NEW Proof of Coverage Episode: DIMO
DIMO is building an open vehicle data platform in the "Proof of Movement" space
Last Friday (3/10), Sal and I sat down with Rob Solomon, Co-Founder at DIMO.
We discussed: how DIMO helps both drivers and developers, the vision of a mobility industry driven by open data networks, the guiding principles behind DIMO’s token structure, and the exciting features coming soon to DIMO.
DIMO is a DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure network) project focused on car data. They’re pioneering a new vertical within DePIN called Proof of Movement, given their project-specific focus on vehicles and mobility. Their initial goal is to build hardware and software that allows the user to capture and view useful data about their car from a simple mobile app (e.g. how much gas they have in the tank, the health of their battery, how many miles they’ve driven this week, etc.). Once they’ve built out a network of tens or hundreds of thousands of connected cars (supply), they’ll focus on the demand side of the equation. You can keep up with the growth of the network via their explorer. They’re currently ~7,900 cars strong and growing quickly.
Demand for or usage of car data can be broken down into two buckets. The first is anonymized, aggregated car data from hundreds or thousands of cars at once. This type of information could be useful to car manufacturers monitoring for part defects, EV financing companies looking for more granular data on battery longevity/performance, or even more creative use cases where DIMO serves as a platform for apps like a decentralized Uber or Uber Eats to be built on top. The second bucket contains use cases where one (or a few) cars are connected to DIMO and then have their data leveraged by the owner themselves. This could look like the owner getting a better price when they sell their car due to the additional, verifiable data they have on it, being able to order a mechanic to their driveway when something goes wrong, or even turning their DIMO hardware device into a mobile WiFi hotspot for their car (coming soon)!
The benefits to the contributor (in the “second bucket” above) mean DIMO’s incentivization model is likely a bit more recession-proof than some other DePIN networks. For DIMO, the network contributor (the person that spends the time/money to connect their car and build the network) receives direct benefits that have nothing to do with a token incentive. This is especially important in a bear market where the speculative premium on tokens is very low and therefore network growth slows without additional, non-token benefits that incentivize participation.
For more info, feel free to listen to the podcast. We really enjoyed this conversation with Rob and hope you will too!
Show notes and relevant links are included below, feel free to reach out to me via Twitter with any questions or comments.
Show Notes
0:00 Intro
3:25 Rob’s background in decentralized systems and the automotive industry.
6:09 The DIMO team’s background
8:25 Get Rob to the poker table
8:51 The current state of automotive data, and the problem that DIMO solves
13:26 The data that DIMO collects, and who it helps
17:20 DIMO’s token structure and origins
22:15 The current state of being a crypto founder
24:35 Incentive token structures (single vs. double)
30:30 Audience Questions - data privacy
34:09 Token Governance
40:58 The DIMO Product Roadmap
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Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The hosts or the companies they work for (Second Element Partners or Escape Velocity Ventures) may own tokens that are mentioned on the podcast.
Moving forward
Moving forward, I’ll be writing about happenings in DeWi, DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure networks), and my own life as they come up.
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Disclaimer : As of the date of this publication, Connor Lovely (“Connor”) may hold long, short, or neutral positions in or related to the companies or digital assets described herein. The information in this publication was prepared by Connor, is believed by Connor to be reliable, and has been obtained from public sources believed to be reliable. Connor makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Opinions, estimates and projections in this publication constitute the current judgment of Connor and are subject to change without notice. Any projections, forecasts and estimates contained in this publication are necessarily speculative in nature and are based upon certain assumptions. It can be expected that some or all of such assumptions will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly, any projections are only estimates and actual results will differ and may vary substantially from the projections or estimates shown. This publication is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any commodity or security. Connor has no obligation to update, modify or amend this publication or to otherwise notify a reader hereof in the event that any matter stated herein, or any opinion, project on, forecast or estimate set forth herein, changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate. Following publication, Connor may transact in any digital asset or the securities of any company described herein. This publication is not an offer to sell securities of any investment fund or a solicitation of offers to buy any such securities. An investment in any strategy, including the strategy described herein, involves a high degree of risk. There is no guarantee that the investment objective will be achieved. Past performance of these strategies is not necessarily indicative of future results. There is the possibility of loss and all investment involves risk including the loss of principal.
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