The first part of Sasha Notkoin's big interview for App Journal
The TON ecosystem continues to expand, growing in scale and attracting the attention of more and more users. One of the powerful driving forces behind this movement is Notcoin, a project that not only unlocked the potential of blockchain in Telegram but also became a catalyst for the mass adoption of TON.
— Before starting work on projects#TON You have worked in various other fields. Can you tell us how your journey into the ecosystem began and what inspired you to create Notcoin?
— I worked at Wrike from 2013 to 2020. In 2020, we launched our own startup, and at the end of 2021, we met with VKontakte, presenting our startup as an HR service.
It was a human resources management tool designed to allow employees of large companies to communicate freely and informally with each other.
At some point, Andrey from VKontakte contacted me to discuss cooperation opportunities and potential investments. Then I thought about it and realized that I didn’t want to be an HR specialist, so I suggested working on something more user-oriented.
At first we were planning the Web2 project, and then TON came along. We understood that TON had potential to grow thanks to Telegram: new projects would emerge, and a launch pad would be needed to support them.
It's funny to think about it now, because we started when the market was already entering the downtrend phase, and TON didn't have tokens or token standards yet.
The idea quickly evolved and we became interested in expanding it to the Telegram level, where there would be tools not only for IDO, but also for launching campaigns. That's when the community bot appeared, which was the beginning.
— You are well known for Notcoin and Community Bot, but these are probably not the only projects you are involved in within TON. Could you tell us what other initiatives you are developing?
— We are always looking for and collaborating with different teams.
Here we have a separate category for teams we collaborate with on games like Early, which we build on top of the community bot.
Early is a format that helps create real communities for new projects.
Not Pixel is one such game, developed by a separate team. Initially, they simply approached us with a question whether they could use Notcoin for payments.
We looked at their product, liked it, and started collaborating. A few months later, Pixel launched with Notcoin, gaining recognition as the leading social game on Telegram, based on user interest.
— What does your process for working with new projects look like? Can we say that you help promising teams launch projects by providing access to your community and experience?
- Yes, we are ready to involve our community and share our experience. The only thing is that we cooperate with a very small number of projects, because there are not so many strong, authentic ones with a close-knit team.
Often people come up with ideas to create a casino or another game where you can earn money by simply pressing a button. We do not work with such projects. We are interested when a product is created with passion, when a unique approach is obvious.
— Notcoin has been popular since the beginning, becoming a phenomenon in a way, attracting an incredible number of people. Did you expect such success when you launched and what was your reaction? How did your team perceive it?
— We created Notcoin with the goal of attracting millions of users from Telegram to TON, so the expectations were met. We relied on the experience of various past projects, combining their concepts with Web3.
When we published the QR code for the Notcoin beta on Gateway in 2023, we didn't think anything would change since there were only 500 people there. But within 2-3 days, we already had 70,000 online users!
That's when we realized we had reached our goal and that it was time to quickly end beta testing and fully launch the project. Every additional million users thought:
“Wow, we’ve never seen anything like this in the industry.” So in that sense, it was both planned and unexpected.
— Considering Notcoin’s current audience, your potential for growth has increased significantly. What are your plans for expanding Notcoin?
— I don’t see Notcoin as a project, but rather as a community. There are people interested in Notcoin for different reasons: some own it, others participate in games, receive various bonuses.
Also, when we work with new projects, they make drops to our users. As a result, there is a network of different satellites around Notcoin that increase the value of the community and ecosystem.
As for the goals, the abstract goal is to build a strong community. On a more concrete level, we know how to create great games and provide users with an interesting experience. Currently, Telegram does not have games that would stay at the top for a long time, like in the AppStore, but this may change.
— With Notcoin, you have made an important step in moving TON towards mass adoption. What do you see as the next applications and niches that could drive the evolution of the ecosystem?
That's a good question because everything changes so quickly. What worked a month ago doesn't work today.
What I do know is that those who adapt and remain flexible will thrive. It is important to assess the current interests of users and see what works and what does not.
At the moment, it is pointless to lure people with airdrops and launches on CEX exchanges, especially if it is not Binance. After the “Hamster”, people are not eager to buy anything or participate.
I think the App Store is a great example of how the industry can work even if there are no tokens or airdrops.
A good example is “Monopoly Go!”, which came out in April 2023. In a year and a half, they made about $3 billion. That’s a lot of money!
I think the focus should be on games that are primarily made for fun, that evoke emotion and interest, and money and monetization take a back seat.
The most sustainable example of such games I call Pay2Flex.
This is when you buy something cool, a new skin for example, and you don’t regret it, even if it was a bit expensive.
And this is the most reliable way of monetization, because people are willing to spend money for their pleasure.
— Let’s move on to a more personal question. Your projects are distinguished by their creativity and unique approach. What drives you when working on them and what goals do you set for yourself?
— Why did we create Notcoin?
Because we saw Telegram with almost a billion monthly users and TON, which at that time had only 10,000 monthly users.
We realized that we needed to find a way to move people from one system to another. Notcoin essentially solved this problem, but we didn't want to create a simple Tap2Earn solution.
We wanted to do something special, something that would be interesting to us too. That's how the idea of Notcoin was born, as well as the attitude and concept
“probably nothing”.
The “probably nothing” philosophy reflects that everything on the outside appears smaller than it actually is on the inside.
This wasn't intentional, but it's in contrast to how crypto projects often operate. The project launches and tries very hard to convince everyone, including itself, of its potential and profitability, but it's empty inside.
This kind of aggressive marketing is a bit outdated and tired, so we decided to take a different approach to Notcoin. This is what I personally like - creativity, finding language, form and everything that brings pleasure to create.
I'm always fascinated by the fact that people create something out of nothing;
They bring benefits where there was none before.
People can create convenient phones, the Internet, launch rockets into space - all this is incredibly inspiring. I always felt that I wanted to create something, and that creation is an end in itself.
I have never played football, but I can imagine the feeling: after countless hours of training, the game continues, emotions are running high, and you are physically exhausted.
And at that moment you make a dash and score.
That feeling when everything comes together is so vivid and unforgettable.
I love the feeling when we create and launch a project, when ideas come to life. That's why I want us to not just kick a ball around, but also score goals.
I get a lot of joy and satisfaction from it, and that's why I do it. That's how it feels on an emotional level.
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