Friendsvow is Automating Peer-to-Peer credit on blockchain with Bitcoin for global payments while protecting everyone from defaulting on repayment, we like to say we are building the facebook of credit but on blockchain, facebook connects people socially, friendsvow connects people financially, we want to make it so simple for anyone to come online and request money from their network or lend money to their friends, family, colleagues and our cashflow protects everyone from default on repayment, Our Mission is to decentralise access to be Credit, to become the Credit Monetary system that empowers individuals control of their financial lives, ownership to decide whom to get credit from and the terms of the credit, and how to clean up their credit history without waiting for any central authority or Banks
Tell us about yourself?
I started my career as a Cyber Security Expert with a Cyber Crime and Cyber security Agency in Public Service and the Job was quite enjoyable, however after every 2 weeks our monthly wages is over, we have to scrounge our way towards the rest of the month testy and irritated, and offline people already uses this model of community credit, so i always wonder why is there no digital option for this model of credit, that inspired me to focus on building a consumer digital product using existing offline model of community credit that people will relate with rather than building far fetched ideas you will try to explain.
When i was quite young, i grew up seeing my mum using this community model credit with her fellow market women they were using Trust as the bond that powers their network where because of social and financial connection everyone ensures they keep to the terms of agreement, this various experience was what inspired me to ensure that a product like this must exist for the world digitally
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
To focus on building pipeline partners with B2B and B2G focus, we started with B2C because that is where its easier to get customers however B2B was where we got the biggest impact in a more comfortable format for a startup, so start with the easiest and most effective model and scale from there
What problem does your business solve?
Financial Inequality and Financial Exclusion, The most Important man made problem for people today is access to money, it is very difficult for a random individual to access money from their Banks, to borrow from friends or family, when they need such money it is quite embarrassing to ask from anyone because the default answer is always no, or require process that makes you wish there should be a better way.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Our startup is HQ in an Francisco, USA, but our Inspiration started in West Africa, we were inspired by the African model of community credit where group of people will pool resources together and use trust as a binding pool to enforce agreement, I grew up seeing my mum using this model of credit with her fellow market women and that was how she got consistent cashflow capital to grow her business>
Personally when i was an employee my colleagues and co workers save together and use this model of Credit, i always wonder why there is no digital product like this, it was this sequence of events that inspired me to research and focus on the best way to build a digital Peer-to-Peer for people, with Friendsvow parents will be able to create shared family credit Wallets and issue credit to their kids and blockchain transactions will enable them to view the debit and credit history on their shared wallet, with Friendsvow Friends will be able to save and get rotational credit on shared goals with their friends, co workers will be able to use monthly income to set up credit wallet at zero% interest rate to increase their cashflow, Banks will be able to recover bad loans from loan defaulters, people with bad credit will be able to clean up their credit
What is your magic sauce?
Protecting people from defaulting on repayment, the most important part of the credit process is incentives to repay, why do people default on credit? because default is the best option if you dont have money to repay your debt? so at Friendsvow our core solution that binds the whole product together is automating Peer-to-Peer Credit and Automating repayment process so trust will be in the software, the trust is what binds the network of peers together, so even if you are asleep or physically incapacitated, you are guaranteed your access to credit if you are due for credit
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We aim to be the facebook of Credit for the world, Facebook connects people socially, Friendsvow is connecting people financially, but on blockchain and by using currency like Bitcoin made on software, we can become a single digital credit monetary system without any need for a Bank license but working with Banks all over the world, it will enable us to be a single digital online credit solution for everyone
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
We started Friendsvow focused on our B2C customer pipeline by building directly for customers and we discover that some solutions customers customers wants it to work perfectly, they dont need to hear about the pain points, we were overwhelmed by the instant volume of customers who wants to test out our pilot, with only 4 customers it was impossible to keep up, we decided to transition into building for B2B Banks, to help the banks used our model to recover bad loans from customers that have defaulted on their loans and also B2G customers i.e Cooperative Associations, Sports Clubs with large fan base, we can help communities of people monetize themselves and issue Bitcoin credit cards to each fans, to shop for merchandise, pay for tickets, transfer using the club as a community Bank among themselves
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
People generally wants to support their loved once if they can, so it is quite easy to get support of people but making sure that pour solutions actually solve their problems in a natural way without gimmicks is the beautiful part about Friendsvow, ensuring that anyone at anytime will be able to request for credit from their family member, friends will be able to initiate credit request and get it fulfilled without tension or embarrassment, to do this we like to launch by focusing on working professionals, we target the top 100 companies in each county we operate and show them how they can benefit with our Friendsvow model of credit and it is so beautiful to see 90% signup rate after presentation to these companies because people understand the value immediately and are willing to try it to verify it actually works, you can follow our discord here to get updates and start making a Vow of Money with your loved once.
https://discord.gg/F47Kn6UP
