Applicant Information
- Name of Applicant & Applicant’s Representative: Nikki Tran, Adam (Flook)
- Telegram Handle: oatm3wk , Flook3
- Twitter/X Handle: https://x.com/oatmewk , https://x.com/flook_eth
- The role being applied for: Gaming
Background & Skills
Nikki:
I entered the Web3 space just over a year ago as a content creator and have also worked as a Project Manager at Real Agency, where I was responsible for organizing campaigns for Web3 games. My role involved connecting Web2 creators who were open to streaming or creating content for Web3 games. During this time, I successfully collaborated with over 30+ Web2 creators, some of whom have expressed interest in further engaging with crypto projects. In my role at Real Agency, I organized several Web3 campaigns that involved Web2 creators, helping to bridge the gap between the two ecosystems.
Although I initially came from a Web2 background, I did not anticipate such an extensive involvement in the crypto space. However, I am confident that Web3 can expand and gain more awareness through the cultivation of long-term partnerships. Additionally, I recognized the potential for many creators to significantly grow their audiences by diversifying their content across multiple platforms.
Regarding my content creation experience, I have been an active Twitch streamer for the past seven years. Throughout my career, I have learned that consistency is key to growing and maintaining an engaged following. Building a deep understanding of community engagement and content consistency.
I’ve consistently re-grown my audience after each break, as reflected in my Twitch stats ccv, including a current following of 30,000+ and strong engagement metrics. On Instagram, I expanded my following from 6,000 to over 50,000 in just two years.
Within my first year in Web3, I grew my Twitter following from 2,000 to 19,000 followers, demonstrating my ability to engage audiences across multiple platforms effectively.
Adam:
For the past 3 years I’ve been the co-founder and CEO of a web3 gaming studio, Merlyn Labs. Our suite of games has attracted 10,000+ users, we’ve received grants from both the Arbitrum DAO and Foundation, and we have served as a great onboarding funnel to the Arbitrum ecosystem.
I have a deep knowledge of the web3 gaming space, specifically Arbitrum gaming, that can only be hard won through being plugged into this industry daily. I’ve worked alongside many established developers, artists, and marketers in the gaming industry who hail from AAA backgrounds working on games such as Halo 5, New World, For Honor, Borderlands 3, Mass Effect, Remnant, Need for Speed, and many others.
I’ve also worked in partnership with dozens of game developers, game designers, and Solidity engineers in the blockchain gaming space who have worked on many well known web3 projects.
My background makes me uniquely qualified for this position, especially granted my participation as the sole Gaming Domain Allocator over the past 14 months, which has been a very effective DAO program for funding development and UA for Arbitrum games.
Domain Related Experience and Vision
Nikki:
I have been involved in the Arbitrum Arcade campaign, which provided valuable experience in working with grant-related initiatives. You can view a campaign video here: Arbitrum Arcade Campaign. I also considered applying for an Arbitrum Creator Grant, although I was unable to dedicate time to the application at that moment. A rough draft of my proposal can be found here: Arbitrum Creator Grant Draft.
The goal is to identify Web2 creators to onboard into the Arbitrum Grant Program, introduce them to the ecosystem, and assist them with the application process.
Adam:
Arbitrum games have come an astonishingly long way since the genesis of the questbook program in late 2023. They are now turning the corner towards full, rich and fun experiences that need expanded User Acquisition funnels to reach their full potential.
After running the Gaming Domain for the past 14 months, I’ve elected (with input from other key members in the ecosystem) to focus this domain primarily on onboarding web2 creators and agencies into the Arbitrum Gaming ecosystem.
So what does this look like?
- Outreach to web2 Creators and Agencies through more traditional channels
- Onboarding them to Arbitrum Games that fit their unique genre preferences
- Giving them a crash course in Grant structures, best application practices, and a general education in “Why Web3?”
- Setting achievable and meaningful milestones to bring maximum impact to the games they work alongside
- Generating quality, viral content through Twitch, Youtube, TikTok, and other underserved verticals in web3 gaming
- Motivating these creators and agencies to spread the word through their network in order to onboard more web2 creators… and therefore more users to Arbitrum Gaming
Our grant cap of $50,000 is quite high for web2 creators, will go a long way for paid content, and should earn us a lot of organic marketing as a natural outgrowth from the paid grants.
See here an initial mockup for our outreach table: Notion
Grant related Experience
Nikki:
A strong grant proposal should clearly define its
- Clear objective and Goal
- target audience
- outline measurable and achievable KPIs
- present a well-structured plan or roadmap to meet its objectives.
- The budget should be reasonable and clearly articulated within the proposal. Additionally, applicants should demonstrate a proven track record of growth across at least two platforms and show evidence of consistent content creation.
Key deal breakers for me include applicants with stagnant growth who are not posting regularly, as well as those unwilling to engage with or learn about Arbitrum and its ecosystem.
Adam:
I’ve been running the Gaming Domain for this Questbook program over the past 14 months, assisting with funding both indie games and web3 creators/guilds.
I have a deep understanding of the Questbook platform, best practices in grant acceptance, and a wide network ready to help make V3 of this program an outstanding success.
My close comfortability with the Questbook platform and grant practices should help ease web2 creators into this world of web3 gaming.
Finally, after working alongside hundreds of applicants, I have a great feel for how to move applicants through the grant process to set them up for maximum success.
Declaration of Conflict of Interest
Nikki:
I am under contract as a creator for Avalanche.
Adam:
My game studio is building games on multiple chains, including Arbitrum and Treasure Chain, but this won’t affect my ability to go to bat for games on Arbitrum and bring them great web2 creators to work alongside them.