Encode ThunderCore Club: Summary
We are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of our inaugural ThunderCore Club. It’s been an amazing 10+ weeks! For those of you who aren’t aware, the Club concept is to take teams of talented students/developers/hackers and help them bridge the gap to becoming a startup.
Our theory was that when smart developers finish hackathons, they have a lot of potential to keep building but are not ready for the commitment of going full-time. We wanted to create a programme to help them get to the next stage. Hence ‘the Club’ was borne.
We also wanted teams to all build on one platform together. To this end, ThunderCore were an awesome partner. For those that don’t know, ThunderCore is a leading public blockchain with its own native currency (read more here). ThunderCore was also one of the partners in the first Future of Blockchain competition, being one of the most popular projects (see some of the projects built here).
Before the Club, ThunderCore launched their ‘Hub’ wallet and app that had gained significant usage. It provided a fantastic opportunity for the Club teams to get their first users, feedback and traction.
Every week our teams would have a workshop, 1–1 session and 24/7 technical support to assist their development. What was most important, however, was the camaraderie between the teams. Each team helped the other, provided encouragement and made the atmosphere a constructive and supportive one. Each team also received a small grant to support their work.
We also had a great and lively Discord to keep everyone connected :)
During the Club, the workshop topics would vary from AMAs, technical deep-dive, lessons on product-building, testing, iteration, fundraising and user acquisition.
Highlights
Chris Wang, ThunderCore’s CEO and founder, giving his insight and sharing his experiences at our AMA was amazing. See here.
Scott Tsai’s technical deep-dive into ThunderCore.
One of the teams, Get a Fox, launching and gaining traction midway through the Club.
Each team finishing strong and pitching their final projects to the ThunderCore team.
The Teams
Bricks on Blocks — is a smart contract generator tool particularly designed for the property co-finance market and is built by talented Queen Mary’s University London alumnus. We’re Amin’s biggest fans and are particularly proud of what he has planned for the next few months!
Digioptions — a betting platform, built by a team of two Berlin-based brothers (alumni from HUB/TUB). They’re nearing a big launch on the ThunderCore hub and will be receiving an additional grant to continue development. We’re also delighted that, after mastering Zoom, Holger bought himself a new webcam!
Kitty Builder — built by a senior project manager, Kitty is a puzzle game where users can compete against each other to win a pool of staked tokens. We’re particularly proud of Alex for his hustle and never-say-die attitude throughout the Club.
Peerkat — is an on-demand tip-to-stream service built by a team of 5 including a UCL PhD. The team will be receiving an additional grant to continue development and launch on the Hub soon. They also win the Encode prize for best acting at the presentation day (Ike 😃)!
Prosperchain — is a Uniswap-like equivalent defi app for ThunderCore built by a Cambridge MBA graduate. What was particularly impressive is that Chris pivoted his idea mid-club, collected feedback and delivered an awesome demo for the presentation day. They will be receiving an additional grant to continue development on ThunderCore.
Mimic-stream — is a social-video platform and tipping service built by a team of 3 including an Oxford PhD. Nick wins the Encode award for being the most engaged on the Discord!
Get-a-Fox/Punchline — this team of two talented developers managed to build two products, ship them to the Hub and get users all during the Club — an outstanding achievement. They will be receiving an additional grant to continue development on ThunderCore.
Lunchcoin — is an app designed to prevent people from failing to turn up to events and is built by a talented London-based developer. Tom wins the Encode award for ‘most helpful participant’, regularly going out of his way to help debug/advise other teams.
Thank yous
We are enormously grateful to the ThunderCore team, particularly Chris (for making this happen), Gengmo (who was ever-present and super helpful 24/7), Scott (for brilliant technical explanations), and not forgetting Randy, Johnny, Darla and Manesh for all their support!
What is Encode Club
Encode advances blockchain adoption at universities worldwide by way of events, hackathons and similar initiatives. Find out more on our website.
The next Club
We will be running a Club with Algorand starting in August. See more at www.encode.club.
Questions
Email anthony@encode.club
