创建区块链公司最大的障碍是什么?最初出现在Quora上:获得和分享知识的地方,使人们能够向他人学习,更好地了解世界。
Chronic联合创始人Samantha Radocchia在Quora做了回应:
当我们第一次启动Chronicled时,这对于区块链业务来说是一个非常独特的时代。没有人真正了解区块链,所以我们面临的最大挑战就是教育人们了解它是什么,为什么需要它以及它如何改变他们的行业。
我曾经打开过大部分对话,“你知道比特币是什么吗?”
如果他们这样做了,我会努力向他们解释区块链。
现在,随着区块链公司的发展,我们面临着不同的挑战。我们超出了基本的词汇课,但我们还没有达到人们完全理解技术含量或知道如何发现错误信息的程度。
这是一个问题,因为那里有很多错误信息。但这只是新型区块链公司不得不面对的众多挑战之一。
1.与错误信息作斗争
所以,头号敌人是错误的信息。这部分是因为市场已经被爱好者淹没,并且有很多不正确的信息在流传。刚刚进入市场的人正在消费它。
即使像ICO这样的常见概念也被严重误解。人们立即开始说,“这就像一次IPO”,因为这两个缩写彼此相距一个字母。但事实上,ICO比众包更接近众包。
这些误解伤害了企业和投资者。我最近偶然听到一位朋友在跟他的兄弟谈论哪些ICO要购买代币,但是他的兄弟只在交易场所参与了大约六个月。当我推动他如何选择代币投资时,我发现他只是带着自己的直觉去做。
作为行业内的人士,我们知道这不是一个好主意。有很多公司发布白皮书,并为ICO提供技术上不可行的想法。
任何新的区块链公司都必须应对不同类型的错误信息,并确保他们的客户了解他们的所作所为 - 以及将他们与诈骗区别开来的原因。
2.重申您的市场定位
我们现在正面临着Chronicled的挑战。自2014年以来我们一直在这里工作,我们已经证明自己是合法的公司。我们构建了真正的软件。我们有生产解决方案。
去年,有大量公司涌入我们的市场。但消费者并不总是知道哪些公司是最好的,甚至是合法的。在我们的案例中,“消费者”是指为其公司评估区块链解决方案的企业高管。
这些组织的VP负责发现区块链技术合作伙伴,他们面临着各种各样的选择 - 一些可行,有些则不行。
作为区块链公司,您的挑战是不断重申您的合法性和市场地位。第一步是建立一个记录并建立一个具有真实经验和强大技术能力的团队。
3.获得品牌认可
我们正处于区块链公司(新成立或已建立)需要关注品牌认知度的阶段。目前,建立品牌知名度的最佳方式是通过思想领导。无论是撰写联合博客文章,撰写专栏文章和报价,还是参加教育和商业会议,公司都必须找到方法让自己在尽可能多的眼前展现自我。
在Chronicled,我们收到入站业务请求,这些请求参考了我们举办的教育小组或我们贡献的播客。他们想因为这个而与我们一起工作。
人们对这个空间还没有多少意识,还有很多错误信息,所以需要思想领袖和愿意传播知识和想法的人。你的企业必须加强,承担责任,填补知识空白。回报是绝对值得的。
4.了解成本,时间安排和易于实施
人们总是问我区块链业务涉及的技术挑战,这些当然是重要的考虑因素。但是,构建成功解决方案的诸多因素归结为成本,时间安排和易于实施。
想想未来更令人兴奋的,有远见的用例是很好的。现实是,推出新解决方案是渐进式的。它很可能将基于现有的软件平台。
不要低估现有流程的力量或构建网络的困难。成功的公司 - 比如Facebook和亚马逊 - 几乎没有。为了利用区块链的优势,您需要建立一个网络。期望数以千计的令人难以置信的创新公司冒出来是不现实的。
相反,专注于解决市场上的实际问题。 你必须让人们有理由使用区块链而不是现有的过程。 而且你必须愿意努力开发一个强大的团队和可行的解决方案。 如果你能做到这一点,你就会成功。
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What are the biggest obstacles to creating blockchain companies? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Samantha Radocchia, Co-Founder at Chronicled, on Quora:
When we first started Chronicled, it was a very unique time for blockchain-based businesses. No one really knew about blockchain, so our biggest challenge was just educating people about what it was, why they needed it, and how it could change their industry.
I used to open most of my conversations with, “Do you know what Bitcoin is?”
And if they did, I’d work to explain blockchain to them.
Now, there are different challenges we face as blockchain companies are evolving. We’re beyond basic vocabulary lessons, but we’re not yet to the point where people fully understand the technicalities or know how to spot misinformation.
That’s a problem, because there’s a lot of misinformation out there. But that’s just one of the many challenges new blockchain companies have to face.
1. Battling Misinformation
So, enemy number one is misinformation. This is partly because the market has been flooded by enthusiasts, and there’s a lot of incorrect information floating around. It’s being consumed by people just getting into the market.
Even common concepts like ICOs have been misunderstood in serious ways. People immediately started saying, “It’s like an IPO,” because the two acronyms are one letter away from each other. But in reality, ICOs are closer to crowdsourcing than anything else.
These misconceptions hurt both businesses and investors. I recently overheard a friend talking to his brother about which ICOs to buy tokens from, but his brother had only been involved in the trading space for about six months. When I pushed for how he chose tokens to invest in, I found he was just going with his gut.
As people within the industry, we know this is not a great idea. There are plenty of companies that put out white papers and hold ICOs for ideas that aren’t technologically feasible.
Any new blockchain company has to battle different types of misinformation and make sure their customers understand what they do—and what sets them apart from the scams.
2. Reaffirming Your Market Position
We’re facing this challenge at Chronicled right now. We’ve been around since 2014, and we’ve proven ourselves to be a legitimate company. We’ve built real software. We have solutions in production.
Last year, there was a flood of companies into our market. But consumers don’t always know which companies are the best, or are even legitimate. “Consumers,” in our case, means business executives who evaluate blockchain-based solutions for their companies.
These VPs of organizations are tasked with finding blockchain technology partners, and they’re faced with a variety of options—some viable, some not.
As a blockchain company, your challenge is to continually reaffirm your legitimacy and your market position. The first step to this is establishing a track record and building a team with real experience and strong technical skills.
3. Getting Brand Recognition
We’re at the point where blockchain companies—new or established—need to focus on brand recognition. At the moment, the best way to build brand recognition is through thought leadership. Whether it’s writing syndicated blog posts, contributing op-eds and quotes, or participating in education and commercial conferences, companies have to find way to get themselves in front of as many eyes as possible.
At Chronicled, we get inbound business requests that reference the educational panel we held or the podcast we contributed to. And they want to work with us because of it.
There’s still little awareness about the space, and so much misinformation, that there’s a need for thought leaders and people who are willing to spread their knowledge and their ideas. Your business has to step up, take that responsibility, and fill the knowledge gap. The returns are absolutely worth it.
4. Understanding Cost, Timing, And Ease Of Implementation
People always ask me about the technical challenges involved in a blockchain business, and those are certainly important considerations. But so much of building a successful solution comes down to the cost, timing, and ease of implementation.
It’s great to think about the more exciting, visionary use cases of the future. The reality is, rolling out a new solution is incremental. And it’s likely going to be based on an existing software platform.
Don’t underestimate the power of existing processes or the difficulty involved in building a network. The companies who’ve succeeded in doing so—think Facebook and Amazon—are few and far between. To leverage the benefits of blockchain, you need to build a network. It’s unrealistic to expect thousands of incredibly innovative companies popping up.
Instead, focus on solving real problems in the market. You have to give people a reason to use blockchain instead of the existing process. And you have to be willing to work hard to develop a strong team and viable solutions. If you can do that, you’ll have a shot at success.