Quidli, present and future

A brief look back at 2018 as we look ahead in 2019

We’ve come a long way in a short time at Quidli. And as a new year starts, I think it helpful to reflect back on the BUIDL phase we had in 2018 in order to set the scene for the shipping phase we’re embarking on in 2019 (for both posterity’s sake and keyword purposes 😉).

Equity is definitely a part of the future of work

When Florent and I initially started pitching the concept of ‘work for equity’ to founders, CEOs, lawyers, investors, etc. as market research back in February 2018, we received a lot of feedback. There naturally was skepticism, particularly from older and more “institutional” crowds. But the enthusiasm and demand from aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners was proof enough to see that the nature of work is changing and that today’s workforce is looking for solutions to rework work.

Florent introducing Quidli at an event IoT Valley in Toulouse, France back in July 2018

Like any good obsessive entrepreneurs, we developed severe cases of Baader-Meinhof — more people are increasingly starting companies and pursuing work in fields they’re passionate about, and they want greater inclusivity in ownership and fairer distributions of shares to those doing the actual work (think bounties, if you will). For entrepreneurs, there’s never been a better time than now to start businesses; yet dynamic ownership management is complicated, inflexible, and expensive. And so enabling simple and flexible programmable equity became the launchpad for Quidli.

Blockchain is definitely a part of the future of ownership

It may seem counter-intuitive to build an ownership management tool for real businesses on technology associated with cryptocurrency. After all, in the midst of “crypto winter,” tokenization naysayers have been out in full force proclaiming the entire effort as nothing but digital platforms for ponzi schemes. But at Quidli, we remain confident that the path towards extracting the true value of programmable equity — greater liquidity for holders— is on blockchain in the long run.

This doesn’t mean blockchains (and crypto) are the silver bullets they were hyped up as being during the last ICO craze. Rather, in this coming new era of digital assets, they’re systems to be leveraged in taking greater control of what we own without unnecessary frictions. And so for Quidli, blockchain is viewed as an integral brick for advancing the larger architecture of ownership and distribution of private equity in the 21st century.

Accordingly, a big highlight in 2018 was having our vision for equity and security tokens validated by ConsenSys Ventures: Quidli was accepted into the inaugural class of Tachyon, their accelerator for blockchain startups. In addition to connecting with the larger Ethereum community, we had a great Demo Day in November and we’re now harnessing that momentum for 2019.

Quidli in the new year

Before getting Quidli off to a running start in the new year, Florent, Gagandeep, Mike, and I want to openly acknowledge all the contributors we’ve had from Day One — team is the most important factor, and this isn’t limited to full-time employees; we’re super grateful to our decentralized yet never closer friends, family, freelancers, community members, and investors who continue to help us buidl (and who’re all real stakeholders). Anything purpose-driven takes a lot of passion, as well as trial and error; the patience and dedication our team has demonstrated has set us up for a big year.

With that said, next on the roadmap for Quidli is to open up our platform to the general public in the coming weeks. Our decision to focus on compliance and legal frameworks for SMEs is paying off now as we enter a more defined regulatory environment in 2019. In the meantime, for those interested in getting access to the Quidli closed beta while it’s still available, please do reach out and we can see if it’s a fit for you/your company.

All in all, I’m very excited to continue sharing all we’re working on, and all of us are excited to continue building Quidli into a core tool in the future of work.

Let’s rework work together! Follow us to learn more about the future of work, equity-for-labor, blockchain protocols, and to stay updated on Quidli’s progress. And if you’re interested in using Quidli, send us a request.

Feel free to directly connect with the team as well via the Quidli Telegram group!