No offense, but the speculation forum was the worst place to put this Sad ... I am sorry for the reception this has got, the topic is not a troll & the ... First seastead company actually selling sea homes: Ocean Builders https://ocean.builders Of course we accept bitcoin
Topic: Making a BTC pitch to a billionaire (Read 7179 times)
Just in the interests of historical completeness, I'm necro-ing this thread, I never did make this pitch in the end, over eight years ago, and sometimes I wonder what may have happened had I had done so and if she would have been receptive to it.
I think that the main reason that I didn't follow through with a pitch was that I thought it would work best as a fundraising appeal to her charity for some worthwhile bitcoin-related project which would need to be made via an NPO and there wasn't the enthusiasm or momentum for setting one up unless I was to do it all by myself.
Most likely one to do with remittances via BTC could have been well received and possible to appeal to her interests, or I could have just pitched bitcoin as the superior alternative to fiat & gold and see if she caught my enthusiasm for it, but inertia won the day.
I was amused that it was assumed a billionaire philanthropist must be a male, it was, in fact, my erstwhile sometimes neighbour at that time Elsa Peretti.
thats why i am a bit sad that armory's crowdfunding wasnt more successful.
This is the first I've heard of this and I frequent almost every forum but Bitcoin Discussion and Technical/Development on a regular basis. It sounds like posts need to be made in forums outside of these two. And possibly also on Bitcoin subreddit.
My 0.02BTC:
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
many thanks for the positive posts especially the pitch here above & any further ideas along these lines would be most welcome, I'm wondering if the way to go may be to give the Africa, South America etc as examples of what could be done & that will probably develop naturally especially if the BTC price becomes more stable (say closer to the % daily/monthly moves in the gold price) & concentrate on trying to get funding for an obvious general good Bitcoin development project then ask the foundation which if any they may be more interested in backing - I shall also go & have a chat with my friend who already receives funding re this & her husband who's involved in charity & NPO work
edit: Bitcoin 419s coming to an email inbox near you soon - I need your help to move my coins to $s with a bank/exchange in your country
What Bitcoin needs most is the creation of a Bitcoin foundation that does PR, legal matters and development.
+1
either this or funding of separate projects in those areas. imho right now development is still the most important part. thats why i am a bit sad that armory's crowdfunding wasnt more successful. i also hope gavin and the other developers get an occasional donation but a bigger and more steady flow of money would surely help.
What Bitcoin needs most is the creation of a Bitcoin foundation that does PR, legal matters and development.
What the billionaire could finance is a network of exchange shops in Africa (or other developing countries) where people could convert the Bitcoins they receive into the local currency.
How is a country with no money going to get Bitcoin? It's another common problem we have. Fiat -> BTC
How did any country go from 0 to something?
Let's imagine that the entire Kenyan economy was worth $10. I could turn up there with an exchange and $10 worth of bitcoins and they would have the facilities they need.
It makes no difference how much money they have. It makes a difference that they have the ability to trade. First with each other, then with the rest of the world. Bitcoins would help with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc8O1VevmcI
I don't know if this fits here, but I think it's an interesting development.
I don't know if this fits here, but I think it's an interesting development.
My 0.02BTC:
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
How is a country with no money going to get Bitcoin? It's another common problem we have. Fiat -> BTC
My 0.02BTC:
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
A billionaire investment in either mining or simply bitcoins themselves would be a waste of effort and money I think. For bitcoin to succeed it needs broad acceptance; not narrow. Regardless of how much capital that narrow acceptance has behind it. Either of these "investments" would do nothing other than make lot of other people a little bit richer (us who already hold bitcoins). And ideally we don't want mining under control of any one entity.
Better then is the philanthropic angle (and I believe it would be good non-philanthropically as well). Before bitcoin can be widely accepted as payment; merchants need to see that they aren't accepting some potentially worthless trinket-token. The way they can see that is from the exchanges. They provide liquidity and price-finding.
Trying to fight the legal system in the developed countries is an obvious nightmare, for a not-huge reward (relative to the size of those developed economies). Getting working exchanges in underdeveloped countries would be hugely beneficial; to bitcoin the project, but more importantly, to the country.
I really do believe that free trade has the power to transform. Bitcoin is the embodiment of the free-trade-tool.
Therefore if I had the ear of a philanthropic billionaire, I would be trying to persuade him to open exchanges in underdeveloped countries and put some PR and legal backing behind them. Kenya would be my first choice; then Nigeria; if it weren't for the insane political climates, Iran and North Korea would be good too. It's a bit late for Brazil (it's already doing fine on its own), but some of the smaller South American countries would benefit enormously from a solid bitcoin.
Here's the pitch then: "Rich western mobile company, Vodafone, has managed to become an integral part of the Kenyan economy. They've done it with their mobile-to-mobile payment system m-Pesa. They are a centralised private company and are charging relatively large fees to provide, essentially banking services to poor Kenyans. That centralisation gives them a discomfiting amount of control over Kenyan trade; and those fees are a yoke around the neck of people trying to dig themselves out of an economic hole. We could help them. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system with minimal transfer fees. It can transfer value from any point on the internet to any other point on the internet near instantaneously. There is no single entity profiting from these transfers, and anyone can join in with the system that earns those fees, with no barrier to their entry. Using bitcoins as a method of transferring value is economically highly efficient. That efficiency can translate to profit. Even more so in the African continent as there are very few competing services.
Kenyan's need the banking facilities that we take for granted to grow their economy. Bitcoin would give them those facilities. It needs infrastructure and marketing investment to penetrate the market though. While that investment will take care of itself in rich countries, it is unlikely to in poor countries. For the first time in the history of the world, an African country could be ahead of the game. All it will take is to sow the seeds."
The biggest problem of course, is finding someone with the drive to push a project like this. I suspect that that, more than the money, is where the billionaire can help you. They must have access to lots of get-up-and-go people. Get one of them on board, and get them funded and I genuinely believe that Bitcoin could remake Africa.
For the past few days, I've been thinking about something like this, but didn't know how viable it would be until now--seeing it penned by another user.
~Bruno~
Thanks! All I know is there's a gap and ordinary buyers can be easily caught out with no easy recourse. I'm thinking it's really an amalgamation of two ideas.
1) A "Fair Go" like website that educates people with a list of known scams, a stay-safe checklist, basic training on web security/encrypting wallets etc, instructions on going to the police with the right information, and maybe a database of suspicious recipient addresses and/or convicted individuals. An FAQ? And definitely balance it out with some coaching on Bitcoin's natural advantages. Basically a sincere place that I could send my Aunt to arm her with knowledge without worrying (too much) that's she'll get put off.
2) Insurance where members are willing to pay a fee to a "refund pool" that they own shares in. I suspect there could be loopholes, which would make that a trickier venture.
If I were a billionaire, and I wanted to give a few of my friends/cronies a nice Christmas present, I would tell each of them, independently, to invest part of their portfolio in Bitcoin, for come later this year I'm going to announce something big. Most likely, each investor will at least double their investment due in part to me following through with my kind gesture.
~Bruno~
~Bruno~
The best thing a billionaire could do would be to buy into companies (or use companies they already have large investments in) and convince them to add bitcoin to their payment/withdraw methods. A few midlevel online retailers accepting bitcoins could make a huge difference. Also another area would be companies that buy/sell online ads, imagine an ad network that could pay out hourly/daily with no chargebacks.
Fuck the billionairas
that is all.
I have to agree with this. We don't need 'em... that is all.
I want to know how this going.
You're probably looking at a situation where that billionaire might be willing to be an angel investor. But this means that you need a solid business idea. After all, what I think bitcoin needs right now is an economy, and that means LOTS OF BUSINESSES.
If you want to somehow give your idea a philanthropic slant, how about creating a non-profit consumer protection scheme that provides a viable alternative to chargeback? A "consumer insurance union" of some kind?
If you want to somehow give your idea a philanthropic slant, how about creating a non-profit consumer protection scheme that provides a viable alternative to chargeback? A "consumer insurance union" of some kind?
For the past few days, I've been thinking about something like this, but didn't know how viable it would be until now--seeing it penned by another user.
~Bruno~
You're probably looking at a situation where that billionaire might be willing to be an angel investor. But this means that you need a solid business idea. After all, what I think bitcoin needs right now is an economy, and that means LOTS OF BUSINESSES.
If you want to somehow give your idea a philanthropic slant, how about creating a non-profit consumer protection scheme that provides a viable alternative to chargeback? A "consumer insurance union" of some kind?
If you want to somehow give your idea a philanthropic slant, how about creating a non-profit consumer protection scheme that provides a viable alternative to chargeback? A "consumer insurance union" of some kind?
Otoh, I'm in a similar situation. I know a millionaire who I've been talking to about Bitcoin myself so I'll provide some advice.
I'd just talk to them about money and ask what they think is the makeup of sound currency.
This is of course, a discussion best had after a ton of research, but I'll be frank with you and you can be frank with him: There is just too much risk in fiat money right now.
There was a documentary called "The Money Masters" that I saw about a decade ago. It completely changed my life. It's done in perfect 90s theme, a complete three-and-a-half hours long. Don't let that scare you, though, ultimately it was the most informational piece I've ever watched in probably my entire life, and it does so in a very non-conspiratorial fashion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXt1cayx0hs
Most of our political differences could be resolved if we just had sound currency. From there we could deal with issues in a very straightforward fashion. Bitcoin provides us an avenue to do so.
PLEASE watch Money Masters some night after you've put the kids to bed and have nothing else to do. I promise you that you will not regret it. The guy who made it has also gone on to do other things, and he was wrong with some of his predictions, but ultimately he provided enough warning for me to make adjustments to my investments that have saved me and helped me preserve my finances over the years.
I'd just talk to them about money and ask what they think is the makeup of sound currency.
This is of course, a discussion best had after a ton of research, but I'll be frank with you and you can be frank with him: There is just too much risk in fiat money right now.
There was a documentary called "The Money Masters" that I saw about a decade ago. It completely changed my life. It's done in perfect 90s theme, a complete three-and-a-half hours long. Don't let that scare you, though, ultimately it was the most informational piece I've ever watched in probably my entire life, and it does so in a very non-conspiratorial fashion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXt1cayx0hs
Most of our political differences could be resolved if we just had sound currency. From there we could deal with issues in a very straightforward fashion. Bitcoin provides us an avenue to do so.
PLEASE watch Money Masters some night after you've put the kids to bed and have nothing else to do. I promise you that you will not regret it. The guy who made it has also gone on to do other things, and he was wrong with some of his predictions, but ultimately he provided enough warning for me to make adjustments to my investments that have saved me and helped me preserve my finances over the years.
He should get his movie star friends to talk about it.
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