<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)"><h2 id="5641a136-811d-4114-9311-9a6e99434837" data-toc-id="5641a136-811d-4114-9311-9a6e99434837">Introduction to Cardano Business Dynamics</h2>Cardano boasts a wide variety of successful companies. Whether it be revolutionary lending protocols such as Liqwid Finance, dominant exchanges such as Minswap, or entertainment companies such as Cornucopias; there is a vast market within the ecosystem that showcases the potential success your company could enjoy if you execute your idea correctly.Moreover, it also is a testament to the various ways businesses and freelancers interact with each other within the ecosystem to deliver great accomplishments we all can enjoy. These ineractions manifest themselves in two central forms: → 1.) Collaborations &amp; Partnerships: Partnerships and Collaborations are agreements by two companies to work together under a common and united objective. Whether it be long-term merging of visions, or short-term marketing stunts; these B2B interactions provide critical infrastructure amongst companies to help each other elevate together rather than devolving into common winner-take-all scenarios. → 2.) Product Integrations: Product (or Code) integrations is a rather unique aspect due to its commonality within the industry in contrast with others. In Cardano, many companies have built Products or released open-source code that other businesses can utilize for their own products and platforms. Whether it be API data sets, product widgets that are embeddable, or true back-end infrastructure and SDKs; these products, code, and tools provide true value for companies at extremely low cost in many instances. → 3.) Freelance Hires: Another critical B2B interaction within the Cardano ecosystem are native companies hiring freelancers and/or firms to deliver on various aspects of a product’s creation such as development, design, marketing, legal, etc. Freelancers and firms provide critical services to companies that don’t have dedicated departments for the multitude of elements of a solid development process.<h2 id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575" data-toc-id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575">Summary</h2>While this is a simple classification of all B2B activities, these three are by far the most common by orders of magnitude.

Introduction

Market Dynamics

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)"><h2 id="c5da1d6d-1315-4fdc-a7c6-4765550ccbaf" data-toc-id="c5da1d6d-1315-4fdc-a7c6-4765550ccbaf">Types of Collaborations &amp; Partnerships:</h2>Collaborations and Partnerships provide unique opportunities within the Cardano ecosystem for companies to team up for their mutual benefit. These joint efforts manifest themselves in both long-term and short-term formats: → 1.) Marketing Stunts &amp; Collaborations: Marketing stunts can be classified as a collaboration between companies for short term marketing campaigns across each other’s social media profiles to expose each other to their respective communities. These events can include giveaways of a product of one company by the other to promote a product launch, or artwork designs and social media posts showcasing both company offerings or IPs. These stunts can manifest themselves in a multitude of effective and unique mannerisms, but the core principle of the collaboration being a short-term event for the intended purpose of generating social media buzz or virality. Additionally, the objectives are based on promoting certain aspects of each other’s companies; most typically to help increase visibility on new product launches, sales, feature releases, and more major events. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Examples of a Marketing Stunt/Collaboration 1a.) One company Tokenz offers $500 in their cryptocurrency $TKN to another company The Ape Order if they post it as a giveaway to generate some buzz for the upcoming Tokenz $TKN sale. 1b.) Elon Musk changes the Twitter Logo to the DOGE logo to promote the $DOGE token on the Twitter platform, gaining instant virality and 200,000 new users joined the dogecoin blockchain that day. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— NOT a Marketing Stunt/Collaboration 1c.) Two companies called Swapin and XtraSwap work together to launch a new platform for automated trading bots. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— → 2.) Product Integrations: Product integrations are a unique form of collaboration/partnerships between companies that are often more one-sided affairs. Your company could either (a) sell your product to be integrated into another company’s platform, or (b) negotiate an agreement to integrate another company’s product into your platform. While this collaboration lacks reciprocation in terms of mutual integrations in most common instances, it does still provide mutual benefits. Companies selling product integrations generate revenue and exposure by selling to established companies their offerings, and companies integrating product offerings can enhance their user experience as well as boost their reputation by leveraging established technologies. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Examples of a Product Integration: 2a.) A company named TRADENEWS offering analytics for cryptocurrency trading integrates a DEX trading widget by the top exchange DEXSWAP to allow trading for users without having to develop their own trading capabilities. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 2b.) A company named LENDR develops a platform using open-source infrastructure created by a leading project called OpenADA within Cardano to allow lending on the blockchain. The open-source code was instrumental in making the LENDR possible, and OpenADA is credited for the support their open-source materials provided. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— NOT a Formal Product Integration: 2c.) A company pays a marketing firm for marketing services for their upcoming launch. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— → 3.) Formal Partnerships: Partnerships serve as a more serious commitment between companies under a united vision to prepare offerings for each customer base under a joint initiative. Going through comprehensive formal processes, these bring new core objectives to the operations of each company to deliver offerings of mutual benefit. Moreover, they are long-term commitments where each company relies upon the competence and reputation of each other in order to achieve complete success. Unlike product integrations where one company simply integrates the offering of another without reciprocation, or short-term collaborations which typically focus on marketing efforts; partnerships are outlined objectives for products under both brands that are offered solely if both companies complete their promised deliverables. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Examples of a Formal Partnership: 3a.) A decentralized exchange and lending protocol join forces to offer lending and trading in one central platform managed by both companies. Each company shares 50% of the fees generated on the platform. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 3b.) A company offering educational software with blockchain-based solutions partners up with an on-chain e-reading company to build a full-scale university learning platform with e-reading capabilities all in one combined product offering. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————— NOT a Formal Partnership: 3c.) A company gives $100 to another company to host a giveaway on their social media platform.<h2 id="1c6e9ddd-4178-40ad-b797-a8191b55a43b" data-toc-id="1c6e9ddd-4178-40ad-b797-a8191b55a43b">Summary</h2>Cardano is home to an extremely collaborative roster of companies, and collectively contains a “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality. Though joint initiatives can manifest in many forms, from short-term informal collaborations to serious long-term partnerships; they all fundamentally become successful through mutual benefits and alignment.

Collaborations & Partnerships

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)">When it comes down to the various forms in which companies can collaborate or partner up, it’s central to any effective strategy to avoid common mistakes that are made in an environment abundant with speculation and meaningless “hype:” → 1.) Collaboration Doesn’t Equal Partnership: The most common and damaging mistake on this front - by orders of magnitude - is the equating of collaborations and partnerships. Partnerships are defined as a comprehensive joint effort between two companies on a specific long-term objective. Collaborations are defined as temporary joint efforts most often utilized for marketing or leading up to big events in each company’s history. When a company partners up with another for a social media giveaway to promote their product launch, this is classified as a collaboration. When two companies partner up to build a new product together, this would be classified as a partnership. Ensuring your team does not make the mistake of equating these two distinct levels of company alliances is important. In the cryptocurrency industry, projects have tried to leverage “partnerships” that were meaningless to be able to attach the IPs of major brands to mislead users into thinking it served as an endorsement. Users are more vigilant to this practice, and classifying temporary collaborations as big partnerships will leave your audience with some suspicion. → 2.) Clearly Outline Objectives: Just as you must do within your own company, partnerships and collaborations only become successful through clearly outlined objectives combined with a coherent vision. Vague and poorly defined partnerships deliver the least impact, cause friction between the two companies as approaches are not united, and causes various issues needlessly throughout the process. Building a foundation to expand upon is the best manner to produce effective collaborations or partnerships. → 3.) Ensure Mutual Benefits: In an ecosystem where companies are more collaborative, partnerships and collaborations are only attractive with clear mutual benefits. One-sided partnerships tilted in your favor creates a lack of motivation on the other side, and hurts companies reputationally in the long term as they slowly become isolated. The best partnerships and collaborations derive from mutual benefits, which consequently provide mutual ambition. When both parties feel motivated and rewarded can they expect the best outcomes. → 4.) Conducting Due Diligence: Just as you would approach hiring freelancers, agreeing to collaborations or partnerships must only occur with basic due diligence beforehand. Some partnerships can be costly to companies after associating with someone or some entity that later became exposed for malicious activities. Others fail because of one company’s incompetence or lack of will. Regardless of why something failed or cost your company money, it is an outcome you want to avoid at all costs. Use the strategies we will outline in Lesson 4: Hiring Firms &amp; Freelancers to conduct thorough research on potential partners. Moreover, basic strategies include (a) research on company reputations, (b) gauging market traction and revenue, (c) and a review of their team’s competency and past deliverables. → 5.) Partnerships That Distract: It’s important to also avoid dedicating your team’s valuable time, resources, capital, and labor on partnerships that distract from your company’s key objectives. While it would be fantastic to be able to build dozens of amazing products within one company, a distracted company vision leads to a lack of ability to clearly differentiate from competitors based on unique offerings and/or superiority. Verify with your team that partnerships or collaborations align with the goals of your company, and don’t agree to those that do not.<h2 id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575" data-toc-id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575">Summary</h2>Overall, these strategies prevent various unfavorable outcomes for your company. Whether it be associating to a bad actor, working with an incompetent partner that drains you, or working on a concept jointly with another company that doesn’t align with your brand; they can make or break a company. Utilizing these practices will prevent them from ever happening. Be safe, be smart, and be vigilant as with any business decision you will make.

Avoiding Common Mistakes:

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)"><h2 id="8787ef73-cfeb-4189-9ced-effccb19fe2b" data-toc-id="8787ef73-cfeb-4189-9ced-effccb19fe2b">The Types of Freelancers &amp; Firms</h2>As a business operating within the Cardano ecosystem, you will likely hire various freelancers and firms with distinct utilities in order to accomplish your company objectives. The six most common are as follows:→ 1.) Development Firms: Developers ultimately serves as the lifeblood of your product/platform operating on the Cardano blockchain. Given the specialization required to build great products with zero security vulnerabilities, most companies have opted to hire developers to their team in an official capacity or hire their firms on a freelance basis. → 2.) UI/UX Design Agencies: UI and UX designers as covered in Chapter 4 provide the framework for how your product is mapped out onto its digital canvas. From the entire user journey to the design style, these designers play a critical role in making an idea into a conceptualized prototypes for easy handover to your development team. → 3.) Specialized Law Firms: Given the complexities of cryptocurrencies in terms of regulatory clarity, specialized law firms provide valuable legal advice to ensure you’re operating within the parameters of the law. The last thing any company needs is to invest funds into a product that is deemed illegal once it gains any serious momentum. These firms often specialize specifically in servicing blockchain-based companies, offering a unique skillset traditional corporate attorneys can not provide. → 4.) Artists &amp; Graphic Designers: Unlike UI/UX designers, artists and graphic designers prepare artworks, logos, animations, and the like for your company’s branding and marketing efforts. While artists and graphic designers can also serve as UI/UX designers, these are distinct skillsets that are important to differentiate. Some companies may use one firm for both objectives, or have many freelancers hired on an as-needed basis. → 5.) Consultants &amp; Advisors: Consultants and Advisors are a broad category of freelance firms within the cryptocurrency industry. Trying to create a platform that functions with perfection? Advisors can help map out the feature set or user journey. Planning on launching your own cryptocurrency? Consultants can provide key expertise and insight into token launches and tokenomic configurations to ensure the most successful launch imaginable. While distinct from marketing firms, they can also help develop marketing strategies or campaign themes that your marketing team would work with. Advisors provide an objective third-party outlook on your company operations, serving as a valuable tool for finding what your biased eyes shall miss. → 6.) Marketing Firms: Marketing firms and freelancers are specifically hired for the purposes of marketing across social media and developing community engagement strategies. Their main objective is to attract newcomers to your social media presence and inevitably translate a sizable percentage into users of your product, or enhance the relationship between business and customer of your existing user base. These firms are typically hired by companies in the lead up to a token sale, major events for the company, product launches, and other various circumstances.<h2 id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575" data-toc-id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575">Summary</h2>These six categories of potential hires provide a concrete list of possible skillsets you may require during your integration into the Cardano ecosystem. Whether you need a development firm or design agency to bring a product to life, a law firm and consultants to provide concrete advice on how best to approach your idea successfully/legally, or building out your brand and marketing presence; these various niche industries within the ecosystem provide valuable resources to turn ideas into tangible realities we can all enjoy on Cardano.

Types of Firms & Freelancers

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)">Given the reality that a bad freelance hire can create needless headaches for companies, there are several key strategies companies on Cardano employ to ensure they work with reputable and competent freelancers within the ecosystem:→ 1.) Inspect Prior Work History &amp; References: The most informative aspect of any freelance hire’s resume is their prior work history and whether or not they are willing to provide contactable references to verify said work history. It is advised to always ensure that their work history boasts hires from notable companies within and outside of Cardano. Moreover, it is crucial to ask freelancers you are inquiring about if they have any references of past clients you could contact. This provides objective third-party reviews and showcases the freelancer(s) had an established reputation within the space where people are willing to stake their own reputation. → 2.) Negotiate Pricing &amp; Payment Schedule: Prices are always flexible to some degree, don’t be afraid to negotiate. But it is crucial to avoid haggling for the sake of frugality, being cheap creates a lack of ambition within your employees and hires. Compensate them fairly but be willing to speak your mind if you feel the pricing is to the contrary. Additionally, outline the payment structure (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) to ensure payments are not demanded at random points. Consistency in payment structure works to avoid uneasy conversations or unreasonable requests. → 3.) Agree in Writing: With any freelance hire, ensure you have a written contract to be able to enforce the terms within them. Clearly outline the scope of work, obligations of both parties, payment terms, jurisdiction of the agreement, and any other terms your company and lawyers feel best. Failure to agree in writing can make terms extremely hard to enforce and allow more flexibility for the freelancer to act with malicious intent. → 4.) Check-In: During the process of the objective you have hired the freelancer for, operate with the mindset of having them as a temporary employee. This means holding accountable to deadlines, checking in on progress throughout the process, and all the aspects of running a good company. Applaud them for good work, correct them on their mistakes, hold them accountable, and stand up for yourself when required. This is crucial to avoid being taken advantage of where freelancers start off strong to then gradually decrease their work productivity. If a freelancer feels you don’t care enough to check in on their work, it’s hard to expect them to work at their fullest capacity. → 5.) Ability to Terminate: Ensure you always have the ability to terminate the freelancer’s compensated scope of work at any point to avoid being trapped in contracts where work is not completed but payment is requested. Only bad actors will want to lock you into a contract or demand hefty termination fees as freelancers whose sole prerogative is to work for many companies at will on a temporary basis. Being able to walk away provides leverage to your company to keep freelancers accountable and avoid being taken advantage of. It’s a simple clause but a very powerful one for any company. → 6.) Clearly Outline Scope-of-Work: The biggest mistake companies make when hiring freelancers is not doing their due diligence before proposing it to potential freelance hires. It serves companies both from the perspectives of lowering costs and increasing outputs. You can’t simply ask a development firm to build a “Coinbase competitor,” they require concrete documentation on platform features and a prototype design to build off of. Same goes for virtually any freelance hire, come prepared before beginning negotiations to lower their initial workload as they assimilate to your company’s aspirations. Moreover, it provides a clear framework for the freelancers to work within; which provides the best imaginable outputs. → 7.) Be Willing to Walk Away: Another big mistake companies will make with freelance hires is not being able to walk away from a negotiation when the terms or pricing fail to satisfy your company’s needs. Especially when it is the first freelancer you contact, be willing to inquire others for their pricings and have them negotiate against each other. Don’t string any freelancer along simply to get a better deal with another, but do have them compete for your money. Being willing to walk away in business is a powerful tool to avoid locking your business in to very unfavorable deals. Many companies in the industry have failed simply because of one or two bad hires - regardless of whether or not they were actual employees or simply freelancers - and it’s one that can be avoided by following this simple suggestion.<h2 id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575" data-toc-id="40f06a3d-3907-404c-8b7e-79b87dacb575">Summary</h2>Regardless of what specific service they are trying to provide, which we cover extensively in the previous chapters already; these basic tips and practices provide a clear framework for locating high-quality freelancers and firms to bring your idea to life on Cardano. Utilizing this basic checklist of criteria can help differentiate a highly-competent firm from an over-priced malicious one. It can save you money, it could save your company. In a world where things change at a moment’s notice, it’s best to be prepared for any outcome rather than being sorry because you didn’t.

Key Hiring Strategies

Hiring Firms & Freelancers

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djcg0daie/image/upload/v1753973502/zjapk/dexes_1_39.png" alt="dexes 1 (39)" title="dexes 1 (39)"><h2 id="cbf438aa-4eac-4d94-93b7-360da7409d03" data-toc-id="cbf438aa-4eac-4d94-93b7-360da7409d03">Concluding Remarks:</h2>Interactions with other Cardano business encompass a wide variety of activities. Whether it’s exploring potential collaborative opportunities, utilizing their products, or hiring them for their services offered; it’s central to successful B2B relations to understand those three key interaction classifications. Virtually all communications you have with other companies will fall under these categories, and as such it is important to appreciate how to effectively navigate each classification. Moreover, due diligence combined with a coherent vision is a common suggestion throughout running a business on Cardano or frankly; operating a business within the entire cryptocurrency industry. Hired freelancers and firms require a vision properly illustrated to them rather than being forced to become impossibly telepathic on your company’s needs and desires. As do companies you seek to partner or coordinate marketing campaigns with. This fundamental business principle serves companies tremendously in their journey to miraculous success. Incorporate this strategy all throughout your company’s operations on Cardano as you venture into the realm of Web3. Working with Cardano companies in whatever respect you desire can prove extremely fruitful and lucrative for your company. However, it requires proper execution and coordination to make that goal an objective reality. Utilize the strategies outlined within this Chapter to navigate business negotiations or inquiries in a manner that generates results for your company. As mentioned before, these B2B dealings can make or break a company. Make sure you are confident they will elevate your operations, not deflate your momentum.

Concluding Remarks

Conclusion

In the final chapter of the Cardano for Business curricilumn, it covers the market dynamics from a business perspective and how to navigate potential partnerships, freelance hires, acquisitions, and competition!

Chapter 6: Cardano Businesses

Course Details

Level

Ratings

Modules

Lessons

Holder $WORK Price

Contact Us

Documentation

Navigation