Web3 will disrupt traditional industries.
What would top Nasdaq & NYSE companies look like if they adopt a web3 biz model?
Here’re 35 examples:
Note:
- These aren’t the only ways to do web3/tokenization. They’re example ideas.
- Some of these are already being implemented. Others are harder to execute. But they should serve as inspiration if you’re a founder.
1. Amazon logistics
Instead of large distribution centers, Use decentralized mini warehouses (e.g. your backyard) for storage & drivers pick up merchandises from closest storage location. Delivery fees paid in warehouse tokens are earned by warehouse owners.
2. Meta / Facebook
Users earn the platform token by posting and commenting. Amount earned is based on popularity of content posted. Advertisers pay for ads in the platform token.
3. Google
If the search engine / browser records any user data—e.g. demographic, behavioral— into its database, user earns the platform token. Advertisers pay in platform token to access the database.
4. Costco stores
Customers purchase store membership in NFT. They can rent out the NFT on 2ndary mkt to others who want access to Costco discounts but don’t shop frequently. Members get rental incomes. Costco gets more customers.
5. PepsiCo
Pepsi owns dozens of food & beverage brands & regularly acquire new ones. A PepsiCo utility token— which customers can earn when buying from one brand & spend on another brand— could help Pepsi grow new brands by leveraging customers from existing brands it owns.
6. Comcast / Xfinity
Comcast operates a public WiFi network, which consist of hotspots in public locations, businesses & home gateways. A utility token supported by network revenue, which users can earn when providing hotspot service would improve WiFi coverage & user loyalty.
7. Netflix
Airdrop Netflix tokens to users-> Let users “stake” tokens on pilot shows they like-> Users earn partial streaming revenue from those shows. Now users have more incentive to help promote their favorite shows which attract more subscribers.
8. American Electric Power Company
User tokenization to incentivize development of distributed renewable power generation from small hydro, biomass, solar, wind & geothermal generators, w/o upfront cash investment from the company.
9. PayPal
PayPal already lets users buy crypto in their app. Next step is to evolve into KYC-ed DeFi. E.g. let users contribute their crypto balances to liquidity pools hosted on PayPal to facilitate token swaps & earn a txn fee.
10. Mercado Libre
Use tokenization to drive traffic & give marketplace vendors more incentive. Vendors earn tokens when the customers they attract to platform make purchases. Vendors can then give the tokens to customers as discount or use tokens to pay for platform commissions.
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11. Zoom
Switch the video transcoding process from centralized servers to allow individuals to transcode from their own computers. Instead of paying subscription fee, users pay in tokens directly to transcoders when they have a video call.
12. Airbnb
Hosts & guests earn Airbnb tokens when they receive good reviews. They can use tokens to pay for future booking fees, or lower commission charges, or sell tokens on 2ndary mkt to monetize their rewards of being good participants on the platform.
13. Lululemon Athletics
Social media influencers post pictures in Lululemon outfits & earn Lulu tokens according to popularity of their post. They can give tokens to their audience to redeem for products. Part of company revenues are used to buy their own tokens on 2ndary mkt.
14. Starbucks
Allow customers to monetize their loyalty by earning Starbucks points in tradable token format. Customers can stake tokens to get tiered discounts in future.
15. DocuSign
Users earn utility tokens when the person they send a document to also signs up for a DocuSign account. The utility token can be used to pay for subscription fee at small discount.
16. McDonald’s
A franchise DAO where the DAO token represents pooled resources from members, allows members to vote on new franchise locations & receive yields from profits of the DAO’s portfolio of franchises.
17. Disney
Customers earn upgradable Disney NFTs whenever they make purchase or interact w/ the brand’s array of products. Different tiers of NFTs in wallet unlocks different future perks & discounts.
18. Nike
NFTs matched one-to-one w/ limited-edition shoes maintain rarity even after physical shoes are worn out & gone. A collection of rare sneaker NFTs becomes a store of value, which gives more incentive for customers to buy rare sneakers & allows higher price premium.
19. Illumina
Anyone that has their genome sequenced & contributes to the global DNA database gets an airdrop of DNA token. Medical companies & research orgs pay to access database. Revenues are used to market-buy the DNA tokens.
20. Activision Blizzard
Gamers earn the platform token whenever they play the company’s portfolio of games or participate in player communities. Earn rate is higher for new games. Part of revenues from all game sales are used for token buyback.
21. Fidelity
Create a marketplace for mutual funds of tokenized assets. Anybody can set up a fund & anybody can invest in fund tokens. Performances are transparent w/ data tracked on blockchain. The platform curates, filters & helps users discover funds.
22. Monster Beverage
Energy drink is a commodity. 90% of company value is intangible brand equity. Many ways to use DAO & NFT to encourage participation in brand. E.g. Monster DAO to let customers vote on new flavors / designs & earn tokens, which are used to redeem products.
23. Digital Realty Trust
Use token sales to finance investments in new data centers. Customers of the data centers need to pay for usage in the said token.
24. Visa Inc.
Interchange fees on credit card txns are high partly to cover fraud/chargeback costs. Blockchain wallet txn data is open & free. Analyze the data to determine credit worthiness of a user & offer cards w/ lower interchange fees to quality users.
25. Equifax Inc.
Equifax collects & sells consumer credit data to b2b customers. A web3 competitor can give tokens to individuals it collects data from & buy tokens on 2ndary mk w/ revenues from data sales. Token incentive encourages self reporting & help build database quickly.
26. Southwest Airlines
Tokenize airline miles to allow 2ndary mkt exchanges. Token price serves as “automatic stabilizer” of airline demand. When demand drops-> token price is lower-> encourage more token redemption for plane tickets-> increase demand. Vice versa.
27. Ulta Beauty
Create a governance token that lets customers vote on which brands to introduce / kick out of Ulta stores. Voting customers get perks & discounts from brands they chose. Organic marketing & increased customer engagement.
28. Estée Lauder Companies
Instead of paying Kendall Jenner top advertising $, give customers tokens to try new products & buy tokens back w/ product profits.
P.S. Cosmetics biz disrupter of future would be customer-owned to share high biz margin w/ users to grow faster.
29. Match.com / Tinder
Incentivize users to input personal data w/ token airdrops. Data is used to improve platform algorithms to increase chances of matches. Additional airdrops if user invites friends. Tokens can be applied towards paying subscription fees.
30. Etsy Inc.
Merchants earn Etsy utility tokens when they attract new customers to the platform. Tokens can be used to pay future platform fees. Staking tokens gives merchants rights to vote on certain operation decisions of platform.
31. Planet Fitness
Gyms make $ by having members who don’t go to gym. Industry disruptor would do opposite. Charge higher fee. Reward members w/ tokens for actually working out. Partner w/ health agencies & insurance companies to support token price.
32. Booking.com
Use tokenization to increase repeat customers & lower advertising cost. Grant users tokens when booking hotels through the site. Tokens can be used to get discounts on future bookings.
33. Public Storage
Instead of running centralized self-storage service, create mkt place to match storage demand w/ users who have extra space in home/office. To bootstrap growth, users on both sides get token allocations, the value of which is supported by platform txn fees.
34. Zillow
Advertisers pay partial fees in Zillow tokens. If users end up renting / buying a property they found via the platform, they get a rebate in tokens. Creating listings also earns tokens. I.e. tokenization supports growth of both sides of mkt place.
35. DoorDash
Restaurants earn tokens when they direct customer traffic to the platform & use platform for payment processing. The higher a merchant’s token balance, the lower commission they pay. Use savings on ad spending to reduce fees for both merchants & customers.
9 Comments
Disney actually already has NFTs which are licensed of course and sold via VEVE on their mobile app. Download it and check it out! Amazing licensed NFTs from Disney, Marvel, DC, etc…Peter
Tascha – Thank you for providing, really, the first macro use case for crypto. It has all been gobbally-gook until I heard your interview on a recent crypto podcast. Also, great job taking a stab at developing use case examples for the major companies and brands. I’m sure these will continue to evolve. The notion that 2ndary mkt liquidity will create a shift in the demand curve and therefore greater achievable producer surplus, assumes the supply side remains constant. Which it will over the short term, but lets say speculation drives the 2ndary market for the token to stupid levels? This will make it a very tricky problem to manage for both marketing and corporate finance? But I do agree it could broaden the total addressable market. Thanks again for your insights.
As of 33, do you know Locktrip.com, very good team and solid project
To add to the amazon one:
We had a big rain a few years back and the hardware stores all ran out of pumps and fans (for mitigating flood damage in a basement). A speculator could’ve looked at the weather and said “they’re gonna need more pumps” and moved those resources closer to where they’d be needed. I’m sure we can find a way to reward people who predict demand like this without requiring them to also be involved in the logistics of actually moving the resources. Separately we can reward the people who move resources around and store them nearest-to-need without requiring them to be involved with the speculation.
That already happens, and just for the reason you give. I worked for a large hardware/dealer/distributor and they prepped the stores with just the kind of supplies you mention. Also, they moved disposal medical goods like cotton swabs, disinfectant, masks and such when the pandemic hit.
The company has a whole team that react to various events and get materials moved around.
In some of the use cases, what is advantage of using web3. For example, in Netflix use case, it can create a loyalty tokens program using web2 and achieve the same thing.
Tascha, when these ideas come into fruition and adopted by these large institutions, do you anticipate the companies to create their own layer 1 or will they build it on top of an existing one such as a SOL, ETH or AVAX for example? Thank you in advance!
Great list for use of tokens. Reminds me on the stamps I get for each coffee in my favourite cafe. 10 stamps and I get a free coffee. Just can not use it to pay for a beer in my favourite pub.
The list triggered my creative mind. I am having the idea to reward our employees with tokens. They can use the tokens to claim leave or get a coffee in my favourite cafe. Who can implement something like this? Does it exist already?
Get the stocks instead of getting scammed and/or rugpulled.