In this interview, we are speaking with Tyler Jones, CEO, and founder of SideKick Finance.
SideKick is a community-driven, cross-chain, fair-launched DeFi network that offers industry-defining tools and a vast network of long-term potential. They aim to give users the best cross-chain analytics, smart contracts, and UX experience to bring as much value and knowledge to our community as possible.
One of their suite of products is JumpStart, the First Decentralized NFT Crowdfunding Platform. We met with Tyler to discuss JumpStart and its importance in reshaping crowdfunding as we know it.
Please tell us about you, your background, and your position in the project
My name is Tyler Jones, and I’m the CEO and founder of SideKick Finance. I’ve been professionally developing enterprise-grade software for ten years and developing and building with smart contracts and cryptocurrency for the past four years.
We launched SideKick Finance almost two years ago and truly believe in the power of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and decentralization. Even before blockchain and software development, I was always interested in the stock market, currencies, investing, and trading.
When I learned about software development in 2010, I knew that was the field I needed to master to really have an impact and help as many people as possible. In 2013 I finally got my big break; the rest is history.
How did you get started in Web3/Blockchain?
I remember, maybe in 2014, when my younger brothers introduced me to bitcoin. At the time, I was trading stocks and options and harshly brushed them off, thinking, “nothing could be superior to stocks and options.” When Ethereum launched, its smart contracts were when it all clicked for me.
Being a software developer who came to the industry after the app store craze, I immediately saw the massive opportunity of smart contracts and an entirely new software development ecosystem. I started learning about Ethereum and smart contracts, and about mid to late 2017, I bought my first cryptocurrency.
Fast forward two years, and smart contracts and EVM chains had grown tremendously. We started working with smart contracts and creating analytics that tracked different dApps and DEX tokens. In 2020, we started building our team and found an amazing group of people to learn with and grow with. By 2021, we were ready to launch our first token and dApp.
Briefly tell us about SideKick Finance and what you do.
SideKick Finance is a community-driven, cross-chain DeFi super network. We offer DeFi analytics, token charting, launchpad services, custom smart contract development and audits, and technology consulting services. We are passionate about crafting industry-defining tools and building a network of smart contracts, developers, and communities with vast long-term potential.
What is JumpStart?
JumpStart is a decentralized crowdfunding platform that helps creatives, entrepreneurs, and community builders get their ideas funded with stable cryptocurrencies by offering NFTs with perks. JumpStart is one of our suite of products at SideKick Finance.
Why crowdfunding? And How is JumpStart different?
According to Verified Market Research, demand for Global Crowdfunding Market Size & Share is set to Surpass USD 28.2 Billion by 2028. The NFT market space is expected to reach $231 billion by 2030. JumpStart is positioned to thrive and take advantage of these markets by combining NFTs with traditional crowdfunding models. JumpStart is a decentralized crowdfunding platform that anyone anywhere can use to set up and start funding their idea or business.
Can just anyone create a campaign on your platform? How are projects vetted?
Since we are decentralized, anyone can create a campaign if they pay a small fee. But right now, we are offering one-on-one sessions with myself and the team to find vetted projects to ensure safety and help projects succeed. We want all projects that launch to succeed by offering one-on-one meetings, $1000 in free AMAs, and promotions to make that happen. Just reach out to team@sidekick.finance for more info.
What are your long-term goals for JumpStart, and its impact on the crowdfunding industry?
Long-term, we want JumpStart to be the #1 NFT Crowdfunding platform on the web. We want to make crowdfunding available to anyone anywhere all over the world. We also want our tools to bring value and ease of use to our users’ lives and hopefully crowdfund the next great innovator and innovation!
What advantages do you have over other decentralized crowdfunding platforms?
We are the 1st-to-market for NFT crowdfunding on ETH, BSC, CRO, and MATIC networks, with plans to launch more EVMs very soon. There are some crowdfunding competitors, but all or most are focusing on cryptocurrency crowdfunding only. I believe the future of NFTs is immense and our crowdfunding model is centered around NFTs with perks.
We also value user experience, design, and quality. Our UX/UI has been thoughtfully created and tailored to deliver the best user experience for creators and contributors. We have years of smart contract experience deploying widely used smart contracts and also a decade of experience developing enterprise software.
We also used this experience and knowledge to include many unique utility smart contracts that go hand in hand with our NFTs. Smart contracts like our Elite Token Distribution Contract allow an NFT owner to easily register and distribute any token to NFT holders for claim with set percentage points.
Do you have platform fees for JumpStart? Also, how does your token $SK become useful for the platform?
We have an industry-standard 5% fee on funds collected that can be reduced up to 30% by using our Funding Cap Mechanism. We also charge a one-time fee of $150-$300 to launch the campaign, host all assets in a private IPFS storage, and create all necessary smart contracts on-chain.
When we launched the $SK token, we promised that all future projects and utilities we worked on would tie in somehow. With JumpStart, 20% of all revenue will be used for buybacks and added liquidity of the $SK token. We also charge a small fee for contract creation. The $SK token is required to create a campaign on the BSC network. So we’ve added multiple amazing use cases and utilities for the $SK token with JumpStart and more coming!
What benefits do funders have by choosing Jumpstart over other crowdfunding platforms?
With JumpStart, you can set your NFT collection and mint page up on the site within minutes. No website or web3 developer is needed. Not having to develop your own minting site and hiring a blockchain developer is a huge win. We also offer supporting utility smart contracts, marketing and promotion support, and custom development.
What is the best way for someone to get involved with zero money?
We are currently offering multiple ways for creators and contributors to get involved. First, our affiliate marketing program offers a 10% commission to anyone who refers to a successful campaign.
How it works is you refer someone, and if they have a successful raise and we collect $1000 in fees, we send the referrer $100. If we collect $10,000, we send $1000, and so on. Also, we are offering an amazing creator promotion package which includes covering the costs to create the campaign and also up to $1000 in paid promotions (AMAs, Twitter influencer partnerships, etc.)
Lastly, the best and easiest way to get involved is to check out JumpStart and follow our Twitter, Telegram, and Discord. Share your favorite creators and campaigns with friends!
Related Items:JumpStart, SideKick Finance
