[Grant application] Sharpn Grant: devblockchain.tech

ICON grant program application

[Following the foundation’s request, we have edited the proposal by splitting the projects into different grants AND added some content to the value part]

Hi everyone,

We would like to submit a grant application for devblockchain.tech project. We are a team currently focusing solely on ICON and our fluctuations between Main and Sub PRep make it very difficult to finance our team properly.

1°) Title : Grant : devblockchain.tech (expanding the developer community of ICON)

2°) Category : Developement / Community

3°) Project duration: Untill end of Q1 2020

4°) L10. Project description :

As we specified on our 2020 roadmap, we decided to dedicate the first quarter of 2020 to expand the developer community of ICON. Having a large developer community is crucial for a “DApp platform”. We’re in a situation where there are a lot of different platforms and a very small number of developers. Having an active developer community improves the “Developer Experience” (DX): It will allow new developers to have easier access to help, and a larger Q/A history.

More developers also lead to more DApps on ICON network, and therefore more volume. As you know, the ICON network is designed to become deflatory if there is enough volume. It is an ambitious objective but we believe that it’s one of the most important areas of improvement for the future of ICON.



Devblockchain.tech

L.21 Our plan

Devblockchain.tech will be a platform aiming to introduce “traditional developers” to ICON and Smart Contract (SCORE) development. We’re designing it to be a launchpad for developer who want to get started with SCORE development.

We will also setup a small incentive to follow that guides ( a system similar as Coinbase Earn )This platform will be structured in 3 parts, all those parts will be composed of videos (motion design, written guides, interactive IDE etc):

[YOU CAN FIND PROTOTYPES OF THE DESIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE]

Discover: A section to introduce the concept of decentralization, web3, the opportunities in the world of Blockchain, the role of developers, introduction to DApps, existing platform and introduction to ICON.

This part will take the form of an immersive web-page breaking down the basics of DLT in a simple and efficient way.

Learn: This section will teach the fundamentals of ICON SCORE building, we’ll setup several examples such as basic casino SCORE or Blockchain game.

This part will take the form of an interactive IDE divided into chapters. The guide will be on the left side of the screen (classic markdown documentation) and the user will be able to code on the right side of the screen. This format is widely used in learning other technologies such as Tezos and has been designed to provide the best possible user experience. We have not yet decided which guide we are going to present on this platform, this decision is important and we will work on it after obtaining the grant.

Build: The last part will show our users what are their opportunities on ICON ecosystem. We’ll prenset them the IISS and all programs included such as EEP, DBP, etc. This page will take the form of an immersive web-page as well.

We also plan to make this platform interactive, by organizing competitions (like ICON got talent) for new developers, maybe incorporating a Q/A platform, etc.

L. 46 Value for ICON:

This service is aiming to reach a new target for ICON. It’s really hard to get started on ICONdev unless you are already active in the ecosystem (investing, following news, etc.). This platform will teach devs who want to get started with Smart Contract development in a smooth and user-centric way.

Devblockchain will be much more than a simple reproduction of the “icondev” documentation. The goal of icondev is to provide tools to developers in a completely exhaustive way and without any user acquisition strategy. Our platform will be designed to actively attract new builders and not just give an alternative to documentation. In other words, it is to use communications and marketing levers to promote and facilitate access to ICON technology for a larger and more active developer community.

Most Smart Contract developers are already invested in other platforms. One of the advantages of developing SCORE is its accessibility through the Python language. This advantage is completely wasted if future developers do not have an affordable and user-centered platform to teach them this.

We have planned many user acquisition techniques. We will start with a reward campaign similar to “Coinbase Earn” that will reward developers who have completed their training. SEO, SEA campaigns and communications through channels specific to traditional developers.

Once again, the developer community is one of the most important asset for an ecosystem like ICON. We can’ expect them to come by themselves. Development also needs its dose of marketing, and we want to solve this with our platform.

L. 64 Ressources:

This mission will bring together 4 members of our team + freelancers: 4 full-time and 2 part-time (freelance). Among the 4 full time team members, we will have 2 UX/UI designers and a developer (each will be paid at 2750$ per month on a 35 hours per week package). By bringing this team together, we want to do a real quality work in order to make development on the ICON blockchain accessible to everyone. We also rely on video motions design with the presence of 2 freelancers who will work only partially with our team. We foresee a remuneration of about 1200$ per month for his work. Our marketing and communication manager will take care of the SEO and the user acquisition part of the platform (will be paid at 2750$ per month on a 35 hours + per week package). Finally, we estimate that this mission will last a maximum of 3 months to set up everything and the final launch is obviously planned during the first quarter of the year 2020.

** L. 75 Team background**

Sharpn’s core team has been dealing with ICON for the last 6 month. All our team is experienced in WebApp design at a professional level (according to their specialties). Our recent achievements are a proof of our experience in Blockchain development and more specifically ICON :

  • 2nd place of “ICON’s got talent” contest with Certiv
  • Launch of an ICON faucet
  • Launch of our Staking Platform

5) Project Milestones:

This project have several miltestones, we will publish each one of them in detailled Monthly reports summing up our progress. These reports will keep you informed of the completion of the following phases: End of Design Thinking phase, End of UX/UI, Interface integration, Motion Design production completion, Launch of the platform, etc.

6) Funding amount requested

The sole purpose of this funding is to cover the team’s salaries and expenses. We have established a budget taking into account several factors. We are 4 permanent members and we’ll work with 2 freelancers (Frontend dev, and Motion designer for Devblockchain.tech tutorials). We submitted this grant to be protected by fluctuations between Sub & Main PReps (We would only earn 600$ per member as a Sub PRep, deducting node charges). We’re going to summarize all resources (salaries and other expenses) for our grants below :

Grant for Devblockchain.tech :

1 Fullstack & Blockchain developer who will be in charge of building the platform, and to conceive the tutorials on smart contracts (35h/week working on this grants program and 2750$/month)

2 UX/UI Designers who will be in charge of designing the platform and to create some material for the motion design. They will be responsible for making a good learning experience, which will be crucial for this project. (35h/week working on this grants program and 2750$/month)

1 Project/Communication/SEO manager who will be in charge of managing the project, creating an user acquisition strategy and a good SEO to attract many users to our platform. (35h/week working on this grants program and 2750$/month)

2 Freelance motion designers for the animated courses/presentation for “Discover” part for example (working on missions, we’re planning for approx 1200$ /month)


Summary:

Team salaries : 2750$ * 4 for 3 month = 33000$

Freelancers : 1200$ * 2 freelance * 3months = 7200$

Current P-Rep earnings (deducting taxes and node charges): (4500$*3)= 13500$ TO DEDUCT

33000$ (team salaries) +7200$ (freelancers salaries) -13500$ (to deduct from p-rep earnings) = 26.700$

Total : 26.700$ ~ 245.000 ICX | Or basically 9.900$ ~ 81.700 ICX / Month (as per 02/01 ICX price)

We spent a lot of time creating this budget that we believe is balanced. The funds will be carefully spent to not hurt the market and we will provides tracking of each expenses on our Dump-Control feature as always.

Also, our priority is to preserve the price of ICON as much as possible. We think that a good alternative would be to receive this grant in ETH to preserve the ICX price.

7) Official Team Name

Sharpn

8) Team contact

You can contact us here : hello@sharpn.tech or via Telegram

9) Public Address

hxeeaad0c69c47914a19b83df7e5017b93a43fca1f

In conclusion, we would like to point out that the sole purpose of this grant is to provide a salary for our team. This salary will also be used to compensate us for our other Q1 initiatives such as ICONCORE or our Hackathon (the request for grants for the operational costs of this event will be published soon).

Key points:

  • The problem identified and the challenges of the project (L10 & L. 46)
  • The structure of our solution (L. 21)
  • Background of the team (L. 75
  • Resources requested (L. 64)

Thanks a lot for reading here are 2 prototypes of the platform (Landing and IDE from “learn” part):


3 Likes

Hello, Sharpn!

This proposal is applied to the ICON Community Grant program. ICON Foundation is going to review this proposal and leave the Review Result Comments on this post. Thanks.

1 Like

Hi there,

This is Ben from ICON foundation. Thanks for the application please be more specific on this application. please explain why you need 4 full time members and 2 freelancers to do this and how many hours your team plan to work on each project and how it will impact the icon network. Those criteria will help me to evaluate this application. thanks!

Hi,
We restructured our application ! Thanks and have a good day

thanks for the restructuring; however, we want you do ask grant for each project.
xxxx ICX for ICONCORE because of those reason
xxxx ICX for ICON Hackathon because of those reasons
xxxx ICX for Devblockchain.tech because of those resons

plans and how each project will contribute and how many hours that each team members are planning to work on each project.

thanks a lot

1 Like

We have updated our proposal with more information on members in charge of missions, working hours and salaries.

It is important to consider these 3 projects as one grant. These missions will all be carried out simultaneously by our team during Q1 and have a single objective: to boost the adoption of ICON among developers to ensure healthy growth of the ecosystem.

Our goal is to be able to operate exclusively on ICON without being at a loss! A lot of PReps teams overcome this by operating on several blockchains, we want to avoid this.

Please consider these 3 projects as one grant, one goal, one vision.

Thanks a lot, have a good day!

Review Result Comments

Review Result

Rejected

Review Comments

It is essential to promote ICON to traditional developers and we liked your road map. However, in order to receive that much grant, your team need to persuade us why you guys are fit for this job and how your product will gather traditional developers. Please be more specific with your team members background and your product’s merit. For example, how it is different with ICON dev page and how you think this will get traditional developers. We highly recommend you to re submit your application with detailed information.

*. Proposer can request a reassessment

We have updated our application.

  • Complement to the part “value for ICON”, where we explain the differences between our project and icondev, how this platform will use marketing and communication levers to attract new builders and why an ecosystem like ICON can’t just expect new builders without any acquisition strategy.
  • Part about our backgrounds, what our team is experienced in and our recent achievement in ICON ecosystem.
  • Also, some of our ideas for user acquisition. It’s not definitive of course since we need times and ressources for something of this significance.

We have also detailled the content of our platform, the structure of guides (interactive IDE with doc) and some prorotypes of the platform !!

Hi there

It seems lot better with this update. we will discuss and let you guys know as soon as possible.

thanks!

Review Result Comments

Review Result

Approved

Review Comments

Sharpn has been a great team for the ICON Network and has created many useful features. Devblockchain.tech has suggested very detailed plans and benefits for the community. Incentive-based education systems could motivate traditional developers and learning programming on a web IDE is also a great method to introduce ICON. We have no doubt they will create something that cannot be built by the ICON Foundation. This could be a great example of how the ICON Network is growing with P-Reps.

Reporting Period

Grant recipients should produce Periodic Reports in order to continue to receive grant funding. If the Periodic Report is showing that the initiative is not meeting expectations, the ICON Foundation has the option to halt continued funding. Please check the link (ICON Community Grant Program (“ICON CGP”)) and leave reports on this page (https://forum.icon.community/c/g/pr)

The team must submit their reports by the timeframes below:

  • 2020/02/12
  • 2020/03/30

Funding Amount

The ICON Foundation is going to give out 245,000 ICX in 3 monthly installments based on the Periodic Report.

  • 2020/01/20 - 81,600 ICX
  • 2020/02/13 - 81,700 ICX
  • 2020/03/31 - 81,700 ICX
4 Likes

:clap::clap: well deserved! sharpn is a top team

2 Likes

My only question is; why have this rigorous process for the grant program but nothing in place for the incentive system. (IISS)

Hey Detoxx - I’m not really sure what you mean by this, but it’s also not the best place to start this discussion. If you have a question about IISS, I would suggest starting a new thread under “General Discussion”

Hello everyone, we have released more details about ‘Sharpn Earn’, our campaigned aiming to provide an economic incentives to devs following our Devblockchain.tech course !

You can pre-register now.

More details here : https://twitter.com/sharpntech/status/1218208366742458368?s=20

1 Like

Hello everyone, devblockchain.tech is live.
Here is the last report : https://medium.com/@sharpntech/devblockchain-tech-release-ca0846e54a01