TL;DR

ProTip is peer to peer crowd funding. We’re big fans of Patreon and Flattr, but we feel the commissions are too high and you are locked in to the platform. 

Why Bitcoin?

Only distributed digital currencies, like Bitcoin, allow you to use small payments in your business model. 

Very small payments are not viable when using credit cards & PayPal. The transfer fees and the risk of fraud, make traditional methods impractical. 

To get started with Bitcoin checkout these easy Bitcoin Wallets:

https://blockchain.info/wallet/new

https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Pledge in Bitcoin

To Pledge using Bitcoin simply leave us a private message on Indiegogo including the following information us before you make the transaction:

• Your email
• Your Bitcoin address you will be sending from

Then wait 10 minutes before making the payment to the following address:

1ProTip9x3uoqKDJeMQJdQUCQawDLauNiF

Who Are We?

Leo Campbell - Chief Engineering Officer

Leo’s father was a cofounder of the australian web design agency Paradigm4, registered 1997. Leo had a front row seat to witness the mainstream adoption of the web.

Intrigued by the revolution in genetics and bioinformatics, Leo’s academic studies included pharmacology, clinical trial design and international drug regulation.

Leo’s professional career is diverse. Working in Japan as a biotech patent analyst, his programming skills were honed as a medical marketer and product designer.

Moving to London in 2011, Leo has worked for a range of startups. Leo attended the hackathon “Make the Bank”, Oct 2014 and the British Medical Journal Hack Day, July 2013; there winning an honorable mention.
http://hacks.rewiredstate.org/events/bmj/pagerank-for-biomedical-literature

Chris Ellis - Chief Education Officer

Chris is on a mission to help people be rewarded for all their hard work. 18 months ago he started a YouTube channel with some friends from across the globe. It is dedicated to technology and charts the rise of the emerging digital economy.

However Chris and the team grew increasingly frustrated as they noticed that many aspiring journalists were taking to PR and Marketing roles instead of speaking the truth.

With a passion for education in his past role as lecturer as University of the Arts, London, Chris spends much of his time helping people understand the tools they need to help them make better decisions and reach their goals.

What We Need & What You Get

$10,000 - 3 Months Development

Your money buys us time and focus. If we reach $10,000 then we will open source the code on 1st May 2015.

We already have a working demo and with a bit more time we will be able to release a fully functional beta version.

The beta will contain:

• An Open Source Browser Plugin - follows the time spent on websites and tips automatically

• Privacy by Default - all data is stored locally in the browser, ProTip does not collect your data without your permission.

• Easy To Use Interface - with automatic tipping.

• Subscription Feature - allows users to set a weekly allowance and reward content creators automatically.

$10,000 is only our first goal. If you really want this software, we can do so much more...

$25,000 - 6 Months Development

With this kind of money we can really give ProTip the kind of care and attention that it needs.

• Advanced Subscription Features - we would like to explore business models for artists to further develop the app. We will listen to ideas from the people themselves and we can work together improving ways to help you get paid.

• Community Outreach - let's create a movement where people are rewarded for their work online.

• Software Automated Testing Suite - for developers and documentation.

$50,000+ - Full Time Jobs - Killer Features

Now we're cooking with gas! This is our vision:

• Firefox Extension - we hear you! We are privacy conscious, open source advocates.

• Secure Feedback System - we want to help artists and audiences to communicate directly. No email addresses or social media sign-in needed. Goodbye spam and unwanted newsletters!

• Content Pass - this idea would allow content creators to charge more for special content. This would allow creators to charge more for their most loyal audience.

• Subscriptions - for media such as podcasts, live streaming and API based services.

Following our first beta in May if we raise our intended goal we pledge to spend another 6-9 months fixing bugs, developing new features, responding to user feedback and translating the user interface.

Our goal is to have the first release ready by December 2015.

What If We Don’t Get the Funding?

Our pledge is to be long term contributors and stewards of this project, after all it’s our baby and we will try to deliver as much as we can. But it will take more time if we have to get jobs to pay the bills and put food on the table.

We will be using an iterative, open development process which means you won't have to wait long to see results.

The project is also Open Source meaning the code will be freely available in case someone more capable comes along.

FAQ

Can I Pay In Bitcoin?

Anonymous donors can pledge to the following address: 1ProTip9x3uoqKDJeMQJdQUCQawDLauNiF

How does ProTip measure the time I spend on each page?

ProTip can recognise if the mouse is active and which tab you are currently focused on. Once a minute it re-calculates the elapsed time.

How does ProTip find the bitcoin addresses on the page?

ProTip looks for bitcoin addresses in three places in order of priority:

1. In the header of the HTML:
<meta name="microtip" content="13U4gmroMmFwxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" data-currency='btc' data-recipient="John Doe">

2. In bitcoin payment hyperlinks:
<a href="bitcoin:13U4gmroMmFwxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx">Please Donate!</a>

3. Scanning the plain text of the webpage:

Is my personal data safe?

The browsing history is cleared immediately after your weekly donation. Simply not retaining data is a good privacy measure, which we think deserves to be a default setting.

You can clear the browsing history anytime. When you run your browser in privacy mode the app is de-activated.

Are my Bitcoins securely stored?

At the default security level the private keys are stored on your own computer, in a datastore that only ProTip can access. We believe that this is a good compromise of security and usability, given the wallet is never intended to hold large sums of money.

At the higher level of security, you can encrypt the private key with a password. This password is required for each transaction. Like any Bitcoin wallet if you forget this password, your bitcoins will be lost.

Can I backup my Bitcoins?

Yes, ProTip can provide an exportable backup for your public and private keys.