Today on Retail Tech Podcast, we speak with tech entrepreneur Patrick Palacios, founder and CEO of Loyalcoin and Appsolutely. We start off with an introduction to Appsolutely, a service focused on customer rewards with the aim of optimizing customer engagement by implementing a universal rewards blockchain economy, using the LoyalCoin token. Built on the LoyalPlatform, the LoyalCoin token is a digital asset in which consumers and merchants can participate in universal rewards programs. Patrick and I discuss the unique approach to the loyalcoin ICO and its innovative applications of blockchain to the retail industry.
Did you know you can listen to the podcast on iTunes too? Please remember to rate and subscribe!
There is no shortage of news, and more negative of late, on the cryptocurrency space and blockchain by association. In most cases the people making judgements either do not understand the technology and the benefits and potential of blockchain or are fearful of how what seems like a fundamental shift in the world of money will change things and ultimately affect their lives. A third group just don't care and believe this is a fad that will just go away or that it's not important. So I set out to learn as much as possible (and there is a lot to learn) about the space and have been fortunate to meet some very knowledgable people to learn from.
One of the most controvercial part of the Crypto space is the the practice of companies creating Tokens and selling them to the public in what's called an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or Token Generation Event (TGE). The questions arise as to if the tokens are securities and if so are they being sold to the citizens of countries outside the regulations. This is an ongoing process right no specially in the US with the SEC investigating many of the ICO's which seem to be crossing the line.
From a practitioner point of view my main questions when looking at companies delving in the blockchain and crypto space are:
1. What is the company's main business, product, and market,
2. How does a distributed database and the related blockchain technology help make the product better, save the company time and resources and/or provide a better experience for customers,
3. It is possible to use blockchain in the backend without creating a coin so what is the main reason for creating a coin? How much are they raising and how the funds are being used.
4. What is the mechanism for the TGE, is there a lot of "pumping" going on or there is genuine interest.
5. Is any part of the technology created and working? If not what is the product roadmap an timeline and the stack they use.
6. Are there existing or prospective customers engaged with the company and any real life trials supporting the goals,
7. And of course the team and their experience in the space the company will be operating in, in running startups and ongoing businesses, and the technical and product prowess.
Speaking with Patrick was a great step in understanding how a company with a working product and actual customer (I'm going to get more details on both of these and add here) as well as the activity outside the US. I hope you enjoy the interview and please share and rate on iTunes.
Timeline:
00:20 Intro to Patrick and background on appsolutely and loyal coin
02:20 blockchain in loyalcoin a necessity?
03:15 explanation of term: “shapeshift”
05:20 distinction of blockchain vs cryptocurrency in relation to loyalcoin
06:40 example of process
09:15 how retailers can participate in loyalcoin
11:30 NEM and loyalcoin’s general architecture
13:25 security of loyalcoin
15:05 migration from loyalcoin to other platforms
17:10 representation of loyalcoin in different countries
18:00 loyalcoin ICO fundraising philosophy
25:40 how are loyalcoin token and appsolutely communities managed?
28:55 Patrick's approach to competition
31:00 plans for 2018
30:40 sources of revenue for loyalcoin
----
Connect with Darius on LinkedIn
Follow the podcast on Twitter
Retail Tech Podcast on YouTube
Retail Tech Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to our newsletter
State of M&A in Creator, Media and Technology - a conversation with Chris Erwin Founder of RockWater
Future of Loyalty is Experiential! Interview with Lin Dai CEO of Superlogic
What is happening to Search and Discovery? Interview with Nate Barad from Algolia
