Howdoo Ask Me Anything Hosted with Exmarkets
WHY IS THE UDOO BOOMING, MASSIVE NEWS COMING ON MONDAY 27TH JULY 2020.
On Tuesday 21st, Exmarkets hosted Howdoo for an AMA with their telegram community. We had a lot questions – so here is a summary, and we’ve combined some together as some questions were similar. Hopefully this covered everything that was asked! Huge thanks to Exmarkets team and their telegram community for having us. And please excuse any typo’s in the post – it has been written at speed as we are working hard to get some exciting news out to you early next week.
(Intro) Hi guys. We are David (CEO) and Jason (CRO). David is an 18+ year seasoned Sales and operational leader, having held senior leadership positions with some of the hottest tech start-ups and Multi-national firms in the big data and analytic sectors, including Cognos IBM, Business Objects, SAP, Qlik and Pyramid Analytics. Understanding the value of data and seeing how the users content consumption (especially Gen-z) was changing, David had the idea for Howdoo. Jason joined after the ICO and brings years of practical marketing experience from big brands HP, Microsoft, Samsung, Huawei, Mastercard and Google, where he’s been running (in the latter years) social media campaigns, and was attracted to Howdoo, as he believed blockchain could solve some of the inherent issues current platforms are facing.
(1) Traditional social platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube and others have become convenient places to share content. How do you plan on educating the masses on the benefits of decentralized Social platforms over these large Traditional Social platforms, which would in turn onboard more users for Howdoo?
A: We have a full launch plan (more to come in the next few weeks) and a big part of it is using our launch supports (over 400 influencers with hundreds of millions of followers) to help us tell the story in their existing channels. We believe content will bring the people, and they will stay because of the experience.
(2) “MARKETING” is the GREATEST STRATEGY for a PROJECT SUCCESS, one of the marketing strategies is “BUILDING A STRONG and BIG COMMUNITY” – What are your Strategies in building a strong and big Community? – What countries does your GREAT PROJECT focus or target right now?
A: We are THE most rewarding platform. Not only can you stake the token in nodes, but 10% of our gross ad revenue will go to holders AND any users of the app can gain income and monetise themselves. As compared to Instagram, YouTube and the rest of the competition, we pay more as a % – much more, and the creator always has more control over their content. This plus complete user data privacy is a winning strategy we believe. We are global, and will focus on localisation based on demand – for example we have huge interest from India at the moment due to the Tiktok ban.
This video is a good starter as an overview
(3) how does the structure in Howdoo work? can you elaborate?
A: This is in our orange paper —> https://howdoo.io/tokenomics/
(4) What is the leading Utility of HowDoo token? Why should someone look toward Udoo token?
A: It’s in the orange paper (link above) – but we believe it has huge utility beyond its usage – all advertising, tipping, payments are powered by the UDOO.
Here is a short 1-minute video introducing our token.
But it’s also worth investigating what gives our token utility – so here is a short video on the utility.
(5) If Content Creators or Ordinary Users can earn 100% of the TIPS in the HOWDOO Platform, then, where will be the FUNDS and RESOURCES for HOWDOO Developments coming from? Do you have other REVENUE STREAMS?
A: Great Q. And yes, 100% tips go to the creator, but we take 5% of any paywall (subs etc) and also a 30%-40% share of ad revenue.
(6) What kind of strategy did use to attract some investors? does HOWDOO($UDOO) have investors outside of crypto for now?
A: Yes, a lot of our creators have been buying, as well are our B2B partners. Ultimately we want UDOOs in the hands of users, and we’ll get there soon.
(7) How do you see the future of #UDOO in 5 years to come, do you feel it will continue to grow till it achieves it’s ultimate goals, or do you see the probability of competitions overtaken #UDOO due to current challenges that you are facing.
A: The time is right, the world wants something new. So we feel with all our new features since Beta, we have a game-changing platform. In 5 years I want 400m users, and to be the no.1 decentralised content delivery platform. We could be bigger when you consider anyone can self publish and charge for blog, video, postcast and streaming, and either give away free for tips or put a small charge on per users – its the new business model. The new Netflix. (in my personal opinion).
(8) Do advertisers will be able to choose a packages eg. 1 month subscription, 3 months, 12 months etc
A: Great question – it’ll be CPM, CPC or (UNIQUE) CPA – and they will pay daily on a card or monthly on invoice all settled though the UDOO. CPA – means a guaranteed cost per name acquisition – we’re working with major advertisers and marketing platforms like Marketo, Hubspot and Eloqua to integrate with leads forms. Brands will love it! We’ve asked, and its the no.1 feature they want.
(9) One of the most important components of a cryptocurrency project’s success is user adoption and network effect. To date, we have seen many projects provide announcements, and announcements of announcements, however we still have yet to see that one “killer app” that has penetrated the mainstream and led to large scale, real-world adoption.
My question is therefore twofold:
How does Howdoo plan on increasing global awareness, adoption, and usage, and more importantly how exactly does Howdoo plan on viably (and realistically) competing with existing social media behemoths such as FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram?
A: Many focus on the crypto market too, and we don’t. We are a mass-market platform. You can buy tokens in the app with a card, cash out to a debit card, and do everything based on your local currency without needing to deal with an exchange. Like Fortnite tokens you can earn but then go spend. So many projects are way way to complicated to get and use tokens. This is key us to, the token is a utility to move money around in the system. And we make it easy.
(10) what if the system or accounts with udoo’s has been hacked, how will you go around with that, are there refunds based on history of the blockchain
A: We’ll have 100 supernodes and multiple hundred economic nodes, so someone would simultaneously have to hack them all! And our new block creation us less than 2 seconds, so they would need to be super quick. Also, on a single user we do not have a record of their wallet keys and no access to their wallet. So someone would have to have a copy of their Seed phrases to get into someone’s wallet – we have no access, so cannot be centrally hacked.
(11) Will there be trending content on Howdoo?
A: Yes, great question. Trending, AI recommended content across hashtags and different content type (i.e. all or just streams for example).
(12) Will udoo have a stable price? Or will it be very volatile? How will you ensure that it has a stable price in the future? (If you plan on it.)
A: The UDOO will be volatile, but we will implement a stablecoin in the wallet so creators can keep stable value or keep in UDOO’s. You will not be able to use the stablecoin to make payments on the blockchain, just swap in your wallet. At the moment it’s looking likely to be USDC from coinbase (based on conversations – but we will confirm later). On the utility we have big targets, and limited UDOO supply (please see our video above for more info on the token utility and what gives it value).
(13) Any news of major exchanges coming?
A: We have a strategy to live on T1’s when we’re live. So watch this space.
(14) Howdoo beta can people from all corners of the planet communicate more easily than WhatsApp and Telegram? In what is this social network better than those that are attached to Facebook?
A: We won’t tell people to leave other platforms, but we feel we’ll be very content-rich, but also have features like Tiktok for example. So you can do more on Howdoo, as well as be ad-free or earn if you share your details with advertisers – so it’s very fair.
(15) BIG ONE: with answers in each by point.
Greeting from Anirudh.
1. How are the tokens released into circulation every year? A brief explanation on tokenomics will help.
A: all in our orange paper (link above)
2. Can a normal user on Howdoo platform become a content creator? If yes, what would be the procedure to apply for it. Being said that content creator gets 60% ad revenue back, most of us who actually create videos on youtube maintain specific niche pages on different platforms want to be content creators on howdoo.
A: Yes, everyone can be a creator, get tips, set up payment gateways for content and subscriptions. When you open a channel (videos, blogs or podcasts) you will have ad revenue share too (like YouTube but a higher %)
3. Do we have an option to verify accounts like we have in twitter, fb, insta?
A: Yes, we have a range of ‘badges’ and one is a special founders badge for our Beta testers and another in a verification tick.
4. What would be the lowest decimal of uDoo be called? like we have Cent for Dollar and Satoshi for Bitcoin. You know we will not just stop at $1=1uDoo
A: Please look out for our news on Monday – we have a competition on this very topic.
5. Can we create pages or channels like we do in other social media platforms? as we have specific niches with huge following like fitness , health, fashion etc. we can just tap them in and even create a marketplace to sell and buy.
A: Brilliant question. Yes, you can make unlimited private or public profiles, and from those you can create and manage multiple channels. So you can have one profile and many channels (on topics) or even multiple profiles (if you want a persona for a purpose – i.e. That Trader Guy, and That Car Guy etc). It’s very flexible, and you can post to all profiles and channels from one login.
6. What will be the average uDoo that we will earn for posting content on howdoo at current price $0.05 ? The calculator on howdoo is not accurate though as it gives me millions of uDoos for just 50 posts with 30k likes and 70k shares.
A: We have a calculator on the site, but we’re updating over the next few weeks on our new (and higher) projections. So look out for that.
7. How would you differentiate a content creator with a user? like do we need to get more followers on howdoo or is there any mechanism in place for that?
A: All users can also be creators – but we are launching a premium partner programme for higher-level creators where those get more support, co-marketing funds access and different rates.
8. How is the liquidity going to be managed and matched in-app as well as exchanges? as we might sometimes see huge demand. As people might not be willing to sell their uDoo once they know the value of it resulting in price fluctuations.
A: We plan to have an inbuilt exchange which is part of the wallet feature, this will tap into liquidity pools. We’ll announce more of how with this work over the coming weeks.
(16) Why should content creators use your platform? What are the benefits and advantages available for them?
A: We’ve covered a lot of these above, but here is a short one minute video on this one.
(17) Hi, sir, I want to ask you in howdoo app we earn μDoos that are on a centralized wallet or decentralized wallet who holds the private keys of that μDoos? Do we get the payout in μDoos Erc20 tokens?
A: Every user in the application has their own wallet and in that wallet, they have their own private keys. The platform does not have access to anybody’s tokens or keys and cannot access anybody’s wallets. We are now running on our own designed and built blockchain, not on an Ethereum chain, so it wont be ERC20 compatible. There will be a 1:1 token swap to the new native token.
(18) How do you want to attract youtubers with a smaller audience?
A: Those are who we want. People with small buy loyal followers. Get this…if you are a streamer with 10k fans, and 20% tip in a monthly basis a small amount of 10c and you have a subs channel at $5 a month and you get a bit of growth each month. That streamer would earn on average $6k per month on Howdoo. So small doesn’t mean bad. You don’t need a lot of people subscribing at $5 a month, when you get 95%
(19) One of the biggest problems currently facing DeFi is that it becomes very vulnerable when an event like 3/12 black swan occurs. How does Blockstack respond to such an event?
A: Way out of my comfort zone. Sorry. I’ll ask our CTO what this means and do a follow up. Sorry!
(20) Howdoo referred to itself as a smarter, fairer and more rewarding messaging and social media platform that puts users in control. Could you tell us some of the challenges of building a world class messaging and social media platform using your experience while building Howdoo.io as a case study and what makes your services outstanding from Centralized social media platforms?
A: Single biggest challenge has been the user journey. We have so many features, the hardest thing has been getting it intuitive – and not needed instructions. That’s whats has taken the time. We’ve completely rebuilt from the ground up from the Beta. it looks nothing like it, but then the game has changed. We’re excited to show people and get you in there (and out of telegram too).
(21) What will be Howdoo’s approach to fake news and how will they deal with it on the forthcoming platform?
A: Tough one!!! the guys have been working on our AI and how we plug into global databases for fake content, so from big global AI down to users flagging content – its something top of mind
(22) Question with an Idea..
Would it be possible for howdoo to make accounts for youtubers and other social media influencers with their usernames ready on howdoo, and ask them to be part of howdoo, then give them their usernames ready to go, then they can make whatever changes they want.
A: DONE! We’ve taken 100k influencers and ‘reserved’ their usernames – on top of our 70k pre-signups. But a great idea.
(23) I do not know if you have noticed, but why does coinmarketcap provide 0% confidence in the marketing of the $ UDOO tokens in the IEO Exmarkets? just because it is new? How can I help you change this?
A: CMC uses a 3rd Party called intotheblock – we’ve reached out to investigate. But to be honest, since we closed the beta we have been on radio silence, getting it rebuilt. Its only last week when we spoke about the new app. So our new update is here – https://howdoo.io/howdoo-july-update/
(24) While going through your website, I saw Social Stacks. Can you explain more on what social stacks mean and the benefits it offers?
A: The more you engage, the more points you get. Advertisers will be able to sponsor social stacks to build content engagement and offer blockchain rewards (which could be UDOOs or any kind of NFT that we create with them). Giving more value to the platform and engagement.
(25) I am a Content Provider and Vlogger on YouTube, what’s the incentive for me to switch to Howdoo and use Howdoo
A: You’ll earn more, and your fans are not being harvested of their data. 100% tips, 95% of any subs or payments and 60% ad revenue goes to you!
(26) With concerns of some social media platforms selling your data, how important is it to you that your users data is secure and not shared on Howdoo. Will there be an option to share it and make profit off of it for ourselves?
A: In your settings, you can decide to be incognito, or share your data with advertisers for a reward (share) of the ad revenue. So you are in control. Private or rewarded.
(27) When we talk about RRSS, the most important thing after security is the interaction between the users of the platform. What mechanism does your algorithm use to have a greater and more efficient scope that allows the connection between users with similar interests?
A: Great question – i have no idea! But let me ask our CTO, and I’ll follow up.
(28) To create mass adoption for Howdoo, which countries are you focusing on and why ?
A: First we’ll be English, but have a lot of reach across Europe and North America. We’ll let the users decide where we go next. It’s most likely to be India, with the Tiktok ban, we’ve had loads of interest. Everything is in the plan, its just a question of priorities.
(29) regarding the vision and mission of the Howdoo. What is your target in 2020? what process is running? are there any obstacles in doing so?
A: The big two were rebuilding the app following our Beta feedback and new entrants (like TikTok) and finishing our blockchain. For the beta we had a bridge to ETH for the token, but ETH is just too slow for a social platform. Both I’m pleased to say are done. So we can now accelerate the plan. Big announcement on this next week.
(30) Security is one of the threats to DeFi’s continuous growth. As one of the first DeFi products to continuously deliver innovation, how have you overcome this? Do you have a bug bounty program to check vulnerability of your smart contracts?
A: Let me check, we are in testing now doing bug testing with creators – I’m not sure if the CTO will extend this to the mass market. We want to have no (or very limit) bugs for non-crypto users.
(32) Question: All crypto social media projects so far have been too complex to cater for an average user (keys, kyc, slow etc). How do you plan to create a user experience that overcomes these hurdles?
A: Easy integration with real-world money for non-crypto users, and a very rewarding platform. Creators win, users win, token holders win, then we come last. We’ll still have an amazing business, but the new model for 2020 has to be those that generate the value, share the most rewards – and for us. that’s the creators and the token holders.
(33) What do you think is the biggest problem Howdoo will solve which is not solved by other projects yet and why is the problem important to solve?
A: User adoption. But we feel our creator centric model will bring the content and content will bring users. For example, we have a TikTik’er who has millions of fans, and they cannot monetise themself. So the plan is to start doing short teasers on tiktok and direct them to their channel in Howdoo for more content where they can get tips and charge. Creators will love it.
(34) The financial markets, cryptos market … all fell due to the covid-19 epidemic. Does this affect your project development plan?
A: Not impacted at all. Team all in place, no-one fell ill, and we cracked on from home.
(35) DeFi is one of the trendy subject matter in the blockchain space. Can you share your opinions and insights on DeFi with us.
Do you think that DeFi will disrupt the existing financial system?
What is Howdoo approach towards the DeFi sector?
A: 100%. A lot of projects are telling people they can be their own bank, we go a step further and give you a means of earning a living, and then being your own bank. Create, Earn and Spend all in the app and with your visa card, (but please declare your spend for local tax purposes).
(36) When is the next token swap, and will the tokens be locked up again?
A: We’ll release details on the token swap soon. But we now run on our own blockchain, with a native token, so there will need to be a swap. But the tokenomics will be the same and it’ll be a 1:1 swap. So keep trading on Exmarkets with confidence.
(37) If anyone / influencers want to promote their account or posts then is Howdoo provides advertisements or promotional features for influencers ? What types of users are there in the market that you are focusing on?
A: 1. Yes, more details in our paper – link above, 2. Our main creators pre-live (we call them launch supporters) are in Gaming, Music, Fitness, Streaming, Cooking and general influencers (and of course a load of crypto guys).
(38) Social media platforms are built to do lots of things, but one thing they aren’t built for is distributing funds to its creators and users. At the same time, in the crypto world, so many blockchain projects have tried to bring their tokens into the mainstream, but failed due to different reasons. How will Howdoo solve both issues ?
A: Fiat in, fiat out. Really simple to use, mass market. No need to buy on an exchange and send anywhere. making it easy for the user is key.
(39) “DeFi” have many BENEFITS such as , ALLOWS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF MIDDLEMEN IN SMART CONTRACT, Permissionless (anyone can participate) so DeFi can ATTRACT MANY INVESTORS so DeFi is one of the KEY to a Project SUCCESS
Does your GREAT PROJECT have PLAN about DeFi?
A: Yes, answered a few questions back. But great question. Earn, hold, and spend with us.
(40) What targets will you achieve in 2020? especially the Asian market (Philipina , Malaysia, etc)
A: We’ll have something on this next week. Along with a big announcement, so look out for that.
(41) Whats the tokenmics of Howdoo?
A: all here – https://howdoo.io/tokenomics/ (in the download)
(42) Adoption is a very critical element at every crypto project, how does Howdoo ensures adoption to its technology in the long run?
A: By giving people what they want now, and continuing to add the new features to get them interested and coming back. More on this next week.
(43) When will Howdoo’s final token swap take place? Before launch or after?
A: After live. We’ll launch with a centralised blockchain, then start the swap and node rollout. Tokens in circulation will not be affected.
(44) Verifying Content Authenticity and Legitimacy of contents remains an Herculean Task, What Criteria and measures are in place to ensure that only legitimate content are posted on your platform
A: Great question – but a long answer. We’ll write more and put out a piece on this.
(45) What would be the process of new users joining Howdoo, uploading content & exchanging earnt udoos to fiat all within the app. Would they have to register for your debt card and/or KYC. Would this be a seamless experience with someone who hasn’t any cypto knowledge?
A: It’s seamless and easy – just like you would hope. BUT if you want the Visa card – you need to KYC. Not for the wallet but to access the banking services. We’re fully compliant – so no way around this.
(46) Is it possible to convert udoo to fiat in the app? Considering how volatile cryptos are, people who are not that into crypto might not want to hold on to the coins for long.
Will udoo be sold at kucoin exchange soon?
Is there a potential that some whales might control howdoo if they own alot of udoos?
It was said that Howdoo plans to get 5 million users till christmas? How will they achieve this?
How will howdoo handle it if alot of new users start using it at the same time? Do they have the capacity to do this?
A: Few here. So 1) We’re adding a popular stablecoin to allow holding in a digital stable currency 2) Nope – not that I know of, we want mass UDOO purchases to be in the app (although you never know) 3) Not really, we know the holders and they want the success of Howdoo as much as we do 4) look out next week for news on this 5) yes, we’re geared up for millions of users.
(47) What are the future plans for HOWDOO($UDOO) Project? Do you have any exciting things down the pipeline that you can share?
A: more coming soon in our updates over the next week
(48) Will Howdoo have video conferencing features? (For 2+ users)?
A: One to one video, and streaming from mobile and desktop, but no plans at the moment for group video. But that may change. Great suggestion.
(49) do you really need a blockchain to upgrade to a smart messaging and social media platform? What benefits does it provide?
A: frictionless movement of money. its what the BC was designed for. I can tip anyone in the world in my local currency and they get 100% instantly, and they can spend in their local currency.
(50) So far, Almost 80% investors have just focused on price of token in short term instead of understanding the real value of the project. Can you tell us on motivations and benefits for investors to hold #UDOO in long term? Will run any stake program with your token?
A: You can stake in a node, and also share in 10% of the total ad revenue. as well as users and advertising increasing the token utility and therefore price – here is a video I did on this topic – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cev2pRUtRnk&t=4s
(51) Many of the unbanked don’t know about blockchain, so how easy is HowDoo for them to use? Also, how will you help educate people about Crypto and Blockchain?
A: We won’t mention the blockchain, or crypto. We’re a real-world project, and will just present the token as that. A token. Like Fornite or any of the other mainstream app with a token. The blockchain delivers benefits, and we’ll talk about the benefits (speed, transaction free, etc) but not the tech it sits on.
(52) I see many prominent partners who have collaborated with Howdoo, what goals will you achieve with them?
A: We have a great list of partnerships that we cover on our website – www.howdoo.io – but we have many from other blockchain projects, to huge global movements (like the WCO) to content creators and manufacturers (like Huawei). All of these will help us drive mass adoption.
(53) Do I have the option to share – Facebook post connection? Can I connect facebook or twitter to your platform?
A: You will be able to share your posts out to other social networks yes!
(54) Does Howdoo have any Coin Burn / BuyBack system or any plans for Token Burn for increasing the value of Tokens & attracts Investors towards Stake for investments?
A: We have an amazing rewards programme for our token holders. And we have a big update next week. All explained in this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cev2pRUtRnk
(55) Do advertisers will be able to choose a packages eg. 1-month subscription, 3 months, 12 months etc
A: No, they pay per click, per CPM or CPA on a daily or invoice monthly basis. They pay in fiat and the system converts to UDOOs to activate. So all advertising creates utility for the token through daily purchases and distribution BUT the advertisers don’t have to worry about buying a token.
(56) Some of my questions for the Howdoo AMA:
1. How can you earn passive income using Howdoo?
2. How can the user monetize their own data?
A: Buy allowing their data to be used by advertisers – so its a share of ad revenue. We will have a passive programme for Creators too. More on that next week.
(57) What percentage of the market do you believe you can capture with your solution? Do you have any user count targets for the next few years based on the above?
A: We are targeting 450m users by the end of our year three.
(58) “STAKING” is one of the STRATEGIES to ATTRACT USERS and ACHIEVE MASS ADOPTION. Does your GREAT PROJECT have plan about Staking?
A: We have a very rewarding node programme, and will have the ability to stake tokens to receive a share of 10% of our gross advertising income – which we think is a huge value to holders.
(59) Could supernode be considered on level with seed nodes, until they come into use ?
Nice try! Actually many of our Supernode applicants are ‘upgrading’ from seed nodes. We’ll start this roll out soon so not long to wait.
(60) 1. I saw on Howdoo’s website saying: Howdoo helps users to experience social media more fairly and clearly. Can you give some evidence for this problem? 2. It is known that Howdoo combines all kinds of content: streams, posts, messaging, sharing photos and videos, blogs, community interactions … I find it quite similar to a few characteristics of Facebook, Instagram …. So is it different from other social networks?
A1: We reward users for allowing advertisers to push ads to them, but give them the option to be incognito. So we are very fair. For creators they will earn more on Howdoo. 100% of the tips, 95% of transactions for content or subscriptions and 60% of ad revenue. 2. I think of Howdoo more like TikTok + Instagram + Netflix – but whatever way you look at it, there is nothing like Howdoo on the market.
Thank you all for the great questions. Please join our telegram announcements channel for a big update next week – and if you are interested in trading UDOO’s they are available as an ETH and UDST Pair on ExMarkets exchange.