Re-Cap: The Path of the Tortoise
These newsletters were supposed to be weekly but it looks like I might only be able to get them out monthly. This is what happens when you follow the slow and steady path. Emphasis on the slow.
I know this will be difficult for many of you who rely on these Re-Cap™ newsletters to get you through the week. I encourage you to form a support group and find comfort with each other and your shared misery.
Now, onto the updates of what we've been working on!
Town Halls on YouTube
Head over to our YouTube account to find all our Town Hall recordings. The new ones that we do each Friday usually go out the following week.
There is one Town Hall missing – the content of which is actually being used for a few other projects. That should come out in a blog post next week.
PIE Demo Day
Over the summer I've been participating in the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) on behalf of Re-Public. It's been an amazing way to get involved in the thriving Portland startup ecosystem. The program culminated in a Demo Day, where Phil and I got to speak with a bunch of smart people who wandered by our virtual booth.
One big takeaway from our discussions is that people are hungry for apps that are based on their personal data. People gave us a bunch of great ideas for possible apps that could run on Re-Public. For example, one person said they wished they could combine their Amazon purchase data with their iTunes data to see if they already own a movie before buying it again.
Once people grokked what we were trying to do, they were a bit disappointed that we weren't further along so they could start using it in all these different ways. Which I took as a good sign. As we build out the platform we won't have a hard time finding real use cases that people are asking for.
Beatnoom
We have developed a new infrastructure diagram for our first app partner Beatnoom, which lays out how data will flow through Re-Public. The idea is that by adopting the Re-Public SDK, apps can offload the storage and licensing of user data and just focus on the user experience of their app and their particular value proposition.
As companies realize that they can no longer legally and ethically monetize their customer's data, it will become too costly and laborious for them to store that data and secure it (however poorly). That's when Re-Public comes in and offers to give them only the limited amount of data they need for their business in exchange for handling the data infrastructure.
You can check out an architecture diagram below to see how Beatnoom relates to Re-Public:
Web3Auth login
We've got a version of the app out to testers with a Web3Auth integration. It allows you to signin using your choice of email or existing social accounts like Google or Twitter. Once we get the bugs figured out, it will only take two taps to login and you won't have to create yet another account for Re-Public. Yay!
Permanent Data Storage
A big part of Re-Public's reason for being was the need to store personal data easily and permanently. We've been exploring the sharing and monetization space for the past year, but some new conversations have led us back to one of our founding use cases.
I wrote about it in a blog post this week:
Humans Need Permanent Data Storage
Web3 ID Podcast Mini Series
Your personal data and your ID are like your body and the clothes your wear. Your body gives you mass and mobility and your clothes give you an opinionated representation to the outside world. We have many IDs today and controlling your personal data will allow you to adopt whatever ID you need for whatever situation in the digital world, and the real world.
That's why this Crypto Sapiens miniseries on Web3 ID is supremely relevant to Re-Public's products and mission. I'm hoping to partner with many ID services in the not too distant future.
Crypto Sapiens' Four Episode Mini Series on Web3 ID
Cover image by Craig Pattenaude on Unsplash