SUPER HOW? Can be defined in many ways. We are an innovation laboratory, a visionary research and development company, we work with emerging technologies and focus on the DARQ. Yet, there is one more part to SUPER HOW? that hasn’t been discussed that much – the startup studio.
Today we would like to take you on a journey, which we hope will help you better understand what exactly is that we do, by having a profound conversation with our Co-Founder and CEO Andrius Bartminas.
Let’s start with the basics - what is a startup studio?
The startup studio term is quite fresh. It is a new model in the venture capital and startup ecosystem. It was created due to an understanding that venture capital and acceleration programs are no longer effective. The new idea was to create a platform or a model where the start-ups are nurtured inside a company focused on building ventures.
With a startup studio, the company is not only involved in advising the founder team, as it is often done in accelerators. Rather, the nurturing company, in our case SUPER HOW? has a hands-on approach and is working on the startup studio projects. So, a startup studio is the same as venture builders and it is more effective than the usual accelerator or incubator.
Was creating startups always on the SUPER HOW? agenda?
Me, Linas Būtėnas, and Vytautas Kašėta started SUPER HOW? as a private innovation lab with the goal of building technological competencies on DLT & blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, extended reality, and quantum computing (in other words, DARQ) within the company.
Before SUPER HOW?, all of us [co-founders] were involved in start-ups as advisors. When the company was born, it seemed only natural to continue the work, only this time, with our own ideas. So, you could say that while building competencies was the goal, building startups using those competencies was the dream. So, we decided to reinvest the SUPER HOW? profits back into the company and into the ideas that we believed in, thus the startup studio was born.
What was the first project that received the reinvested profits and marked the beginning of the startup studio?
It is difficult to say which project is first or which is last as they are all continuous and lively. But let's say that one of the first projects was Axiology. The idea for it was conceived even before SUPER HOW? itself.
I and Vytautas Kašėta were working on a project called Depository Center, which was focused on building DLT/blockchain powered platform infrastructure for the securities market. We started the project in early 2017, during the ICO success era, but shortly regulators started suggesting that there should be a better option for ICOs doing a fully regulated thing which is a security token offering. So, we invested a lot of time and effort in order to understand how to do that.
The project was reborn when we, as SUPER HOW?, were armed with knowledge acquired while working with central banks. It so happens that this year provided a perfect opportunity for Axiology to blossom as the newly started European Union DLT Pilot Regime enabled such infrastructures.
Learn more about the Axiology project.
That truly is good news for Axiology. Are there more startup studio projects focused on crypto compliance and/or regulation?
Yes, we have another project with a similar story. Similar because the idea for it also arose in 2017 or 2018 but the demand for it is just on the way.
Micapass - a crypto quality check (QC) solution is being prepared for launch. It solves one of the most prominent problems in the crypto world – user screening and keeping their identity private at the same time. Essentially, the question is how to confirm the identity and how to comply with the anti-money laundering regulation in the decentralized finance market. And micapass offers the answer to this question.
Learn more about the micapass project.
One more project, born at the SUPER HOW? startup studio focuses on a different side of crypto regulation.
In 2018 Vitalik Buterin stated that ICOs are not the correct way to raise money because of the creator's greed and, therefore, conceptualized and abstracted the proposition of DAICO as a solution for the problem. Buidl1, a project born in the SUPER HOW? startup studio, proposes a better way to invest in web3 projects. It implements DAICO principles together with a Linear Cash Flow blockchain protocol that mitigates investment risk and stabilizes project funding.
Learn more about the Buidl1 project.
Does startup studio have any projects that might be helpful for people that are not yet actively participating in the web3 world?
Yes, we do have a project that was put on hold during the lockdown but is ready to be put into use now - WISL. WISL is a tool that helps sports lovers to find perfect partners and coaches, oversee stats and choose venue. Forget the management hassle! We find partners and venues, you show up and play!
For example, if I am playing tennis, volleyball or any other kind of sport, and we are missing one or a few players, it is a big issue to find perfect-match fast and easy. WISL allows you to easily find those missing players through an AI-powered engine, that shows you not only available people but suggests the best potential player for the team.
Learn more about Wisl project.
One more startup from our studio is related to web3, but you need to be interested in art rather than blockchain, and cryptography to use it.
In the fine art industry art is not about beauty, it's about the data behind it: the artist, the galleries, the exhibitions, and so on. Superhow.ART is a project about fine art provenance and about the conversion of physical art and the right to own it.
We have a vision of tokenizing the rights of ownership and the ability to sell those rights on a decentralized matter. Basically, trading art without physical presence. By transferring all the data and the right to a physical art piece into web3, the pieces can remain on the walls and be enjoyed by people, while the financial value of it is traded as a usual financial instrument.
While superhow.ART is a separate project, it has a big synergy with the Axiology project because of the regulation and compliance element.
Learn more about superhow.ART project.
Seems that the Studio is a success. Could you share some advice with other creators that are just starting their projects?
Building a startup is not a straight path. You have to have an open mind for changes and be ready to constantly shift and adjust your idea according to the needs of the market. The biggest problem is that entrepreneurs are sticking to the idea and trying to go with it from beginning to end. What you actually need to do is test, verify and pivot, pivot, pivot…
When you truly believe in your idea it often can be hard to change it or put it on hold. But visioners can be ahead of their time. Maybe the product is not ready for the market, or the market is not ready for the product. Don’t be afraid to make changes to the idea, a project that is already in progress, or its timeline.
Definitions
DARQ - DLT & Blockchain Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Extended Reality, Quantum Computing.
Learn more about DARQ: https://bit.ly/SH-DARQ
Venture builders - is an entity that houses the resources, capital, and means to efficiently start up new companies.
Learn more about venture builders: https://bit.ly/SH-venture-builders
DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) - is the technological infrastructure and protocols that allow simultaneous access, validation, and record updating across a networked database. DLT is the technology blockchains are created from.
Learn more about DLT: https://bit.ly/SH-DLT
ICO (Initial Coin Offering) - is the cryptocurrency industry’s equivalent of an initial public offering (IPO). A company seeking to raise money to create a new coin, app, or service can launch an ICO as a way to raise funds.
Learn more about ICO: https://bit.ly/SH-ICO
DAICO (Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings) - aims to combine ideas from Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in order to increase the investors’ trust in the latter and put more control over the allocation of raised fund in their hands.
Learn more about DAICO: https://bit.ly/SH-DAICO
Blockchain protocol – is a basic set of rules that allow data to be shared between computers. For cryptocurrencies, they establish the structure of the blockchain — the distributed database that allows digital money to be securely exchanged on the internet.
Learn more about blockchain protocols: https://bit.ly/SH-blockchain-protocol
Web3 – is a new, blockchain based web. It offers a read/write/own version of the web, in which users have a financial stake in and more control over the web communities they belong to.
Learn more about web3: https://bit.ly/SH-web3
Tokenization – is the process of converting an asset or the ownership rights of an asset to a unique unit called tokens. Tokens are commonly referred to when discussing blockchain technology, where they are used to indicate the ownership of a valuable asset.
Learn more about tokenization: https://bit.ly/SH-tokenization
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