Dialogue with Notcoin Builders: How to Achieve the Fastest User Growth in the History of the Crypto Industry? | Cypher Talks

Speakers: Bill Qian, Andrew Rogozov, and Sasha Plotvinov

Date of Conversation: May 31

Compiled by: Cypher Capital & ChainCatcher

About Cypher Talks:

Cypher Talks is a series of dialogues jointly launched by Cypher Capital and ChainCatcher. Bill Qian, Chairman of Cypher Capital and a board member of the TON Foundation, will serve as the core speaker to explore Web3 methodologies with the most talked-about projects and ecosystem builders in the industry.

Previously, we also invited Steve Yun, President of the TON Foundation, to join Bill Qian. You can click here to read " Dialogue with the TON Foundation: The Craft of Building the 'Web3 Super App Ecosystem'." In this episode, we invite Andrew Rogozov, Founder and CEO of The Open Platform, and Sasha Plotvinov, head of the Open Builders team that created the currently popular application Notcoin.

Notcoin has swept the crypto industry at an astonishing speed. With a total player count of 35 million and up to 6 million daily active users, Notcoin has become a "phenomenal" game in the community.

Andrew Rogozov is a founding member of the TON Foundation and the Founder and CEO of The Open Platform (TOP). The TOP platform has established multiple projects and tools within the Ton ecosystem, such as the Wallet in Telegram and the TonKeeper wallet and Notcoin for PC users. He previously served as CEO of VK.com, a major social media platform in Eastern Europe.

Sasha Plotvinov is the leader of Open Builders, the team responsible for creating Notcoin and other popular products on the Telegram app and the TON blockchain. Based primarily in London, his leadership and expertise have played a key role in driving innovation and success in the digital space.

Bill Qian is the Chairman of Cypher Capital and the Chief Investment Officer of Phoenix Group. Before joining Cypher Capital, Bill was in charge of Binance M&A and Binance Labs.

In this interview hosted by Bill, we explored the development journey of Notcoin with its founders Andrew and Sasha, including insights on the project's rapid adoption, challenges faced, and future vision.

Bill: Could you both share your professional backgrounds and how you entered the cryptocurrency industry?

Andrew: My curiosity about decentralized technology drove me to embark on my journey into the crypto industry. Before founding TOP, I primarily worked in the tech field, particularly in social media platforms. I served as CEO of VK, one of the largest social networks in Eastern Europe, where we experimented with various engagement mechanisms. These experiences laid the foundation for the work we are doing today with Notcoin.

Sasha: My journey did not start in the crypto industry. I worked as a product manager at a startup in California, and when I joined in 2013, I was still a designer. As the company grew from 30 to 1,500 employees, I felt it was time to embrace new challenges. When Andrew and I discussed the possibility of collaborating with VK.com, it sparked our interest in exploring new opportunities. After considering various product ideas, such as job boards and user-friendly systems, we ultimately shifted our focus to the TON ecosystem and built on it. This decision allowed us to create a launch platform during a challenging market period, driven by our belief in the industry's growth potential. Over time, we expanded our platform to serve a broader Telegram community, offering a comprehensive suite of marketing campaigns, NFT minting, token sales, and community engagement tools. This shift began a year ago and marked a significant milestone in our journey.

Bill: Notcoin attracted over 35 million Telegram users in just two months, achieving remarkable growth. What do you think led to this rapid expansion?

Andrew: The rapid expansion can be attributed to several key factors. First, the simple onboarding process—Telegram users can start using the app without any complex authentication process. Second, viral growth—94% of users were invited by others, with incentives for inviting friends and participating in teams. Finally, the leaderboard—people enjoy competing with each other, so we created a highly competitive environment. Various leaderboards within the community, teams, and invitees attracted users to engage in friendly competition, particularly appealing to the most active participants.

Sasha: I agree. Simplicity and viral growth are game changers. Users can start earning rewards with just one click, making it very easy to get started. Additionally, in terms of education, users can learn more about cryptocurrency through various tasks and activities, adding significant value. The integration with Telegram's social graph also allows users to easily share and invite friends, driving the growth flywheel.

Bill: How did you decide on the name and logo for Notcoin? I noticed that the logo resembles that of the Ton Foundation.

Andrew: The main concept of Notcoin was to create a more educational and accessible way to acquire Ton tokens. By using a simple click mechanism and a playful wordplay from "Ton" to "Not," the project aims to attract a broader community.

Bill: What was the biggest challenge you faced when establishing Notcoin?

Andrew: I think the biggest challenge was the unexpected massive growth, which required us to rapidly scale our infrastructure. Telegram faced limitations due to unprecedented growth, such as user limits in group chats. To address this, we created separate groups for different languages and utilized the topic feature within Telegram groups. This allowed for more organized communication and enhanced user interaction. While growth brought challenges, it also prompted improvements on the Telegram platform. Expanding our infrastructure during this rapid growth period was the most difficult aspect. Additionally, combating bot fraud required complex algorithms to ensure fairness and a genuine user base.

Sasha: I will honestly tell you that one of the biggest challenges was working for eight months without weekends, starting from when we showcased a QR code pointing to the Notcoin beta version at our meeting in November. The workload surged, and a mountain of tasks came our way, making the process quite arduous and exhausting. Of course, we now recognize the need to change the pace, improve organization within the team, and make work more rhythmic.

On the technical side, handling a large volume of user requests was also challenging. We had to optimize our database, distribute the workload across various servers in different countries, and minimize peak times. Some days, we worked hard from 8 AM to 11 PM to ensure the app's performance. While it was tough, we learned a lot as a team, especially since we had never dealt with such high traffic before. Now, we are more capable and experienced, able to confidently face new challenges, which are just another feature to solve.

Bill: Setting up a TON-based cryptocurrency wallet for users is an important step. How does this integration benefit Notcoin and its users?

Andrew: When users first enter the crypto industry, a wallet is not their primary need. Instead, they may be curious about cryptocurrency and start using it as beginners. It is important to have user-friendly tools suitable for beginners, such as a toolkit. People typically start using cryptocurrency by engaging with interactive crypto features, such as interacting with specific crypto assets. Most people only start installing wallets after receiving tokens from others. Therefore, our project Notcoin has become one of the fastest-growing crypto applications globally by distributing tokens to millions of users and encouraging them to create wallets to store their tokens.

Users can choose from five different cryptocurrency wallets, including custodial wallets within Telegram and self-custodial wallets both inside and outside of Telegram. This flexibility allows users to select the wallet that best fits their preferences. Partners involved in the project have clearly seen a surge in user numbers and recognized the educational significance of our project. Emphasizing the concept of receiving the first token is a key factor in sparking curiosity and engagement in the crypto space. Notcoin's unique distribution model, which involves a large ICO for a single token in a short time, has contributed to its success.

Bill: What part of the project has surprised you? Were you surprised when it reached one million users right from the start?

Andrew: I anticipated this outcome because we launched a similar project before 2019. However, we were uncertain about how it would perform on Telegram due to its unique platform and diverse user base across different countries. Each country has its own way of using Telegram, some for social interaction, some for channel chatting, and some for group participation. The diversity of user behavior across markets was something we had to learn and adapt to as we expanded the project on Telegram, which was unexpected.

Sasha: Back in November, I had models and projections in place. While not all my goals have been achieved, we were very close to the planned targets. When we stopped the clicker part on April 1, we had already reached 35 million users. One surprise was when we invited users to donate to Telegram, we received donations from 500,000 people, with 250,000 donating all their tokens. This generosity motivates us to give back and promote positive wealth creation methods that benefit everyone. By nurturing a thriving ecosystem, our goal is to achieve shared success and avoid putting users in situations of failure or unearned outcomes.

Bill: Notcoin is the first project to be listed on major exchanges simultaneously. How do you feel about this? What advice do you have for other projects going through the token listing process?

Andrew: For us, this is an incredible milestone. Being listed on major exchanges like OKX and Binance simultaneously provides us with tremendous exposure and credibility. My advice to other projects is to focus on user value rather than immediate tokenization. Take Telegram as an example; it did not monetize for the first seven years, allowing the community to grow in value. This strategy has proven successful, as only projects with strong and engaged communities can attract exchanges. I believe founders should prioritize creating long-term, sustainable value for users, which will naturally attract exchange partnerships. It's all about building something meaningful, letting value speak for itself, and ultimately leading to productive partnerships that benefit all parties involved.

Sasha: Building something viral on Telegram may not be difficult, but ensuring its sustainability, fairness, and transparency is the real challenge. In the long run, only sustainable projects that fulfill their commitments will thrive. My advice is to not only focus on "going viral" but also on the goals and long-term vision behind the efforts. Project plans should prioritize sustainability. Test your ideas early and thoroughly, addressing any concerns or uncertainties. Being proactive in solving problems and enhancing project adaptability from the start will help avoid future issues.

Bill: In terms of community culture, how do users perceive Notcoin, especially for new crypto users who may have different cultural backgrounds and perspectives on tokens? How do users view the value of Notcoin?

Andrew: I believe Sasha has played a significant role in shaping the project's value and community. Notcoin prioritizes its users and community over secret token sales or seeking investors. The project's unique approach involves a large distribution of tokens, making participants feel valued and connected to the success of the community. By providing rewards and incentives, users are encouraged to hold onto their tokens rather than sell them immediately. This sense of unity and community ownership sets Notcoin apart, emphasizing the power of cryptocurrency and blockchain in empowering individuals and fostering a sense of shared success and ownership within the community.

Bill: The crypto industry changes rapidly. What is your vision for Notcoin and the TON ecosystem in the next 12 to 24 months?

Andrew: I believe Notcoin has the potential to grow tenfold, including a thriving community, an expanding base of token holders, and more. This growth may not necessarily lead to a tenfold increase in user numbers, but it could significantly impact the overall market value. As more users engage with the platform, more games and experiences will be introduced, enriching the community.

I think TON should actively attract and welcome developers to integrate into the system and provide them with comprehensive tool support. Developer tools not only provide additional incentives for developers but also benefit users participating in the ecosystem. The TON team is currently working to establish an open alliance to assist all contributors and organize global events to educate builders on how to collaborate to create the next Notcoin or DeFi protocol on TON, Telegram, Mini Apps, and the ecosystem. This aligns with the focus of other blockchain ecosystems, but the uniqueness here lies in its combination of blockchain and a platform built on shared resources.

Sasha: The most valuable part of the ecosystem is people's attention and time. This makes me realize that the key to system growth lies in educating users and encouraging them to bring value to the ecosystem. In the next four years, my vision is to establish a series of effective and automated subsystems within the Notcoin ecosystem, including competitions, influencer collaborations, and governance processes. The goal is to ensure these subsystems work seamlessly together to create and attract value within the ecosystem.

Another aspect to consider is that from the very beginning, we recognized that the clicker feature could not sustain continuous growth and engagement in the long term. To prevent Notcoin's popularity from gradually declining, we decided to shift from the mining phase to a more construction-focused phase, thus shutting down the clicker on April 1. Our current strategy is to launch new viral social games that promote community participation, collaboration, and competition through leaderboards. Our first game is expected to be announced and launched in June, marking the exciting new direction for Notcoin.