Marcus - Community Lead
Marcus’ objective is to facilitate, nourish, and grow the API3 community.
Deliverables
- Further increase membership and activity on the API3 Discord and Forum
- Run regular community initiatives and bounties to increase community engagement
- Build relationships with complimentary Web3 development communities
- Plan the production and distribution of API3 merchandise
- Provide responsive, constructive moderation and support on API3 Discord, Forum, Reddit, and Telegram.
- Contribute community content to monthly marketing reports
- Translate and publish API3 content in German
Can - Design
Can’s objective is ensure the quality design and delivery of the API3 brand and experience so that it serves its purpose and consistently captures the attention of, appeals to, and sticks with API3’s target audiences.
Deliverables
- Communications are visually strong, appealing, and consistent including
- Website
- Medium
- Social Media
- Video
- Promotional Products
- Advertisements
- Target customer profiles are clearly identified and intentionally prioritized in communcations
Ry - Social Media
Ry’s objective is to maintain an active and engaging API3 presence on social media that serves the API3 marketing strategy, including:
- YouTube
Rachel - Media
Rachels objective is to maintain an active and engaging API3 presence with live media that serves the API3 marketing strategy, including:
- Community Calls
- Interviews
Midhav - Community Support
Midhav is serving API3 in non-marketing team capacities such as business development. But he continues to play a part-time role in helping support the community in Discord & Telegram.
Cycle 6 Financials
USDC Income Statement 2022-02-01..2022-04-30, valued at period ends
|| Feb Mar Apr Total
=============++================================================
Revenues ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
API3 DAO || 288,678.40 0 0 288,678.40
Sponsorship || 6,000.00 0 0 6,000.00
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 294,678.40 0 0 294,678.40
=============++================================================
Expenses ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
Content || 5,157.00 2,796.17 7,266.20 15,219.37
Events || 98,507.42 42.00 0 98,549.42
Grants || 44,675.00 50,032.14 40,775.00 135,482.14
IT || 806.24 798.41 484.56 2,089.21
PR || 16,150.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 46,150.00
SWAG || 0 458.17 0 458.17
Txn Fees || 130.14 7.98 4.84 142.96
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 165,425.80 69,134.87 63,530.60 298,091.27
=============++================================================
Net: || 129,252.60 -69,134.87 -63,530.60 -3,412.87
USDC Balance Sheet 2022-01-31..2022-04-30, valued at period ends
|| 2022-01-31 2022-02-28 2022-03-31 2022-04-30
=============++================================================
Assets ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
API3m || 103,995.90 278,025.90 169,780.19 74,148.78
Old Wallet || 873.43 873.43 873.43 873.43
Prepaid || 95,553.00 33,995.18 33,995.18 58,995.18
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 200,422.33 312,894.51 204,648.80 134,017.39
=============++================================================
Liabilities ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
Credit Card || 11,050.25 13,475.94 2,074.80 2,564.20
Events || 17,480.28 0 0 0
Invoice || 33,745.18 27,135.18 2,250.00 0
Reimburse || 3,280.56 8,164.73 5,340.21 0
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 65,556.27 48,775.85 9,665.01 2,564.20
=============++================================================
Net: || 134,866.06 264,118.66 194,983.79 131,453.19
Cycle 5 Financials
USDC Income Statement 2021-11-01..2022-01-31, valued at period ends
|| 2021-11 2021-12 2022-01 Total
=============++================================================
Revenues ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
API3 DAO || 222,563.89 0 82,250.00 304,813.89
Sponsorship || 0 0 2,000.00 2,000.00
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 222,563.89 0 84,250.00 306,813.89
=============++================================================
Expenses ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
Content || 5,715.33 4,600.00 7,613.60 17,928.93
Events || 3,612.13 53,246.34 0 56,858.47
Exchange || 0 5,000.00 0 5,000.00
Grants || 48,600.00 43,913.00 43,641.94 136,154.94
IT || 958.70 521.66 791.66 2,272.02
PR || 15,000.00 15,000.00 16,497.00 46,497.00
SWAG || 0 0 134.76 134.76
Txn Fees || 0 8.25 104.48 112.73
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 73,886.16 122,289.25 68,783.44 264,958.85
=============++================================================
Net: || 148,677.73 -122,289.25 15,466.56 41,855.04
USDC Balance Sheet 2021-10-31..2022-01-31, valued at period ends
|| 2021-10-31 2021-11-30 2021-12-31 2022-01-31
=============++================================================
Assets ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
API3m || 105,325.31 235,909.19 78,986.20 103,995.90
Old Wallet || 873.43 873.43 873.43 873.43
Prepaid || 12,000.00 12,000.00 62,000.00 95,553.00
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 118,198.74 248,782.62 141,859.63 200,422.33
=============++================================================
Liabilities ||
-------------++------------------------------------------------
Credit Card || 7,927.59 1,174.77 227.55 11,050.25
Events || 0 0 17,480.28 17,480.28
Invoice || 2,280.00 2,280.00 4,600.00 33,745.18
Reimburse || 14,980.13 3,639.10 152.30 3,280.56
-------------++------------------------------------------------
|| 25,187.72 7,093.87 22,460.13 65,556.27
=============++================================================
Net: || 93,011.02 241,688.75 119,399.50 134,866.06
Administrative
Marketing Wallet
The destination for funds is api3m.eth, a 2/3 multisig wallet managed by Ryan Boder, Marcus Grabmuller, and Erich Dylus.
API3 Alliance Marketing Agreement Signatories
Ben Carvill and Marcus Grabmuller are designated as authorized signatories on behalf of the API3 Foundation for API3 Alliance Member Marketing Agreements until revoked by subsequent DAO Resolution, if and only if the API Provider meets the following conditions:
- The API Provider’s web API is in production or is expected to be within 6 months.
- The API Provider’s web API has a reasonable Web3 use case.
- The API Provider has an online brand/presence of reasonable quality.