The Top Ten Things I’ve Learned About Primal Base

The top 10 things I’ve learned about this one of a kind project.

I enjoy reading Question and Answer documents. I find it’s often the best way for me to get my arms around multiple aspects of a complex topic. So when I wanted to learn more about Primal Base, the new blockchain-based real estate/shared office project, I was happy to learn that the Chairman of the Board, Dmitry Faller, had participated in seven Q and A sessions featuring over 130 questions. That’s a lot of Q and A content to sort through!

For me it’s a positive sign when a company shows itself open and willing to answer a lot of questions on the record. Dmitry does an admirable job fielding a wide range of questions from an audience of (apparently) largely skeptical inquirers wondering how in the world he’s going to pull off an ambitious project of this magnitude that’s never been done (like this) before. He provides a lot of robust responses and the end result is an information-rich record for any interested person to review.

If you’re seriously interested in the Primal Base project — and especially if you’re considering participating in the crowdsale that begins on Monday, June 26th— nothing can replace the experience of reading the full transcripts of all the Q and A sessions. And, of course, reading the project’s white paper. And studying their website.

But if you don’t have time for that kind of research, and/or you’re just kind of curious and need a quick introduction to what it’s all about, I’m happy to share the Top Ten Things I’ve Learned About Primal Base based on all the information I’ve been able to gather.

1. It’s all about community.

Again and again Dmitry Faller asserts that the main mission of the project is “to build infrastructure and community.” And he seems especially passionate about the community part. How do we know that? He’s made significant business decisions based on a desire to foster community. For example, there is a 3 month minimum lease required for all tokens. Why? Because in Dmitry’s words: “It simply doesn’t make sense to grant access to a tech community for just half an hour or even half a day.” He knows that it takes at least a few months for people to form meaningful connections and he’s willing to sacrifice what may be short-term profit potential (in the form of daily or hourly rental options) in order to create a culture of community and connection. To me that shows an inspiring commitment to the ideal of community that transcends simple economic considerations.

2. It’s also about infrastructure.

It seems that Dmitry looks at infrastructure through the lens of community as well. He goes on to say, “People need to be sure that in every city they have familiar infrastructure. When there is an infrastructure you are used to, it helps a lot.” It almost sounds to me that behind the drive to build and create infrastructure is the desire to create a little piece of “home” everywhere in the world. Dmitry has a vision that for Primal Base members one day wherever they travel “there will be an infrastructure you are used to, there will be community members open for communication and collaborative work on existing tasks and problems.” Who wouldn’t want to have a home “infrastructure” wherever one might roam?

3. It’s both traditional and revolutionary.

Primal Base is at once traditional and revolutionary. One aspect of it is based on a classic real estate model: renting office spaces to project teams, startups, and companies.The second part is what’s revolutionary: tokenizing Primalbase membership and granting access to Primalbase workspaces through the purchase or lease of a token.

4. They could do the project without tokens and the blockchain, but…why?

Dmitry seems very aware that the project could be realized without integrating tokens and blockchain technology. But he also understands that the blockchain isn’t just a gimmick being shoehorned in to create a sense of novelty. It’s at the heart of what makes the project unique and innovative and convenient beyond any previous experience. Blockchain technology “significantly streamlines and simplifies” leasing, sales, and day to day management of access. “Blockchain technology is not useless here, it fits naturally in this kind of model.”

5.The roadmap is simple: 5 open offices by 2018.

Most cryptocurrency projects have pretty complicated roadmaps with lists of technical milestones they hope to achieve by a series of set dates. Not Primal Base. Their roadmap may as well be a picture with 5 buildings on it and two dates: 2017 and 2018.

Dmitry lays it out like this: “[Our] roadmap is very simple…in September we will open a workspace in Berlin, in December — in London. Locations in New York and Singapore will be opened in 2018.” End of roadmap.

I like the simple, straightforward nature of that vision. It’s all about opening 5 offices. One is already functioning as a proof of concept in Amsterdam. So one down and four to go. If the end of 2018 comes and those five offices aren’t open, it will be very easy to see that the project is not following the roadmap.

6. It’s OK to be a little bit skeptical about it.

I can’t lay out all the objections and doubts people raise about the viability of the project and its business plan. But there are several of them. Go ahead and read the Q and A record yourself and you may see your own doubts or questions expressed exactly by others. Dmitry seems to accept that. He has a good answer to many of the objections raised, but many might not be persuaded by all his responses. Dmitry doesn’t shy away from the skepticism behind the more pointed questions, but tends to meet them with his own quiet confidence that his vision can and will be realized. That’s all yet to be proven, of course. But the confidence on display seems to be based in genuine preparation and a solid understanding of the market, its unique dynamics, and the strength of the chosen business plan.

7. They’ve thought of everything…at least it seems like it.

Reading through the Q and A’s I found a veritable laundry list of “what if…?” and “what about…?” questions.

For example: “What will happen if a renter commits a crime on Primal Base property?…or “What about special assessments to cover unexpected repairs to buildings?

No question seems to faze Dmitry as there seems to be a plan for every contingency you could imagine. I’m sure there are some things they haven’t contemplated or addressed yet. But given the general level of overall preparedness that is evidenced by some pretty savvy answers to some pretty obscure questions, it seems like they could handle pretty much anything that might confront them along the way.

8. The crowdsale will probably sell out quickly.

There are only 1000 tokens to be sold at the crowdsale. Yes, you can buy as little as .0001 PBT (the smallest possible fraction). But since all token holder privileges require that you hold at least one full token, interest in acquiring at least one PBT is high. Also, significant discounts are being offered to first day participants (3 BTC for one 1 PBT vs 5 BTC for 1 PBT) and so it’s hard to see how they won’t get bought up rather quickly.

9. They have powerful friends and supporters.

Vitalik Buterin and Sasha Ivanov are two rock stars in the cryptocurrency universe. Until fairly recently, Vitalik appeared on the Primal Base website as an official advisor. But not anymore. He’s apparently made the decision to no longer publicly endorse projects. Which is understandable. But in the Q and A, Dmitry addresses the question of Vitalik’s one time advisor role and signals that he remains a “friend” to the project, though an “unofficial” and silent one for now.

Sasha Ivanov, on the other hand, seems eager to proclaim his support. He recently appeared with Dmitry at the Primal Base Amsterdam office during a Waves meet-up. He spoke passionately about his belief in the project’s potential. Given the fact that the Primal Base Token will be issued on the Waves platform that Sasha pioneered, his seal of approval means a lot especially to members of the Waves community. It signals that he has evaluated the project and found it worthy of his support.

10. They have a good elevator pitch.

Finally, sometimes the best measure of a project is how well you can sum it up in a succinct and compelling “elevator speech” that can be shared in 20 seconds or less. Dmitry has this base pretty well covered with an elegantly crafted mission statement that powerfully tells the project’s story:

“Building upon the well-established business model of shared workspaces, the Primalbase project transforms traditional office rental into a new-generation community-based ecosystem where one can share, sell or rent out high-quality office spaces using Ethereum and Waves-based digital tokens.”

I can’t say it any better than that.

If Dmitry and his team can deliver on the promise of this elevator pitch, Primal Base may be headed nowhere but up.

Conclusion

Does this Top 10 list tell you everything you need to know about Primal Base? Hardly. It’s just a brief introduction. Hopefully, though, it’s a spur to get you to do your own research, ask your own questions, and come to your own conclusions about this fairly unique and innovative project.