Business Showcase : Minds

Describe the company – the elevator pitch …

Minds is an open source and decentralized platform for Internet freedom that rewards users for their contributions to the network with crypto tokens, which can be exchanged for promoted views or exclusive rewards from other channels. The platform is built on a foundation of democracy, transparency, privacy and
Internet freedom.

How are you different?

Our platform is powered and run by our users, not by unknown algorithms. We have a unique reward system that allows our top contributors to earn tokens and gain more views on the network using our Boost ad system, or support other channels with our Wire payments.. Our code is 100% free and open source, which enables rigorous peer review and inspection. We also allow for anonymity and do not require any personally identifiable information upon signup, giving the user total control over what personal information they wish to provide (if any).

Why will you do well?

We believe the top social network needs to be powered by the people, for the people. It needs to be free, open-source, encrypted, decentralized and monetized. People are beginning to wake up to the danger of giving
centralized corporations too much control over our personal information and the distribution of information online. The future of social networking will be about privacy, transparency and user control.

Where are you based?

New York City

When was the company launched?

We founded Minds in 2012, and launched to the public in 2015.

What have been your biggest wins to date?

In May 2017 we were the fastest company to raise over one million dollars in Equity Crowdfunding. It took just 19 days from over 1,500 investors worldwide. We also recently launched our own Ethereum-based token on our platform, which is fully integrated with our rewards, advertising and peer-to-peer systems.

Who are you trying to attract to your product?

A full spectrum of users, from non-technical people who want more views on their content, to serious developers who want access to the code to evolve the app how they want. Our goal is to bring thought leaders from all across the political spectrum together on the same democratized platform in order to encourage healthy discourse and find real-world solutions for the major issues we are seeing today with social networking.

What tips would you give to others looking to build their business?

Our belief is that the companies of the future will be open-source and able to interoperate with one another. The next big company will not be a single centralized network…it will be a group of networks all working
together to ensure that the end user remains in control of their data and experience. There is a major movement underway towards more decentralized and transparent business models that value user rights and freedoms, so our advice would be to keep these principles at the foundation.

Tell us about your team?

Bill Ottman founded Minds in 2011 with the goal of bringing a free, open source and sustainable social network to the world. He studied at the University of Vermont and has co-founded multiple viral media organizations.
Mark Harding is co-founder and CTO of Minds. He is the lead developer and technical leader of the Minds open source community. Mark has been building open source social networking system for over a decade. Jack Ottman is the COO. He studied business at Washington and Lee University and was a top sales manager with IBM’s cloud software business unit.

What are your plans for the future?

Our plan is to continue improving our platform with the mission of giving users more control of their online experience and digital rights. We recently launched the Minds token on the Ethereum test network which is a major step towards decentralization, and we plan to migrate onto the Ethereum main network once we have audited the security of our smart contracts. We will always continue to look for new ways to innovate and provide decentralized solutions that enable a more democratic and community oriented system.

What are your favourite tech gadgets?

We are most interested in pretty much any technology that is open source or decentralized.

What tech gadgets do you wish you could use to help you?

One focus currently is to find open source solutions to help us decentralize our data storage and video hosting capabilities. In addition, we are looking for innovative ways to prevent fraud, spam and copyright infringement.

Anything else you’d like to add/we should have asked?

Our mission is to build a decentralized, open source and community owned social network. Many of the problems that exist today on the Internet are a result of centralized proprietary business models. Minds aims to be the social network that genuinely gives users control of their personal data and online experience.

How do people get in touch with you?

Bill@minds.com

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking