Topic: [ANN][GEMZ] GetGems - Social Messaging App That Pays - Live on Android, iOS, Web - page 266. (Read 597190 times)

This will almost certainly come across as negative, it is not intended to be so, but this thread is sorely lacking in the kind of objective, matter of fact due diligence that should be part and parcel of any attempt to secure capital for a new business venture.  I've listed a number of questions below:

Assuming all off-chain operations will be managed through a company, what is the current or proposed legal entity structure, registered headquarters etc

Equity ownership (of the legal company): who will own what?

Tax and financial compliance: what is the strategy? How will revenue, profit and loss be accounted and in which jurisdictions?

What legal jurisdictions will you operate in and do you plan to comply with all local regulations?

Can you confirm how many people work in the company, what their roles are, and their credentials? (Please no arguments over whether it is reasonable to expect this info, it is your prerogative to withhold, but it would be nice to have).

The fact that messages themselves are managed through an entirely off chain architecture alarms me:
How is anonymity guaranteed?
How is encryption guaranteed?
What (if any) user information will be held by the company and how can you assure user data will be securely protected (e.g. against hacking OR a legal government demand to hand over data).

How will core dev (or for that matter, all residual company operations) be sustained once IPO and dev bounty funds are exhausted?

Please explain roughly the scale of incentive value being offered to users, for instance would typical levels of messaging activity (say 10 messages / day) combined with opt-in adverts yield reward Gems worth >$5 per week, or <$.000001 per week. Just a rough estimate.

How will you attract users who may not interested in the ethics of the platform, or the prospect of making money from their social media participation, and who are demonstrably prepared to accept targeted ads in return for access to a platform rich in features and existing social connections, even in the knowledge that their messages are accessible to various snooping agencies. Like it or not, these are the users of today.

I don't like Facebook much, but with it I can see who is online, I can message a group of connections, add people to existing chats, I can see who has read my messages, and when they were read, I can post multiple media formats and I get push notifications when things of relevance happen - those are probably the features useful to me.  Does/will Gems have these features? When it comes to mass adoption, it is ALL about user experience, and you need to be better than the best to stand a chance.

All that said, the value redistribution model is where I think the industry is headed, however even this does not guarantee long term viability for Gems, because fundamentally gems appears to be a centralised messaging app which just happens to reward users, a model any of today's biggest competitors could embrace at any point.

Have you considered developing a protocol for social messaging which bakes messaging, advertising, and reward distribution directly into the protocol? I understand you see the linkage with the bitcoin blockchain as a priority, but this also limits the capabilities you can offer.  Have you considered integration with other (or additional) blockchains better suited to the capabilities your core product requires (maidsafe, Storj, ethereum etc).

we explained why we think a pre-sale is the right model for Gems here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=758004.msg8707596;topicseen#msg8707596

we respect your opinion and "fears" very much and that's why we are working to raise the standards and accountability in crypto crowdfunding and incentives performance - more information regarding this issue will be published soon.

Our heart is in the right place and with the help of the crypto community to grow the network, Gems will be an important step for mainstream adoption.

The "killer app" for bitcoin isn't creating a decentralized storage or other complicated technical projects, it's making the process to join the ecosystem as easy as possible.

It important to note that btc and gems serve different target audiences within the Gems ecosystem. btc is aimed towards users with crypto background, who probably already own BTC and are familiar with it. These users will enjoy a convenient method to send btc to their contacts (ie. without typing addresses). Gems is aimed towards the common user who doesn’t have a crypto currency background. Since gems are rewarded for network contribution, these users will own gems just from operating within the network.

We are sure that once mainstream users do their first "crypto transaction" they will understand what all of us are talking about. Fiat is "dumb money" compered to bitcoin blockchain technology.

Yes, gems can be bought with bitcoins during the presale.


Yes, gems will most likely be tradable on major exchanges right after the presale.


Our plan is to raise the standards and accountability in crypto crowdfunding, we understand the responsibility and hard work that is needed in order to build a successful crypto social messenger.

we won’t be using the blockchain network for messaging (at list not in the beginning). we are using azure notification hub for the texting and bitcoin blockchain to reward gems. Meaning the ownership model is decentralized.  

Note that every user can chose to be totally anonymous and to have all of his text messages encrypted and self-destructed.

In the future we are thinking about using public key cryptography. Encrypting messages from a user, to someone else using the recipients public key,  that way its tied to the gem asset and nobody can spy on it.

We agree that this is a great idea and we are working hard to create a partnership with a major gift cards company.

you're arguments seem to lean toward emotion rather than logic.

this is not an "ipo" first of all.  an "ipo" happens when stock equity is offered to the public, generally after it has been offered to investors, employees and founders. before that there may be a seed round, an A round, B, C, D, F, G and H rounds or series. Warrants, preferences, etc. 

I'm guessing this is sort of like a sale of services or goods with future delivery...

anyways... stick to what you are good at.

Will this app be running on its own dedicated servers or is it going to be decentralized? Sorry if the question has been scarred already, but I didn't see it in the OP.

This could bring huge exposure to Bitcoin! Hopefully devs don't disappear after the IPO. Ill invest a little

Can gems be bought with bitcoin during ipo? i thought i read somewhere buy through counterparty, could be wrong. Also this coin is trade able in exchanges right? I hope you guys stay active and serious about this after the ipo since usually devs slowly disappear once the ipo is over.

Me too !

I still think it's a shame that there will be a pre-sale/IPO for this. In the IPO model, the incentive is to put together a good story and nice looking software before the IPO. The IPO then becomes the payoff. Building momentum after that is akin to starting a new project and necessarily maintaining excitement in the actual hard work of building the network and value in the token. The idea must be that further work will pay off for the developers much more than the IPO did.

It would be much better to set out a distribution schedule for GEMS and pay for development costs with it. For example, release 500k GEMS a day and pay half to the developers based on which of them is contributing the most commits, documentation, graphics, design, etc.

If GEMS doesn't scrap the IPO, I fear it'll only be a few high-profile news stories and a test case for when a user-owned social network launches in a way that gives value to the token of ownership from launch. I don't want to disparage anyone involved or developing the project as their heart may be in the right place. It just pains me to see a model being used that has consistently underperformed or been used in outright fraud in the past.

This is so close to perfection...why not ditch the IPO and implement GEMS in the way that aligns interests long-term?

As I was shopping lately in the supermarket I saw those gift cards for 5€, 10€, 25€ from facebook, google play etc ...
Maybe ideal solution for Gems too, no need 2 buy with credit-cards on the web....

when is launch?

waiting for launch

 

Gems Bitcoin App Lets Users Earn Money From Social Messaging http://www.coindesk.com/gems-bitcoin-app-lets-users-earn-money-social-messaging/

The sale will start in November. exact details will be given ahead of time.

When will the sale start?

ie here http://fuk.io/october-2014-report-best-altcoins-and-cryptos-to-mine-and-invest-in-for-high-profits/

Is there anymore news on how the development is going?  Seems we are in limbo till the end of the month and launch date.