Base is running large regional buildathons with a very unique prompt-
Find a meaningful problem in your community and build an onchain experience to solve it.
My approach to thinking on ideas was simple- look for problems around myself. For instance-
I know my driver never had insurance until my father got him one. What happens when he switches jobs? So many folks that don’t have insurance because they aren’t formally employed or aware of government schemes.
My panipuri vendor saved money for 12 months, while working 2 jobs and sending money home, so he could finally open his pani puri stall. Because he didn’t have a bank account, access to credit history, and he didn’t want to go to expensive money lenders.
My friend has 4 tickets to Coldplay’s show in Abu Dhabi for a day but wants to go on a different day. He’s looking for someone to swap them but how does he find them or trust them?
These are just examples of some problems. Point is, problems are all around us. And there’s a high probability that those problems could be solved slightly better onchain.
The onchain economy unlocks net new consumer experiences by doing two things really well-
Global access to capital- It unlocks capital for anyone anywhere in the world instantly without brokers. That means you can build a way to allow US investors to invest in Indian entrepreneurs or real estate or commodities. Just basic capital coordination is global, cheaper, faster, and efficient.
Permissionless data legos- Anyone can build on top of an existing data or logic stack. That means once someone has built something- say an onchain bookstore, you don’t need to recreate it again. You can just use that to sell bookmarks or create a service that sends physical copies of books to those that buy from the bookstore.
Both these pieces are powerful individually. Combined, even more so.
My recommendation as you build this Buildathon is to think about the problem, the user, and use case first. Don’t build a ZK identity protocol and try to force-fit use cases.
Instead, look around, what would you solve for at home, for your friend, for your neighbor, for yourself?
Let’s think through what superior onchain solutions could look like for the problem statements I highlighted earlier.
Problem: Solve for househelp insurance in the country
Detailed Problem:
A majority of tier 1 and 2 India employs househelp to help with household chores, like maids, cooks, and drivers. This informal economy in the country operates without health insurance. Any medical emergency leads them to banks and money lenders and down a debt hole.
Possible solutions
Credit rating- A way for them to put their verifiable income onchain. Cash verification can be hard but you could build a way to verify invoices in a socially verifiable way (in return for cashback), leading to better credit discovery for both insurance providers and banks.
Insurance- Allow one tap health onchain insurance - use token design, advertisements, and data legos to reduce insurance cost.
Crowdfunding- Allow different houses in a neighborhood/society to be a part of a collective that pools in money onchain to solve for such challenges when they occur. Use smart contracts to ensure payments are trustless for payback.
Information and access: Lots of government schemes solve for insurance already, can you create a way for folks to access it, store it, share it. Maybe even reward those that share it when someone benefits from a policy that got shared.
Problem: Lack of entrepreneurship capital for street vendors
Detailed Problem:
Lots of street vendors in India start by first getting employed and saving for a while before starting their own mini business
Venture funding doesn’t find this scale attractive so it doesn’t provide access to credit
Banks don’t have enough credit history to provide business loans
Possible solutions:
Basenames for entrepreneurs: All entrepreneurs small scale or not need a single onchain identity stack like basenames. Once they’ve a basename, can you allow them to share their business plans and create a rounds.wtf kinda model that other people can fund based on social consensus.
Video first platform: Such a platform could also be video first, since internet access in India is democratized and there’s a huge unlock in video content that’s come as a result.
Problem: Inefficient ticket management for large concerts
Detailed problem:
Coldplay recently announced a show in India and saw massive lines and sold out in a few minutes.
Tickets of the show were selling for 5-20x the price and lots of scams were happening
No clear way to find a seller and trust them
Possible solutions:
P2P resellers marketplace: Put tickets onchain. Verified credentials of existing tickets. Have an escrow account that takes in funds and facilitates payments.
There are problems all around us looking for sharper solutions. Onchain infrastructure is ready. What will you build?
