Grant Proposal: SiaPeopleLearn

Introduction

Project Name: SiaPeopleLearn
Name of our organization: Dapp Mentors
Website: https://dappmentors.org
Project Lead: Darlington Gospel

Purpose:

The “SiaPeopleLearn” platform has a clear mission to provide a decentralized and transparent online education experience. A pivotal aspect of this mission is enhancing data ownership for our valued content creators. By integrating blockchain technology and smart contracts into our platform, we empower content creators to receive their earnings securely and transparently. Creators will receive their monthly earnings in tokens through their specified wallet addresses, managed by a smart contract. This innovative approach not only ensures fair compensation but also promotes user-owned data, aligning with our commitment to a decentralized future.

Community Impact and Promotion of Decentralized Storage:

The “SiaPeopleLearn” project goes beyond offering a platform for online education; we actively promote the adoption of decentralized storage among content creators and the data ownership community. Dapp Mentors, our startup specializing in Web3 solutions, consultation services, and education, brings a wealth of expertise to this project.

Our mission is to empower businesses of all sizes to embrace blockchain technology and thrive in the Web3 era. With our team of experts in Web3 development, consultation, and education, we are uniquely positioned to guide content creators and learners towards adopting decentralized storage solutions. By collaborating with us, “SiaPeopleLearn” aims to educate, inspire, and lead the content creation and data ownership community into the world of decentralized cloud storage.

Dapp Mentors Academy and Transition to Decentralized Storage:

Dapp Mentors currently operates an Educational Hub known as Dapp Mentors Academy. However, we acknowledge that we currently host all video contents on centralized hosting providers. As part of our passion to see this project succeed, we are committed to transitioning our educational content to decentralized storage, and we are excited to extend this opportunity to other content creators worldwide.


Current Dapp Mentors Academy


Current Course Lessons Page


Current Course Video Page

By transitioning to decentralized storage, we aim to reduce hosting costs, enhance data security, and contribute to the broader adoption of decentralized storage solutions within the education sector. We believe that this transition will set a precedent for other educational platforms and content creators to follow.

Code Contributions:

Dapp Mentors intends to develop the codebase for the “SiaPeopleLearn” platform as an open-source project. The code and related components will be made available to the community through a public GitHub repository, promoting transparency and community collaboration.

Project Timeline and Measurable Objectives:

October 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024 (6 months in total), aside from the development timeframe the rest of the objects will run concurrently.

  • Objective 1 (October 1st, 2023 - December 31st, 2023): Develop and launch the “SiaPeopleLearn” platform, including a user-friendly interface and decentralized storage integration.
  • Objective 2 (January 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024): Onboard 50 content creators who will provide a variety of courses on the platform. Educate them about the benefits of decentralized storage.
  • Objective 3 (January 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024): Host a minimum of 100 courses on the platform, with at least 70% of course content stored on the Sia Decentralized data storage network.
  • Objective 4 (January 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024): Achieve a user base of 1,000 learners actively engaging with the platform. Collect feedback and improve user experience.
  • Objective 5 (January 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024): Implement marketing and user acquisition strategies to attract an additional 50 content creators and 1,000 learners.
  • Objective 6 (January 1st, 2023 - April 31st, 2024): Maintain an uptime of 99.9% for the platform, ensuring reliability for content creators and learners.

Potential Risks and Technical Feasibility:

The project acknowledges the potential risks associated with technical challenges and integration with Sia Decentralized data storage. However, the risks are reasonable given the experience of the Dapp Mentors team, and the commitment to promoting decentralized storage remains a core element of our risk management strategy.

Budget Justification:

Total Budget: $46,000

  1. Development and Platform Hosting: $18,000
  • Development costs are essential for platform creation and feature implementation.
  • Hosting infrastructure is necessary for platform deployment and ongoing operation.
  1. Team Lead and Product Manager Part-Time Salary: $8,000
  • Payment to Darlington Gospel, the Team Lead and Product Manager, to support project management and development efforts over six months.
  1. Marketing and User Acquisition: $10,000
  • Funds allocated to execute marketing strategies aimed at attracting creators and learners to the platform.
  1. Sia Decentralized Data Storage Costs (Sia Coin - SC): $2,000
  • Secure and decentralized storage for course videos on the platform for the first year.
  1. Customer Support and Maintenance: $5,000
  • Ensures ongoing platform functionality, user satisfaction, and maintenance activities.
  1. Miscellaneous Expenses: $3,000
  • Reserved to address unforeseen costs and challenges that may arise during the project.

Milestones:

Milestone 1: Development Phase (Initial Signing) - Cost: $20,000

  • Develop a functional prototype of the platform.
  • Build and launch an MVP with core features, allowing users to create and access courses.
  • Launch the complete platform with additional features, improvements, and bug fixes.
  • Set up secure and decentralized data storage for course videos for the first year (Sia Coin - SC).

Milestone 2: Marketing and Creators Acquisition Phase 1 - Cost: $10,000

  • Create a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan for user acquisition.
  • Execute the marketing campaign to attract creators and learners to the platform.
  • Pay the team lead for the first three months of part-time work.

Milestone 3: Customer Support and Maintenance - Cost: $8,000

  • Launch customer support services to ensure users’ questions and issues are addressed.
  • Allocate funds for continuous platform maintenance, updates, and improvements.
  • Utilize a portion of the budget for unforeseen expenses (Miscellaneous Expenses).

Milestone 4: Marketing and Creators Acquisition Phase 2 - Cost: $8,000

  • Execute the second marketing campaign to further attract creators and learners.
  • Pay the team lead for the last three months of part-time work.

Reporting Requirements:

Dapp Mentors is committed to providing monthly progress reports to the SIA Grant Committee. Additionally, regular updates will be shared with the Sia community through official channels to ensure transparency and community engagement.

Contact Information:

Conclusion:

At Dapp Mentors, we are enthusiastic about contributing to the decentralized cloud storage and online education communities through the “SiaPeopleLearn” project. This proposal reflects our commitment to user-owned data, community impact, clear objectives, deliverability, risk management, a fair share to creators and a well-justified budget. With our wealth of expertise, we are particularly excited about how this project will actively promote the embrace of decentralized storage among content creators and data ownership advocates. We look forward to the opportunity to work with the SIA Grant Committee and the Sia community to bring this project to fruition, promoting accessible and secure online learning opportunities while advancing the cause of decentralized storage. We welcome any questions and eagerly anticipate the approval of our proposal.

Hi, thanks for your proposal.

I have a question: how exactly are you going to integrate Sia into your platform?

1 Like

Hi @mike76,

Thanks for your reply.

We’re intending on using Sia Renterd with a custom API to manage uploading/downloading, streaming, payments, statistics, and user management. Sia’s cost-effectiveness and decentralization align with our vision for this innovative platform. Kind of like the Pixeldrain platform but for courses and educational content creators. :slightly_smiling_face:

Oh nice!

Can you point us to the piece of code where you implement that?

1 Like

@mike76
We’re eager to embark on this journey of building a web3 project from scratch in alignment with the vision outlined in our proposal. However, please note that our current codebase is private (web2), and we are committed to creating a fresh web3 project.

As we move forward, the implementation and code development will be transparent and open-source. We’ll ensure that all relevant code and details are readily accessible and well-documented for your reference and collaboration. We appreciate your support in this exciting endeavor!

We’re excited to share our vision for the transition from a web2 standard to a decentralized platform. Our proposal entails the development of a system from the ground up, and its successful implementation will empower course and content creators to utilize Sia’s technology for hosting their content without daunting upfront costs.

Content creators will retain a significant portion of their earnings, while SiaPeopleLearn will serve as a seamless facilitator for content, payments, and creator earnings. To provide a relatable analogy, think of it as a similar approach to BuyMeACoffee. :blush:

Okay, anywhere else that we could look at some of your code?

A demonstrated ability of the developer to deliver on the expectations is one of the criteria for a proposal to be approved.

Ok @mike76, please sign up on our platform Dapp Mentors and share your email with me I will grant you a one month subscription to interact with our system.

Here is a proof of our private repo and platform interface:




Thanks! This is what I was looking for.

1 Like

Thank you @mike76 ,

In summary, our vision is crystal clear: we’re committed to developing a cutting-edge web3 platform called SiaPeopleLearn, it will be powered by the Sia Renterd service. This platform will revolutionize the online course and content creation landscape, offering creators the opportunity to launch their online courses without any upfront costs.

SiaPeopleLearn will play a pivotal role as the facilitator, hosting video courses and seamlessly delivering them to students. Moreover, we’ll handle all payment processes while harnessing the exceptional capabilities of Sia’s decentralized file storage platform.

With unwavering confidence, we’re excited to make this vision a reality! :raised_hands: