Please describe your proposed solution.

Problem

There is large interest in cryptocurrencies in Turkiye, as the economy suffers through yearly hyperinflation and people lose their wealth on a daily basis sticking with the Turkish lira. Fueled by this economic disaster, Turks are looking to cryptocurrencies as an alternative to store their savings.

Turkiye is the 12th largest cyrptocurrency nation, with a young population of 85M people. Cardano is virtually non-existant in this country. This is because there is no content to learn, and there is big language barrier for Turks to get involved.

The Solution: the Community Hub for Turks in Cardano

We propose to build a community hub for all things Cardano:

• a hub for Cardano content creators,
• a hub to learn about Cardano hands on,
• holding casual workshops, learn together sessions, chats with the community to learn Cardano and Cardano tools like cexplorer, wallets, taptools, DeFi projects, …
• inviting Turkish builders from the Cardano community to podcasts,
• holding sessions in Discord, and Twitter spaces to promote and educate

The aim of this all is to:

• make Cardano more well known in Turkiye
• get more Turks using Cardano
• equip Turks with the know how to start using Cardano
• make a community hub so more Turkish projects can be built

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The challenge aims to “grow the ADA economy and inform our future funding priorities”. We are starting a whole new community for Cardano in Turkey. Turkey is a very large market, approximately 80 million people live. Since our aim is to establish a community from scratch, we can include thousands of people from the Y and Z generations into the Cardano ecosystem, this will increase the value of Cardano by simply adding more people in the Cardano ecosystem.

(Source: Triple-A Crypto Ownership Data, Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, Statista Global Cryptocurrency Ownership)

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

We intend to measure the success of our project by tracking key metrics such as

• the number of new Turkish community members joining Cardano,
• the level of engagement within the community hub,
• and the growth of Turkish-built projects and investments in the ecosystem.

In the short term, the community hub will lead to increased awareness and adoption of Cardano within the Turkish market. It will provide a platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Over the long term, the hub's impact will be reflected in the growth of the Turkish Cardano community, the emergence of new projects and applications, and the increased participation of Turkish stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We will share all our outputs on our dedicated community hub, our Discord server: https://discord.gg/cteausa4tv

Beyond it, we will share our progress on Twitter, Youtube, and other social media channels as the creators behind the community and host Twitter spaces to promote and educate.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

We are two new content creators with very different backgrounds leading this project. Kaya is an 18 year old developer learning to build on Cardano, and Alper is an experienced TV news anchor with extensive experience in the media industry looking to bring his skills to promoting Cardano.

Together we cover a large skillset ranging from the technical to media, and are equipped well to build this community hub. We are new to the ecosystem and learning most of the things we want to share in this community. That is a bonus for us, as the population we want to attract to the community are in a similar state. The culture we want to build is one of learning together.

We have two advisors with extensive experience in the ecosystem, the cofounders of littlefish Foundation: Chakhan and Cem. They will guide is the learning, join workshops and learn together sessions, teach the community about the ecosystem. With their help we are good to become the hub of Cardano in Turkiye.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals of our project are as follows:

1. Increase the awareness and adoption of Cardano among the Turkish community.
2. Provide a comprehensive and accessible on-ramp for Turks to enter the Cardano ecosystem.
3. Organize workshops, learning sessions, and Twitter spaces to promote and educate

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1 - Build the Community

Key Activities:

• Determine the target audience and develop a marketing strategy
• Create social media accounts and start promoting the community
• Develop a website for the community
• Organize the first online workshop
• Develop a content strategy for the community
• Organize a schedule for events in the coming months

Expected duration: 1 month

Expected cost: $2000

Milestone 2 - Workshops and learning together,

Key Activities:

• Host weekly workshops, learn-together sessions, on Cardano basics, tools, creating wallets together, learning DeFi together,
• Promote events on social media
• Engage community in Discord,
• Curate resource lists to help community learn

Expected duration: 1 month

Expected cost: $2000

Milestone 3 - Twitter Spaces and podcasts

Key Activities:

• Produce and publish Twitter spaces/podcasts and interviews with Turkish Cardano community members
• Promote podcasts/spaces
• More workshops, sessions
• Collect feedback and improve the workshop experience

Expected duration: 2 months

Expected cost: $4000

Milestone 4 - Community Growth

Key Activities:

• Continue producing workshops, sessions, podcasts, and spaces
• Promote and grow the community
• Host and promote special events to attract new members
• Collaborate with other Cardano communities and groups in Turkey to expand the reach of the community

Expected duration: 2 months

Expected cost: $4000

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1 - Build the Community

Deliverables:

• A website for the community
• Social media accounts for the community
• A marketing strategy to promote the community
• First online workshop organized
• Content strategy for the community
• Schedule of events for the coming months

Expected outcome: The creation and promotion of a new Cardano community in Turkey with a website and social media presence.

Milestone 2 - Workshops and Learning Together

Deliverables:

• Weekly workshops and learn-together sessions on Cardano basics, tools, creating wallets together, learning DeFi together
• Promotion of events on social media
• Active engagement of community in Discord
• Resource lists curated to help community learn

Expected outcome: Regular online workshops and learn-together sessions that engage the Turkish Cardano community and provide valuable information and education.

Milestone 3 - Twitter Spaces and Podcasts

Deliverables:

• Twitter spaces/podcasts and interviews with Turkish Cardano community members
• Promotion of podcasts/spaces
• More workshops, sessions
• Feedback collected and used to improve the workshop experience

Expected outcome: Podcasts and spaces reach a larger audience, growing the community.

Milestone 4 - Community Growth

Deliverables:

• Continued production of workshops, sessions, podcasts, and spaces
• Promotion and growth of the community
• Special events held to attract new members
• Collaboration with other Cardano communities and groups in Turkey to expand the reach of the community

Expected outcome: Sustainable growth of the Turkish Cardano community, with a strong and engaged membership base.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

The main cost is the amount of manpower behind the project. The two team members will work at a rate of 10 USD/hr for 100hrs each a month for 6 months build the community.

Cost per month per team member = 10 x 100 = 1000 USD

Cost per month for the team = 2000 USD

Team cost for 6 months = 12000 USD

Tools and tech budget = 500 USD

Total cost = 12500 USD

Total in ADA (ADAUSD = 0.31) = 40333 ADA

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Alper Baran Esin

Many people create content and share it with their own audiences. What sets me apart is that I am a professional in this field. Like many people in Turkey, I have also been affected by the traditional financial system. When working as a journalist, I always tried to reflect the rhythm of life in the news. In a way, it represents my own rebellion. I adapt my journalistic skills to the behavioral model of this ecosystem. With the guidance of Cem Karaca and Çağkan Acarbay, I aim to be part of this ecosystem and contribute to the Turkish potential who want to be involved in Cardano, as well as benefiting Cardano and myself, in order to be a part of this mission of providing benefits and freedom.

My qualifications in this regard as follows:

• I have been in the media industry since 1999.
• From 1999 to 2001, I worked as a radio programmer.
• From 2001 to 2003, I worked as a creative director.
• From 2005 to 2023, I have been involved in various roles including TV programming, voice acting, news anchoring, editing, poetry interpretation, and TV program moderation.

To summarize some of the works within my portfolio:

• TOSHIBA Viral Film: Link
• RESTATE CENTER Advertisement Film: Link
• GENERICA Intro Voiceover: Link
• KETEN GRUP Advertisement Film: Link
• ALARCO Mother's Day Advertisement: Link
• TRT Documentary "Danube Documentary": Link
• TRT MUSIC "Music Chronology" Program Voiceover: Link
• TRT MUSIC "Cartoon Program" Voiceover: Link
• TRT SPORTS "One City, One Stadium" Program Voiceover: Link
• TRT SPORTS "Headlines of the Century" Program Voiceover: Link
• TRT AVAZ "World Heritage Turkey" Program Voiceover: Link
• DOKUZ8 HABER 2023 Election Live Broadcast (1st Round): Link
• DOKUZ8 HABER 2023 Election Live Broadcast (2nd Round): Link
• DOKUZ8 HABER Political Program Moderation: Link
• EGE TV News Presentation: Link1 Link2
• BEN TV Presentations: Link
• TV35 Prime Time News Introduction: Link
• TV35 Prime Time News Comments: Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4 Link5
• Poetry Interpretation: Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4 Link5

Kaya Acarbay

Kaya ACARBAY//Self-taught software developer getting into Cardano, looking to share what I learn with others, so they can have an easier time getting involved with Cardano.

I have 3 years of experience learning and building projects with Python and have an intermediate proficiency in building with Arduino. I’ve also completed Python course and have a certificate from Udemy. (<https://www.udemy.com/certificate/UC-a535f095-7275-4cd9-8ff8-a81178aaeb90/>)

As a passionate programmer, I enjoy testing my knowledge by hacking my friends' phones and social media accounts (they initially doubted my abilities), developing applications, and pushing the boundaries of programming languages. My curiosity to learn more about emerging technologies has led me to explore Cardano. I’ve also worked as a community reviewer in Fund 9, so I know my way around Catalyst.

<https://www.reddit.com/user/KayaAcarbay8>

<https://github.com/acarbayk>

Discord: kayabey

Çağkan Acarbay//Advisor

Co-founder of littlefish Foundation. In Project Catalyst and involved in Cardano since Fund 7. Organization building, governance, token engineering with long term interest in economics, game theory, behavioral psychology, political science, and history. 3+ years experience as a Backend Developer. Python, REST, Postgres, data modeling. Electrical and Electronics Engineering Major.

I am the advisor on the project and will help Kaya and Alper by guiding them to the right resources, teaching some topics, joining workshops, podcasts, and twitter spaces.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/çağkan-acarbay-b2210b136/

<https://github.com/cagkanacarbay/>

Cem Karaca//Advisor

Co-founder of littlefish Foundation.

I started programming when I was 12 years old, and about 6 years later, I met the Internet, which introduced so many things to me. Open source was the biggest among them. Later on, I wrote a book about Linux and open-source systems. For me, open-source philosophy was the key to real human potential. It was making the secrets of the institutions public.

I have been building websites since 1997 and have witnessed the transition from static pages to dynamic sites that utilize scripts and databases. In the past, software developers often worked alone and had to be proficient in various programming languages. However, with the advancement of web technologies, design has been separated from code, allowing designers to focus solely on aesthetics while developers on functionality. I witnessed it all. With over 20 years of experience in data center operations, I have managed the installation and maintenance of numerous PCI-DSS-certified e-money infrastructures, from website design to team management and database configuration.

People can now form communities independent of borders, authorities, and censorship using Cardano. We just need to build solutions on top of it. For the first time in history, we have enough technology to take collective action to create impact and pressure. We better use this chance wisely, otherwise, there will be no world left to live on anymore. In this context, I will continue to do my part with my knowledge and experience.

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckaraca/>

<https://github.com/ckaraca>

I am the advisor on the project and will help Kaya and Alper by guiding them to the right resources, teaching some topics, joining workshops, podcasts, and twitter spaces.

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Turkiye is an untapped market for Cardano with a lot of upside potential. The lack of community hubs in Turkish, the lack of content, and educational materials results in Cardano being relatively unknown in this high potential market. This proposal asks for 12,500 USD or 40K USD to build that hub and make Cardano known in Turkiye. It is a cheap buy to get into a large market.