Matriz - dApp for collective purchases and resource pooling

Astar Initiatives
21

Hey everybody :blush:

I will respond to your questions in parts:

We have estimated that there are around 650,000 self-employed individuals in Mexico. In general terms, we could consider this our numerical target. However, it’s important to note that our primary audience is freelancers (which we define as self-employed individuals whose services are knowledge-based). Assuming this group represents about 10%, we would be looking at approximately 50,000 people. Once we achieve that critical mass, we could transition to other work modalities or focus on replicating the model in other countries.

Currently, the project does not generate any revenue. We haven’t launched to the market yet because we are finalizing legal and tax matters (to avoid issues related to money laundering and outsourcing) and because we need a critical mass for the project to be sustainable. With 50 people, we could make the first purchase, but we would be subsidizing all administrative costs involved. We’re still working on the financial projections to get more accurate data.

Our current costs are around 2,500 USD per month, considering the accounting reports required by the cooperative, notarial expenses, administrative tools, etc. No one on the team is receiving a salary at the moment.

So far, the options we’ve considered are:

  • Insurance (accidents, travel, disability, life)
  • Access to a coworking network
  • Access to an online course platform
  • Access to a network of gyms and wellness classes
  • Access to specialized paid software

In general, we’ve looked into ‘private’ options (because public social security in Mexico is very basic and doesn’t have a good cost/benefit ratio).

As the group grows, we could expand to more subscriptions and bulk purchases, as well as hiring specialized providers collectively.

The sustainability model proposes charging an annual membership fee + a percentage fee for transactions made + a percentage fee for the amount invoiced on behalf of the cooperative.

However, once the break-even point is reached, the commitment is to reinvest the surpluses to add more benefits and/or subsidize access for more vulnerable communities.

I envision that we could use the $ASTR token for the liquidity pool (which would help finance advance payments) as well as for the flow of the internal economy (among service providers).

Thank you for your questions and comments. I’m happy to continue discussing.
As @matt put it better:

:raised_hands:

22

Thank you very much for the information. The information provided was very detailed and clear.

I would like to ask a few additional questions:

  1. Besides freelancing, what other opportunities does the team see?

  2. Regarding the costs, are these Variable or Fixed Costs? If they are Variable costs, are there any other additional components?

Thank you very much.

1 Like
23

@BoomBLB

We believe that after freelancers, we could extend to all types of independent workers (with more manual trades, such as carpenters, craftsmen, plumbers, bricklayers). I would like to point out that a third of the workforce in Latin America is self-employed.

Most of them are fixed (and come from the administrative costs of the cooperative we formed). As for the variables, I think it depends on the quantity and quality of labor we could hire. Right now, assuming the bare minimum (and without considering investment for the technological development team).

24

@system Could you help me to make the original post visible again? :see_no_evil:

25

Thank you very much for the information. I now have a clearer understanding of the concept and overall project.

Regarding costs, I think it’s okay. As for expanding to cover various types of freelance work, does the team have a roadmap for which areas to start with and which to tackle next? =)

26

@BoomBLB is it okey if I answer this in the other thread?

27

Yes, no problem. I can visualize it and understand it better now. Anyway, thank you very much. =)

1 Like