I help funded teams get traction | Growth, GTM, User acquisition | Focused on Crypto & Emerging Tech | Prev. @NEARProtocol (5 yrs), @BankofAmerica (3 yrs)
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i spent five years at NEAR and for most of it i was the person founders came back to after they’d already spoken to BD, grants, devrel, community and half the company
early on i helped build out the CRM, founder journey and support system as the ecosystem grew from fewer than 20 projects to 200+
later, i was managing a $1.3m annual growth budget across 30+ companies
a consumer finance app, a defi protocol and an infrastructure product had completely different ICP and yet somehow the launch conversations kept circling back to the same question:
which crypto KOLs should we use?
i was managing the budget, so this wasn’t somebody else’s mistake. it was my job to catch it.
i went through roughly six months of agency and creator activity and found ~$400k a year that could be cut or redirected
a lot of the best outcomes came from starting from what success looked like and working backwards
who was the product for? why would they care? what needed to happen before they got anything useful from it? where do these people live that we can get in front of them? how?
that’s the work i’ve decided to do independently now
i’ve turned it into a five week GTM sprint for funded crypto and fintech teams with one important decision they need to get right before another quarter gets built around the wrong answer
ALT I help funded crypto and fintech teams decide who to go after first. We investigate the assumption most likely to break the plan, then I turn the findings into a 90-day GTM plan your team can run. Marcus Ribeiro Go-to-market consultant for crypto + fintech. Seven years in crypto. Five at NEAR Protocol, working with founders from the first conversation through launch. Before crypto: Bank of America and Merrill Edge.
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something you wish your AI could do?
the @heyaskr founders want to hear it
help shape what they build next (and get free AI credits for your time too)
startups that learn from and build for their users >
Our founders want to speak to you, mostly just to listen.
In this launch phase we're focusing on two core concepts.
- Speed... heyaskr.ai/roadmap
- Communication -> heyaskr.ai/feedback
Video, voice, group call, texting on telegram or the form above. Every single day from now, we're setting a block of time to get in calls with users, critics, builders, and anyone else in between.
If we can communicate with our users and find out exactly what they like and what they want.
Then build what they want with speed.
And repeat.
We will have no other option but everyone winning.
When you visit our platform or use askr now you'll notice a new banner from our founders, please click it, and please fill it out.
We want to speak to you!
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there has never been a better time to build onchain products
in a world where anyone can build a product, distribution is the ultimate bottleneck right now
...crypto solves this
only in crypto can you ship a product and get a bunch of visibility and traction right away AND earn revenue for runway
over the last couple weeks alone i've had chats with founders (mostly solo founders) who built a product, launched on a platform like @ponsdotfamily (that pays creator fees), and got a good amount of traction/users, a community being built (or community members), visibility AS WELL as runway for building, development of the product, user/community incentives
imagine if all of the people vibe coding apps found out about this?
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had a call with the @heyaskr robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 founder today
good to put a face to the project, we talked through where he’s taking it
quick takeaways:
> solo founder, determined af and shipping hard, very product/user focused
> real usage already (seeing users, revenue, etc. within days of launch), community ~2k strong
> fees already impactful
> product side is moving, distribution/getting in front of the right people is a focus
more locked in on the direction after that tbh
weekend already showed the shipping pace (voice, collab, holder discount rewrite, burn, etc.)
nfa. still very early. still crypto (we all know the risks involved).
the @heyaskr team shipped a lot in like 72h, here's a recap of what rolled out since fri (their posts + changelog):
> voice talk to the model on any device (allegedly speech runs in your browser, nothing sent to their servers, doesn't spend credits)
> shared workspace/collab rooms for up to 12 people, shared balance. anyone in the room can prompt, anyone can top up. free to join, you only burn credits on actual runs. kinda like one company card for ai, except multi model.
> holder discount got rewritten + free credits (this is a big one imo) old story was "discount on a platform fee" while launch was feeless... so that discount was a bit hollow.... as of today: hold robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3, link wallet (no stake/lock/send), models run at 5% of list price up to a daily allowance that scales with how much you hold. every 0.01% of supply ≈ 1000 discounted credits/day, refreshes daily, unused doesn't roll.
past the allowance you pay normal, and works inside collab also. they also say they're subsidising that 95% themselves, and they're airdropping free ai credits to every holder on (even if you've never deposited)
they burned 7% of supply, and 5% is time locked (~12% removed from circulation), public tx. read that however you want, just noting they did it in the open
why i still find it interesting without pretending it's unprecedented:
> shipping pace... thesis friday -> voice/collab/holder rewrite by monday
> narrative fit is "ai usage as a credit balance" meeting "token as access", on robinhood chain where a lot of new retail attention is concentrated
> the roadmap content (memory that follows you across models + a model stack built around you) is where this stops being another aggregator tab... if they ship it (BIG IF)... until then it's execution + distribution
i'm trying to get on a call with the team this week if they're free... want to go deeper on roadmap/vision, what "fusion" actually means in practice before i say more than "they're shipping"
nfa. crypto is risky as wel all know, most tokens go to zero, product ≠ price. DYOR, NFA
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update/clarification: further speaking with the @heyaskr team i learned it’s not a solo dev, but in fact a team (3 atm) behind $ASKR
bullish
they’re inviting feedback, feature suggestions, etc. which is shaping product direction (i.e. building for the users… imagine that)
had a call with the @heyaskr robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 founder today
good to put a face to the project, we talked through where he’s taking it
quick takeaways:
> solo founder, determined af and shipping hard, very product/user focused
> real usage already (seeing users, revenue, etc. within days of launch), community ~2k strong
> fees already impactful
> product side is moving, distribution/getting in front of the right people is a focus
more locked in on the direction after that tbh
weekend already showed the shipping pace (voice, collab, holder discount rewrite, burn, etc.)
nfa. still very early. still crypto (we all know the risks involved).
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the @heyaskr team shipped a lot in like 72h, here's a recap of what rolled out since fri (their posts + changelog):
> voice talk to the model on any device (allegedly speech runs in your browser, nothing sent to their servers, doesn't spend credits)
> shared workspace/collab rooms for up to 12 people, shared balance. anyone in the room can prompt, anyone can top up. free to join, you only burn credits on actual runs. kinda like one company card for ai, except multi model.
> holder discount got rewritten + free credits (this is a big one imo) old story was "discount on a platform fee" while launch was feeless... so that discount was a bit hollow.... as of today: hold robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3, link wallet (no stake/lock/send), models run at 5% of list price up to a daily allowance that scales with how much you hold. every 0.01% of supply ≈ 1000 discounted credits/day, refreshes daily, unused doesn't roll.
past the allowance you pay normal, and works inside collab also. they also say they're subsidising that 95% themselves, and they're airdropping free ai credits to every holder on (even if you've never deposited)
they burned 7% of supply, and 5% is time locked (~12% removed from circulation), public tx. read that however you want, just noting they did it in the open
why i still find it interesting without pretending it's unprecedented:
> shipping pace... thesis friday -> voice/collab/holder rewrite by monday
> narrative fit is "ai usage as a credit balance" meeting "token as access", on robinhood chain where a lot of new retail attention is concentrated
> the roadmap content (memory that follows you across models + a model stack built around you) is where this stops being another aggregator tab... if they ship it (BIG IF)... until then it's execution + distribution
i'm trying to get on a call with the team this week if they're free... want to go deeper on roadmap/vision, what "fusion" actually means in practice before i say more than "they're shipping"
nfa. crypto is risky as wel all know, most tokens go to zero, product ≠ price. DYOR, NFA
AI inference on heyaskr.ai is now 95% discounted for robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 holders. Including collab usage.
No staking, locking, minting or sending tokens needed.
We're introducing a scaling daily limit of discounted use based on how much robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 you hold.
Every 0.01% of the supply you own your daily discounted credit usage is 1000 credits, and this refreshes every single day automatically.
Whilst we're building our very own sustainable router directly with @OpenAI, @AnthropicAI and co to scale heyaskr into a goliath of a consumer app the proper way... we wan't to keep robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 users growing and working with us build brand new 1 of 1 features in the AI industry like askr Collab:
> nitter.net/heyaskr/status/2101747…
As we've always said AI consumers are loyal to what they want, whilst we build the product, performance and new experiences through our features, shared memory, fusion skills and models for the individual, here's the thing you've been asking for also.
Just to be clear, this is us subsidising the cost ourselves, we're not rerouting any stolen tokens, black market credits, or anything else that goes against the TOS of AI providers.
Starting today, we'll also be airdropping every single robinhood:0xa92768863a55d8a0591709f7f5e594a249d36ea3 holder free AI credits on heyaskr.ai regardless of deposits or usage.
hey askr, build what the AI consumers actually want.
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seeing a good amount of creators/figures on crypto twitter hopping on the trend of auctioning off the suit, dress, laptop, hairline, asshole for token2049 & KBW placements
companies paying to get in front of the same people who they’re already in front of on this app all day
i’m at a car meet rn in a NEAR tee from when i worked there, and people with actual money walking around (supercar, classics, etc owners)
this is half a joke, but also how i think about distribution
similar angle/strategy to what i ran for nearcon 2023 that took registrations from <200 to 2500+ in a ~6 week period, and led to an incredible turnout
events/marketing was focused on the crypto echo chamber… my team went after the same type of person (builders), just outside ct
not crypto native, but still developers. registrations and actual attendance both went crazy
if your product only sells to people already living in this timeline, fine. paying for the conference chest logos might make sense
if you’re trying to break out (consumer finance, creators, collectibles, depin, whatever needs normals with money or skill) maybe stop only buying attention from the echo chamber you’re already shouting into
not really selling shirt space btw (but might be open to it…) mostly just saying the quiet part out loud
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one thing i'm keeping an eye on is voting + making redemption usable for eligible holders on robinhood chain
whether robinhood builds it in house (they've already got say/shareholder tooling) or some third party protocol that other apps plug into...
imo infra that turns stock tokens from a price wrapper into something closer to ownership is a strong opportunity
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for the past 4 months i was posting into complete silence every day, multiple times a day
this week i have 3 calls booked
stuff that actually moved the needle for me:
- narrowed hard on who my target audience is
- focused on a real problem they have right now (traction/getting users) and provide value around it based on experiences/skillset
- stopped spending most of my reply energy on general crypto twitter and put it into founders who are building, hiring, or stuck on growth
- actually got on calls with people in my network again instead of just liking each others posts for 6 months
- got more delusional about shooting shots - aspirational dms, asks that feel embarrassing, whatever
i spent 5 years at NEAR mostly working directly with founders going 0 -> 1 and then trying to get them users. so the content started matching that instead of random takes
still a ways to go (im hungry af), but silence -> 3 calls in a week is enough for me to keep going
if you’re in a quiet stretch right now: keep pushing, focus on networking, send the dm you’ve been avoiding
worst case nothing happens. best case you don’t sit there when you’re 90 wondering why you never tried
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this dev made $90k in creator fees in <12h…
if you have half a brain (and you're not a scamming piece of shit), there's a pretty a lucrative opportunity to build something useful and launch a token around it with utility
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hi, i'm 35
growth/gtm, based in uk
5 years at @NEARProtocol working with founders (ecosystem -> gtm lead), before that @BankofAmerica
helped take NEAR eco from <20 live projects to 300+ within a year after mainnet, NEARcon 2023 from ~200 regs to 2500+ with no paid, cut ~$400k out of a $1.3m growth budget, helped vibesdotfun reach 60k+ activated users
looking forward to connecting (and working with) founders building strong products in crypto or frontier tech
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my avg views are under your threshold, but my craft is not
still applying anyway and shooting my shot
@kidpakerot
I’m hiring X Fellows to work directly with the core team at Moonshot (YC S26).
Pay: performance-based + base pay (other perks too)
Requirements:
> strong understanding of the X platform
> consistently posts about AI, tech, startups, or related topics
> averaging at least 1k views average post (the more the better)
> willing to post consistently and improve your content
> interested in learning personal branding, content, and distribution
Perks:
> get paid while building your personal brand
> learn how to grow on X and create content that gets attention
> work directly with the core team at Moonshot
> get feedback and guidance from the team
> potential opportunity to earn a role on the Moonshot team
We recently got 400K+ views from our launch, and you’ll get to learn the strategies behind our growth.
If you think you’re capable enough, fill out the application. tally.so/r/dWOQgz
Brownie points if you quote this post, tag me, and show me your work or find a creative way to get my attention online.
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imo $ASKR was timed pretty well on robinhood chain
uniswap already shipped agent swap skills for that chain, and the default brain those agents still hit is openrouter/openai plus a card
there's a potential gap here...
brainstorm of some of the highest leverage things i would do i was the @heyaskr team:
> become the default openai compatible endpoint for rh builders. they already document cursor/continue/aider against heyaskr ai/v1 fee is 0 at launch while openrouter takes something like ~5%. ship a one pager for chain 4663 builders and a tiny weekly ranking of which models rh bots actually use... even if the numbers are embarrassing at first (fake scale is how you get ignored by the people who actually matter anyway)
> nanogpt already does accountless x402 so an agent can pay and retry without email otp. askr's whole thing is payg credits from a wallet which is closer to agent commerce than veniceai's stake-for-capacity model. if they put metered inference behind 402 in the next month or two they could start competing for agent spend
> third is a big one imo - askr's natural demo is something like "funded with sol -> ran claude + a video model -> cost X credits." make that shareable... seed a handful of builders to post the work (not just the ticker). anon team needs the output to be the spokesperson
seems to be doing well so far, getting a decent amount of traction
onwards and upwards
NFA
This is how $ASKR wins.
Look at what the market already pays for...
OpenRouter: every AI model, one balance, a small cut on every request. $160M a year. Bought by Stripe in August for about $10B.
Venice: an AI app with a token. $100M a year. Its fees buy back and burn their token. About a $2B valuation.
The platform concept has been declared!
heyaskr: swap any asset for any AI... every major model in one UI behind one balance. The same starting shape.
Now look at what users actually want...
(and nobody has shipped)
1. Personalised fusion models.
A model built for one person and one person only, from how they actually interact with AI, to what they work on and the style that they prefer. One model based on pure performance or pure cost effectiveness. Built by splitting context and tasks through existing AI models.
2. Shared memory.
What you told one model, stays with every other model no matter the company or AI type. Now when you switch a model, or api, or company, it's a fresh state. AN example is claude refusing to read knowledge from codex, useless.
3. Personalised skills.
Borrow, take or build a workflow once, run it on any model. Why let AI over think, over code, waste credits or simply do anything but the thing you want?
Here's a harsh truth about the AI market...
Nobody is loyal. People switch from Claude to Codex every week, based on tweets, resets, performance, narratives.
Whoever gives a user exactly what they want at that moment in time wins the user.
The best answer or the cheapest one, from a model built around them and them only... keeps that user.
Do that for tens of millions of people and you are the platform and balance every one of them spends from.
That is the $ASKR roadmap...
Build what the majority of AI users want actually want, and then take the users from other platforms.
Short and sweet - they want pure performance that is cost effective for their exact jobs.
Read the steps: heyaskr.ai/docs/community/ro…
PS: and on top of that we are building novel concepts too... marketplaces where you can trade in and out from crypto to ai credits back to a different crypto. Does hedging trades with codex credits sounds fun?
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might start posting more gems, research and thoughts on low caps/opportunities i come across in my tg:
t.me/marcuslayerxportal
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came across @heyaskr earlier, wasn't sure if i wanted to post about it at first
been mainly focused on helping founders/teams win, and also we all know how speculative and hit or miss low cap crypto projects are...
but this has some crazy good potential imo, couldn't fade it
basically lets you use all big ai models (chatgpt, claude, gemini, deepseek, grok, plus image/video stuff) off one balance you fund with crypto... btc/eth/sol/usdt/etc
no card, deposit turns into credits so you only pay for what you use
literally something i would use regularly... stacking 3-4 ai subs gets annoying and a lot of people in this space just want to top up from a wallet and go
it's on robinhood chain too which has a ton of attention right now but is still pretty light on solid tools and infra...
holding $ASKR is supposed to cut their platform fee and get earlier model access.
caveats - they're saying no platform fee at launch, so that discount doesn't really mean much until fees turn on. also brand new, thin socials, anon from what i can tell. lowcaps are still lowcaps... can go to zero, and if things go wrong it doesn't matter how good the idea is
i'm in it. not financial advice. just flagging a product i'd personally pay for if nothing stupid happens with the team/dev
pretty big market for this if you ask me.
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