In the final stages of my Start-up R&D and need some volunteers to try out my idea.

[PM Unchained]

I am currently working on my R&D for my start-up and have reached a point where I need some volunteers to try out my idea and I hope you are able to help me with that.

I am in search of 10 volunteers, any volunteers will do. The crucial point here is to incorporate the task into your daily lives for 1 Month.

In a nutshell, my idea is to explore whether individuals can incorporate a daily ad-watching quota into their lives as an alternative to paying interest on loans, and to understand the impact this may have on their daily routines.

As a thank you, there will be a potential £20 reward.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[Mark T Jones]

A 'potential' £20 reward?

That's 2 hours of minimum wage.

 

[Newchodge]

A 'potential' £20 reward?

That's 2 hours of minimum wage.

That's less than 2 hours of minimum wage.

 

[BubbaWY]

They are asking for 'volunteers'.

 

[PM Unchained]

A 'potential' £20 reward?

That's 2 hours of minimum wage.

Thank you for your comments,

yes, the function of that £20 is two-fold.


1. As a thank you to the participants for taking part in this trial.


2. It also, most importantly, helps to make this trial as close to the real service as possible. It gives you a sense of something to gain and/or loss at the end of it. Let me explain.


Each participant will be allocated £20. If the participant completes all the tasks in time, they will be able to earn the full £20. However, if the participant does not manage to watch the ad's distributed within the give timeframe, there will be a "financial penalty" which will be at 3.35%, so around 0.67p a day.


Hope this explanation clarifies the task a bit. You are already consuming countless Ad's for free, might as well get paid for it.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thank you for your comments,

yes, the function of that £20 is two-fold.


1. As a thank you to the participants for taking part in this trial.


2. It also, most importantly, helps to make this trial as close to the real service as possible. It gives you a sense of something to gain and/or loss at the end of it. Let me explain.


Each participant will be allocated £20. If the participant completes all the tasks in time, they will be able to earn the full £20. However, if the participant does not manage to watch the ad's distributed within the give timeframe, there will be a "financial penalty" which will be at 3.35%, so around 0.67p a day.


Hope this explanation clarifies the task a bit. You are already consuming countless Ad's for free, might as well get paid for it.

This might work for students or even retired folk - business owners are unlikely to be motivated by 'possibly' earning £20

The penalty bit is flawed - you're asking for volunteers - you can't then start levying penalties - the stimulus needs to be entirely positive with focus on a social outcome as well as money

 

[PM Unchained]

This might work for students or even retired folk - business owners are unlikely to be motivated by 'possibly' earning £20

The penalty bit is flawed - you're asking for volunteers - you can't then start levying penalties - the stimulus needs to be entirely positive with focus on a social outcome as well as money

Hello Mark,

I hear what you are saying and students and every day working-class individuals have also been approached. The reason why I posted this here was in the hopes that people might help out a fellow entrepreneur in the spirit of entrepreneurship rather than financial gain.

The penalty is part of the business model since breaking any contract or not keeping up with "interest payment" in my case meeting Ad quota's, will have some form of consequence down the line. It is simply to align the trial as close to my business model as possible. Otherwise, there will be no incentive to complete the user’s end of the contract.

 

[pentel]

Ad quota

How long does it take to watch the "ad quota "?

 

[fisicx]

The penalty is part of the business model since breaking any contract or not keeping up with "interest payment" in my case meeting Ad quota's, will have some form of consequence down the line.

Does this mean we would be undertaking a trial to make sure you meet your obligations with the advertiser?

Surely the point of the trial would be to test if the system works. For example, that the adverts are delivered without buffering, are suitable for the tester, that don't required cookies or tracking etc.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hello Mark,

I hear what you are saying and students and every day working-class individuals have also been approached. The reason why I posted this here was in the hopes that people might help out a fellow entrepreneur in the spirit of entrepreneurship rather than financial gain.

The penalty is part of the business model since breaking any contract or not keeping up with "interest payment" in my case meeting Ad quota's, will have some form of consequence down the line. It is simply to align the trial as close to my business model as possible. Otherwise, there will be no incentive to complete the user’s end of the contract.

I'd suggest you present it as a staged payment rather than a goal with penalties

TBH it's a big ask expecting 'fellow entrepreneurs ' to do free market research or product testing. (We will however be brutally free with feedback on the overall concept.

Business lesson number 1 - nobody does anything for nothing. The reward may be a social one, but it needs to be stronger than this.

 

[PM Unchained]

How long does it take to watch the "ad quota "?

Its between 6-10 min per day.

 

[PM Unchained]

Does this mean we would be undertaking a trial to make sure you meet your obligations with the advertiser?

Surely the point of the trial would be to test if the system works. For example, that the adverts are delivered without buffering, are suitable for the tester, that don't required cookies or tracking etc.

Hello fisicx,

Thanks for your response, I agree with you that those are also concerns that will be addressed down the line when fleshing out the process of delivering Ad's to users and making sure it is as seamless as possible. The actual process will be done through the Unchained App and those queries will be addresses when trialing the App.

Just like any business that primarily runs on Ad income, all Ad's shown will be suitable for the user and also uniquely to Unchained, users will have a say on the Ad genre they would like to see more of.

However, currently the idea of this trail is to simply explore whether individuals can incorporate a daily ad-watching quota into their lives and to understand the impact this may have on their daily routine, if any.

 

[PM Unchained]

I'd suggest you present it as a staged payment rather than a goal with penalties

TBH it's a big ask expecting 'fellow entrepreneurs ' to do free market research or product testing. (We will however be brutally free with feedback on the overall concept.

Business lesson number 1 - nobody does anything for nothing. The reward may be a social one, but it needs to be stronger than this.

I appreciate the honesty Mark, and any feedback that helps me tackle issues I have not thought off are greatly appreciated.

 

[fisicx]

However, currently the idea of this trail is to simply explore whether individuals can incorporate a daily ad-watching quota into their lives and to understand the impact this may have on their daily routine, if any.

People don’t watch adverts. If a video ad displays whilst playing a game or watching something on YouTube or wherever they zone out, do something else or skip as soon as possible.

Which means they will fire up your app, click to watch then go put the kettle on or feed the cats, come back, click next, then go away again. The advertisers will get nothing in return.

 

[pentel]

People don’t watch adverts. If a video ad displays whilst playing a game or watching something on YouTube or wherever they zone out, do something else or skip as soon as possible.

Before streaming there used to be a spike in power consumption when people put the kettle on or went to use the toilet while the adverts were on TV.

 

[PM Unchained]

People don’t watch adverts. If a video ad displays whilst playing a game or watching something on YouTube or wherever they zone out, do something else or skip as soon as possible.

Which means they will fire up your app, click to watch then go put the kettle on or feed the cats, come back, click next, then go away again. The advertisers will get nothing in return.

Thats is true, people in general do not like watching Ad's. There might be one or two ad's people enjoy due to its visual or sound effect, but the majority of people hate ads. However, there is one thing that people hate more than watching pointless Ad's and that is paying interest. My platforms allow you to substitute paying interest with its lesser evil twin Ad's.

I have previously conducted a study of around 300 people and asked them if they had the opportunity of substituting paying interest on a Loan with watching Ad’s, i.e. paying with their time, will they be interested? ~80% said they would be.

Yes, that is an issue I have thought off and the solution is two-fold. The app will stop playing if it is put in the background. Also, before the next Ad can start playing, the user needs to interact with the App, by rating the Ad they just watched. It is not a perfect system, but miles ahead compared to any other ad displaying platform. In addition, the ratings collected from these real-time rating will be of great value to advertisers.

 

[fisicx]

But how much will you be paying to watch an advert? Maybe the income is a fraction of my interest payments so not worth the effort.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thats is true, people in general do not like watching Ad's. There might be one or two ad's people enjoy due to its visual or sound effect, but the majority of people hate ads. However, there is one thing that people hate more than watching pointless Ad's and that is paying interest. My platforms allow you to substitute paying interest with its lesser evil twin Ad's.

I have previously conducted a study of around 300 people and asked them if they had the opportunity of substituting paying interest on a Loan with watching Ad’s, i.e. paying with their time, will they be interested? ~80% said they would be.

Yes, that is an issue I have thought off and the solution is two-fold. The app will stop playing if it is put in the background. Also, before the next Ad can start playing, the user needs to interact with the App, by rating the Ad they just watched. It is not a perfect system, but miles ahead compared to any other ad displaying platform. In addition, the ratings collected from these real-time rating will be of great value to advertisers.

What people say and what they do are often very different- which i guess is what you are testing - its also the difference between market research and asking around

I frequently advise businesses what they can do to pay less interest - common examples being 'stop using the business bank account as a personal piggy bank' and 'file your accounts on time'

Mostly agree and continue as they were

 

[PM Unchained]

But how much will you be paying to watch an advert? Maybe the income is a fraction of my interest payments so not worth the effort.

On average the clicks per 1000 impression (CPM) are roughly between £6-9 for any ad displaying platform. Obviously these can vary greatly depending on numberous factors. In 2022 youtube had an average CPM of £7.73. For my model, lets say a person borrows a set value and decides to repay it over 3 months. Over the course of those 3 months, the total number of ads watched will reach 4,500. This equals to an interest rate of 3.4%.

Or even with this trial right here, you are "borrowing" £20 over 1 month. This will generate me a CPM value of 300, which translates to 13.50% interest.

 

[fisicx]

So I have to borrow my money from you? Does this mean you are FCA licensed? That you offer a range of loans types at competitive rates? That you guarantee the loan will be covered by my video views?

 

[PM Unchained]

So I have to borrow my money from you? Does this mean you are FCA licensed? That you offer a range of loans types at competitive rates? That you guarantee the loan will be covered by my video views?

We will be on the day of the roll out. We offer loans with no interest payment, which is something you won't find anywhere else. There is only one company that comes close which is located in America and doing fairly well. Therefore, you only have to pay back what you borrowed at a flexible repayment term chosen by you. Nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Nathanto]

lets say a person borrows a set value and decides to repay it over 3 months. Over the course of those 3 months, the total number of ads watched will reach 4,500. This equals to an interest rate of 3.4%.

Where does the 4,500 ads figure come from? That's 50 ads a day for three months...

Are you saying that if I borrow £500 from you to be repaid over 3 months then instead of paying interest I have to watch 50 ads every single day for three months?

 

[fisicx]

We will be on the day of the roll out. We offer loans with no interest payment, which is something you won't find anywhere else. There is only one company that comes close which is located in America and doing fairly well. Therefore, you only have to pay back what you borrowed at a flexible repayment term chosen by you. Nothing more and nothing less.

However, the conditions are very onerous. The chances of someone completing the course is slim. Maybe if I borrowed £100K I'd put in the effort but not for a piddling amount like £500. Unless of course you are targeting D/E social graded borrowers.

 

[Mark T Jones]

We will be on the day of the roll out. We offer loans with no interest payment, which is something you won't find anywhere else. There is only one company that comes close which is located in America and doing fairly well. Therefore, you only have to pay back what you borrowed at a flexible repayment term chosen by you. Nothing more and nothing less.

Have you discussed this with the FCA?

You are actually offering loans with 'potentially' no interest, which will be interesting (pun noted) interms of quoting APRs etc

Do remember that the FCA aren't noted for being flexible or able to interpret things, they like everything to fit in their boxes

 

[PM Unchained]

However, the conditions are very onerous. The chances of someone completing the course is slim. Maybe if I borrowed £100K I'd put in the effort but not for a piddling amount like £500. Unless of course you are targeting D/E social graded borrowers.

It is a fairly unique concept, and people will need to slightly adjust to it, I admit that. It will start off with smaller loans but as the business grows, we will be able to offer larger loans. If we look back at any new concepts that was introduced into the world, for example electric cars, many people were initially very sceptical regarding the range and the charging time, compared to the convenience of filling up for 5 min. But electric car drives have adjusted their lives to include the charging time of their car into their daily lives without having a negative impact.

I am sure people will adjust to this as well, since it works out cheaper compared to the conventional lending practices which have not changed for 100’s of years.

 

[PM Unchained]

Have you discussed this with the FCA?

You are actually offering loans with 'potentially' no interest, which will be interesting (pun noted) interms of quoting APRs etc

Do remember that the FCA aren't noted for being flexible or able to interpret things, they like everything to fit in their boxes

I had a read through the FCA rules and regulation and if I have not miss interpreted anything Unchained will come under the umbrella of equal instalment loans. The primary goal of the FCA is to simply protect the customer from being burdened by unrealistic loan repayments. Since one of Unchained's main goal is to completely negate the use of interest and only expects customers to payback what was borrowed within the time frame chosen by the customer, while taking into consideration their income and savings.

Granted, it will be a difficult terrain to manoeuvre, but the FCA's sandbox allows me to trial out these parameters.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I had a read through the FCA rules and regulation and if I have not miss interpreted anything Unchained will come under the umbrella of equal instalment loans. The primary goal of the FCA is to simply protect the customer from being burdened by unrealistic loan repayments. Since one of Unchained's main goal is to completely negate the use of interest and only expects customers to payback what was borrowed within the time frame chosen by the customer, while taking into consideration their income and savings.

Granted, it will be a difficult terrain to manoeuvre, but the FCA's sandbox allows me to trial out these parameters.

As I see it, you will be offering interest Free credit with penalties? Those penalties will he closely monitored and regulated (unless there is an angle im missing?)

Your collections policy will also be closely scrutinised

I wish you well, but Suggest you look into the realities of regulation before you invest more time on product

 

[PM Unchained]

As I see it, you will be offering interest Free credit with penalties? Those penalties will he closely monitored and regulated (unless there is an angle im missing?)

Your collections policy will also be closely scrutinised

I wish you well, but Suggest you look into the realities of regulation before you invest more time on product

Hello Mark, you are correct, if the ad watching quota's are not met then I will need to recuperate the lost ad revenue somehow. I have a few ideas but will need to research this further.

I appreciate the advice and will need an open conversation with someone form the FCA to make sure I know what policies Unchained will fall under.

 

[fisicx]

Suppose I take out one of your loans and don’t watch a single ad. What are you going to do? What’s your recovery process? I’m assuming a bank will be underwriting these loans and they will be charging you interest regardless. That is if you can even get a lender to sign up.

 

[Mark T Jones]

OK - I can't stay away through personal interest

You have to decide on priorities here, because i can see 4 areas to work on

As you say, you need to do some thorough research - designed to establish behaviour and, in particular to find the flaws and loopholes. They will definitely exist, and when a customers discover them they will relentlessly exploit and publicise them

Then the FCA. personally I'd make that my top priority, since they can put an absolute block - however good the idea is.

Funding - how are you going to fund it? If you already have a source, great. If you are going to 'the market' you will need to do serious research on how it will work.

And finally, lending and collections policy which will be largely informed by your testing and research, but you do need to know who your customers are and how you will collect.

 

[fisicx]

It’s likely your target clients are those who can least afford a loan. Which means the chances of default is higher. If they can’t repay then you are unlikely to get your money back - because they don’t have the means to repay.

This is why they can’t get loans from their bank. I know one person who has no means of identification at all. Lend to her and she will disappear.

 

[PM Unchained]

Suppose I take out one of your loans and don’t watch a single ad. What are you going to do? What’s your recovery process? I’m assuming a bank will be underwriting these loans and they will be charging you interest regardless. That is if you can even get a lender to sign up.

Funny you would ask this question; I had the exact same question from a potential investor. I didn't have the answer then but managed to come up with a 4-tiered safety net to make sure people don't break their contract. The only way to find out if this ship is water-tight is to let it float and see where the leaks are. That's why I need to try this out on a much smaller scale and then slowly patch-up and scale up.

 

[PM Unchained]

OK - I can't stay away through personal interest

You have to decide on priorities here, because i can see 4 areas to work on

As you say, you need to do some thorough research - designed to establish behaviour and, in particular to find the flaws and loopholes. They will definitely exist, and when a customers discover them they will relentlessly exploit and publicise them

Then the FCA. personally I'd make that my top priority, since they can put an absolute block - however good the idea is.

Funding - how are you going to fund it? If you already have a source, great. If you are going to 'the market' you will need to do serious research on how it will work.

And finally, lending and collections policy which will be largely informed by your testing and research, but you do need to know who your customers are and how you will collect.

Correct, the FCA will be my next priority and need to make sure this idea has a slot to fit into. The other day I was reading an interesting section from the FCA's Mission, it states "..Other firms offer financial services that do not need to be authorised., such as credit agreements that are repaid within 12 months and attract no interest or charges" I found that quite interesting.

Funding-I will be partially funded by me and the other 1/4 I will need to see if I can get some pre-seed investment from somewhere.

The real-life data from this trial will be a significant boost to investor confidence.

 

[PM Unchained]

It’s likely your target clients are those who can least afford a loan. Which means the chances of default is higher. If they can’t repay then you are unlikely to get your money back - because they don’t have the means to repay.

This is why they can’t get loans from their bank. I know one person who has no means of identification at all. Lend to her and she will disappear.

My target Audience will be the working-class. People who have a steady income and at the same time if they have to shell out £500-700 on something, it will be of significant's to them. This idea will definetly also attract individuals who have no steady work or can't show proof of last 3 months income. Those are the red flags i will need to weed out when approving these loans. Especially when people don't have to pay an extra £200 worth of interest on a £400 loan.

 

[Clint911]

we would advertisers want to be on your platform? Why advertise to people who need a small loan to buy something already?

 

[Mark T Jones]

we would advertisers want to be on your platform? Why advertise to people who need a small loan to buy something already?

My guess is that it will be a lively demographic for some advertisers - but hopefully the OP will include it in their research

 

[fisicx]

Especially when people don't have to pay an extra £200 worth of interest on a £400 loan.

Who are you getting loans from! On a £400 loan I’d expect to pay around £40 interest. If you are paying more you are using the wrong lenders.

As an aside, it’s not working class anymore. Do some research on social grouping classification.

 

[Nathanto]

My target Audience will be the working-class. People who have a steady income and at the same time if they have to shell out £500-700 on something, it will be of significant's to them.

How many ads a day do I have to watch if I borrow £500 over three months?

 

[NickGrogan]

ok, so ads for interest? Seems simple enough. You ad platform sounds exactly the same as the one on my wife iPhone games, so the tech exists and works at scale.

So I borrow £500 for 3 months, I watch 4500 adverts and its interest free?

Fine, but boring. I've still got to repay the £500, right.

So how many ads to repay the loan in full?

Principle and interest?

Offer that and you've got something interesting.

 

[fisicx]

@NickGrogan - you have to watch the ads and record codes that appear on the screen. You can’t just click to begin and walk away.