Bootstrapped: A Startup's Journey [Background]
Background Summary
BitCash
Who are we? We are a company dedicated to empowering you financially.
What is our product? Think Paypal. Except you're the bank.
You can send money anywhere around the world instantly with low fees without a bank.
You own your money as digital assets on your phone or computer.
Why?
When we empower ourselves good things happen. When we take control of our money we all become better off financially, gain more responsible and localize risk. When banks and governments take control of our money, we lose financially and become vulnerable to widespread financial crises. The purpose of BitCash is to empower people. Blockchain technology is ready and the timing is right as a mass-market solution. Now it's all about execution.
Founder
I know I'm considered old to be running a startup at 41 years of age, but I still feel young at heart and have the energy and determination to succeed in our mission. I started out my professional career as an outside plant engineer at AT&T/Pacific Bell and then MCI Worldcom as a contractor after graduating from UC Berkeley with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Later on I got an MBA at UC Irvine. In the last decade or so I worked primarily as an independent financial consultant and contractor for a few small financial planning and wealth management practices. I did investment analysis & research, financial planning, account reviews etc. The work was easy for me, but it was really just to make ends meet and I was always looking for an opportunity to do something bigger.
I was also active in libertarian politics and helped with some local congressional campaigns in SF and Ron Paul's presidential elections in 2007/8 and 2011/12. I set up a grassroots organization and also a SuperPAC and raised well over $50k between the two to lead efforts in Iowa for the Caucus/Ames Straw Poll and Washington state among others. Our biggest accomplishment was leading a grassroots team with limited resources that rivaled the official campaign's outreach efforts and helped Ron Paul squeak out a 2nd place in the Washington state caucus before the Super Tuesday election. We also lead strategic grassroots efforts to help Ron Paul place a close second in Iowa for both the Ames Straw Poll in 2011 and the Caucus in 2012. It was important to place well, but the main goal was for us to get a bigger stage to spread the message of liberty.
Now I'm a voluntarist and excited about how startups like Uber & Airbnb and blockchain technology can bring immense value to our society while at the same time make us all more free. I was disillusioned with the entire financial industry for years and the 2008/9 crisis just made it clear how broken our economic systems are. After dismissing Bitcoin outright in 2010, I reconsidered my stance in mid-2012 after reading Erik Voorhee's blog article. I created my first tech startup project called Peerhub.com in 2014. It's a marketplace like Ebay that has Bitcoin as a payment option. It's functional, but on the backburner right now until we integrate BitCash. I followed the Ripple & Stellar ecosystems for a couple years before deciding to use Bitshares technology for BitCash. I feel Smartcoin technology, just like Steem dollars, has the potential to gain mainstream adoption. I've also done some consulting, pro-formas and pitch decks for a couple of other startups on the side. My main strengths are in business, finance, and startups. My sole focus now is as founder and CEO of BitCash.
Contact info: Jun Dam / [email protected] / business: @officialbitcash / personal: @steemrollin
The Company
The idea for BitCash was conceived in the beginning of 2015 and the company was officially incorporated in June of 2015 in Delaware. We're based in the SF Bay Area; for now in my apartment. I raised $25,000 in a friends/family round using a convertible note from seven investors including myself. After the launch of graphene technology and the Bitshares 2.0 platform in the summer/fall of 2015, we set off to build an MVP product for our simple wallet. We contracted out most of the development work, but because we have limited resources and partly because of my conservative approach to development we had many delays. I ended up having to contribute to the tech development with help from members of the Bitshares community. Thanks to all those at Cryptonomex and Bitshares workers, much of the more difficult development was done for us and open-sourced. We just had to focus on our unique frontend UI/UX.
The Team
We have some part-time helpers and contract software developers, but I'm the only one working full-time right now. The rest are investors. Dan Larimer has also advised and consulted our business on occasion. Currently I'm on the lookout for a rockstar javascript/ReactJS developer and a strategic advisor.
The Products
Right now we have two alpha products powered by Bitshares graphene-based blockchain technology:
- A simple bitcash USD wallet web app.
- A counterparty-free smartcoin exchange for Bitshares, Bitcoin, bitcash.
I'm looking for feedback so if you have 10 minutes please test out our webwallet alpha here.
You can also check out our exchange here. You can read more about it here.
We also have an ANN - AMA thread.
If you have any questions feel free to email me at: [email protected]
That's pretty much a summary of where we stand right now. Onwards!