Summary

During Breakpoint 2023, a significant discussion took place surrounding BuddyLink, an innovative platform looking to reshape Web3 engagement. Aiden and Calvin, the co-CEOs and co-founders of BuddyLink, along with Michael Wagner, the co-founder of Star Atlas, introduced BuddyLink as a bridge for better interaction between users and Web3 projects. They addressed the current limitations in the Web3 space and demonstrated how BuddyLink can resolve these challenges through shared attribution, referral rewards, and simplified user onboarding, ultimately bolstering community and user retention.

Key Points:

BuddyLink's Genesis and Mission

The inception of BuddyLink was driven by the founders' personal struggles with introducing friends into the volatile and sometimes unsafe crypto environment. After continually observing the patterns of their friends getting "rug pulled," the founders embarked on creating a secure system that educates and provides a safe passage for newcomers into various Web3 projects. They discovered that both users and businesses faced significant issues—users with security and finding projects, and businesses with high costs and complications of existing engagement tools. Thus, BuddyLink aims to provide a cost-effective, all-encompassing solution to foster user engagement and retention.

Engagement Tooling and Shared Attribution

The concept of engagement tooling is not novel, typically aimed at increasing user acquisition, retention, and spend. Current service providers operate in isolation with high costs and lack of composability, causing frustration and inefficient management for businesses. BuddyLink intends to streamline this by offering a system where referrals, loyalty programs, and other engagement tools exist within a single interconnected ecosystem. The platform's debut features shared attribution, allowing users to be connected across multiple products, multiplying monetization and reward opportunities.

BuddyLink for Businesses and Users

BuddyLink serves as a conduit for businesses to increase user engagement without the excessive costs associated with traditional marketing and engagement models. It also ensures that users have a safe and rewarding entrance into the Web3 ecosystem. Through platforms like Star Atlas developing on BuddyLink, businesses have already seen significant user growth and generated increased transaction volume. This growth echoes the benefit of BuddyLink's philosophy of community empowerment and composability in the Web3 environment.

The Future: BuddyConnect and the Buddy App

The future of BuddyLink includes two major innovations: BuddyConnect and the Buddy app. BuddyConnect provides a gasless solution for smooth user onboarding with a gamified system rewarding users for daily activities and interactions. The Buddy app integrates this experience with mobile, enabling users to seamlessly interact with Web3 applications and manage their identities securely.

Facts + Figures

• BuddyLink is co-founded by Aiden Neil and Calvin Maighan.
• The platform offers a secure place for people to discover and invite friends to Web3.
• Businesses can often spend over $15,000 a month on engagement tools that BuddyLink could provide for free.
• Buddy offers a next-generation referral marketing hub for businesses and users.
• Shared attribution allows users to be connected and monetized across multiple products.
• The Star Atlas integration with BuddyLink led to 2,000 new users, $150,000 in rewards distributed, and $1 million in marketplace transaction volume in just a few weeks.
• Golden tickets, a raffle program integrated into the Star Atlas game, provides another earning avenue.
• BuddyConnect aims to offer a gasless onboarding experience launching in 2024.
• The Buddy app aims to enhance daily user interaction with Web3 on mobile platforms.

Top quotes

1. "It's a super secure network where nobody gets rogged and everyone can just safely invest."
2. "Getting people into Web3, getting them in safely, but also trying to get projects to work together, because Web3 is all about composability, about working together, about building community."
3. "Any product that uses BuddyLink as the referral system, that user is now connected to all of those products."
4. "The idea here is that as Calvin was kind of mentioning with his saga, this is something that people do every day."
5. "We still have a few things missing, like being able to just use our saga and sign when I'm on desktop."

Questions Answered

What is BuddyLink and why is it important in Web3?

BuddyLink is a platform designed to address the challenges of secure user engagement and interconnectedness within the Web3 space. It is important as it offers a single, composable system that integrates referral and engagement tools, making it cost-effective for businesses and securing a safe investment space for users. This solves the cold start problem in Web3 and enhances business-to-community relationships.

How does BuddyLink intend to solve the problems of security and high costs in Web3 engagements?

BuddyLink aims to solve security and cost issues in Web3 by providing a secure environment for users to discover projects without falling victim to scams, and by offering businesses engagement tools that would otherwise be expensive to implement. It consolidates various engagement mechanisms within a single, cost-effective platform, allowing for a simplified yet comprehensive approach to user acquisition and retention.

Can you explain the concept of shared attribution on BuddyLink?

Shared attribution on BuddyLink means that when a user is referred to one product through the platform, they automatically become connected to multiple products within the BuddyLink ecosystem. This interconnectivity allows for expanded monetization options, both for the referrer and the referred users, who can earn rewards across various products they interact with.

What is BuddyConnect and what issues does it aim to resolve?

BuddyConnect is a feature planned for release in 2024 that aims to provide a seamless onboarding experience for users entering Web3. It eliminates the need for gas fees and eases the user into the blockchain space through gamified daily activities. This innovation seeks to resolve the pain points of complex wallet usage and the typically high costs associated with performing actions on the blockchain.

What advantages does the upcoming Buddy app promise for Web3 users?

The Buddy app will enable users to engage with the Web3 environment conveniently through their mobile devices. It supports identity management, seamless asset transfer, and a marketplace to discover new products and stay informed on the latest Web3 developments. The app, which supports the Solana environment, fosters easy and secure interaction with Web3 applications and enhances the user experience by integrating various nifty features.