Having graduated together from VIT University, Shubham and I have been friends and flatmates for over four years and have worked on a lot of projects together. Having skills that compliment each other, we make a cohesive team having the ability to solve any problem together.

Rishabh Keshan

Roles and Responsibilities: Co-founder, overseeing Product, Business Development, and Technology

Email ID: rishabhkeshan@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeshanRishabh

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rishabhkeshan

Github: https://github.com/rishabhkeshan

Rishabh is spear heading onboarding.club as a co-founder with a multifaceted role encompassing Product development, Business Development, and Technical leadership. His extensive experience in the Web3 space spans over three years, during which he has contributed to various NFT and DeFi projects in diverse capacities, including developer, marketer, strategist, and builder across ecosystems such as Tezos, Celo, Capx, Persistence, and Asset Mantle.

Previously, Rishabh served as the Web3 Product Lead at Bollywood Hungama, where he played a key role in developing HeftyVerse, an entertainment destination with a growing metaverse currently in Beta. HeftyVerse achieved 10K organic user growth within just three months of its launch, under Rishabh's leadership.

Rishabh's has been part of Google Summer of Code (GSoC) helping OWASP build Web3 CTFs for developers to understand security flaws in smart contracts. He has won various hackathons such as the Chainlink Spring Hackathon 2022, HackFS 2021, Hacka-Soroban-athon, Flow S2 and BuidlForWeb3 having built numerous projects across chains.

Additionally, Rishabh recently built Sorobix(joined By Shubham and Hemanth), an IDE for Stellar’s newly launched smart contracts platform going into Mainnet launch by end of December.

In summary, Rishabh's unique blend of technical expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and deep understanding of the blockchain ecosystem positions him as a driving force behind onboarding.club. His journey through hackathons, grants, and product development has not only equipped him with the skills to lead but has also revealed the pressing need for a platform like onboarding.club that can help builders support and kickstart their blockchain journey.

Shubham Palriwala

Roles and Responsibilities: Co-founder, overseeing Technology, Infra and Marketing

Email ID: spalriwalau@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubhampalriwala/

GitHub: https://github.com/ShubhamPalriwala

Shubham has been into the open source space since the past 4 years! Starting with understanding and contributing to huge open source production projects, he has experienced the journey a beginner faces who has no idea of the next step after reading a “Hello World” doc.

Shubham has been accepted into various prestigious open source programs such as Google Summer of Code, Google Season of Docs, Linux Foundation Mentorship, GitHub Externship. Soon after, he dived into the web3 space since for him, decentralisation is the key to advancements in any field. Using the experience of open source, he was selected in the inaugral Summer of Bitcoin and the Skynet Summer Developer Program. He got deep into the stack with various international hackathon wins with the recentmost being the MIT Bitcoin Hack.

He has also built the Sorobix IDE (an online IDE for Soroban contracts) backed by Stellar. With the open source experience and his stint at Cisco as a Software Engineer, he has seen the industry inside out with the focus always being to reduce the friction for a user to onboard any tech out there. He’s doing that currently by being a Maintainer of various Open Source projects such as OWASP Juice Shop (8k stars), Formbricks (5.4k stars), Komiser (3.5k stars).

To sum it up, Shubham is the person to go to when it comes to go from an unknown audience to them becoming your supporters till the end!

Events (Workshops, Hackathons, Residency)

Deliverable 1: Stellar/Soroban Technical Events and Workshops

We aim to conduct 10 technical events across India, with a focus on onboarding new developers to Stellar and providing hands-on experience with Soroban. While some events will target colleges for onboarding purposes, advanced technical workshops will be held at city-level venues to attract developers from various backgrounds.

Key developer hubs in India, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai, are our prime targets for these events.

• Estimated Completion Date: 2-3 events per month, aiming for 10 events by the end of July.
• Budget: $10,000

Deliverable 2: Stellar India Connect - Hackathon

Stellar Indiathon: A 14-day long Stellar Hackathon with a prize pool of $10,000 (subject to SDF approval), hosted online, offering multiple tracks and real-world problems to solve. Winners will receive further feedback and mentorship from the Stellar team to refine their projects.

3 Weekend IRL Hackathons Across Colleges

We will host a series of weekend hackathons at some of India's most prestigious institutions. Winners at each college will not only receive a cash prize of $1,000 but will also gain an opportunity to advance their projects by submitting them to the Stellar Indiathon. Selected colleges include:

• VIT Vellore

• IIIT Hyderabad

• SRM Chennai

• IIIT, Delhi

• IIT Bombay

Estimated Completion Date: Mid-May to End of May

Budget: $20,000

Deliverable 3: Stellar Builders Residency

As Stellar gains traction nationwide through workshops and hackathons, we plan to host a builders' residency in Bangalore, India. Twenty builders from across India will collaborate under one roof, forming teams after an initial ideathon. They will work on different RFBs or ideas approved by mentors. We aim to involve members from SDF to ensure the success of the residency. The Zo House property in Bangalore, known for hosting successful residencies by Superteam and ZkBankai, will be the venue for this event.

Link to ZkBankai Hacker House: https://zo-world.notion.site/zkBankai-Hacker-House-91617b8908274636ae99d8403dc4b58c

• Estimated Completion Date: End of June
• Budget: $25,000

Product

Deliverable 1: Proof of Reputation: The Orion Engine

• Development of Soul Bound Token contracts to issue non-transferable NFTs linked to users' profiles.

• Creation of the Core Ring, featuring a REST API for interoperability authenticated using an API key generated on Onboarding Club’s UI.

• Storage of metadata for off-chain and on-chain data on IPFS, updated regularly or upon user request.

• Implementation of OAuth claimable verification for SBT to another account in case of an account compromise.

• Integration of Stellar Network Data into other chains.

• Development of Typesafe JS/Python/Go client SDKs for cross-integration on other developer tooling platforms.

• Estimated Date of Completion: May 20, 2024

• Budget: $20,000

Deliverable 2: Additional Courses on Soroban/Stellar

We will curate four additional courses covering intermediate and advanced topics to complement the two beginner-friendly courses developed during the activation phase. The goal is to provide learners with a seamless Soroban onboarding journey, enabling them to build their own dapps after completing the six-course series.

• Estimated Date of Completion: Beginner courses by May 10, 2024, followed by advanced courses by May 28, 2024
• Budget: $15,000

Deliverable 4: Bounty Listing by Organizations

As part of our Activation Award deliverable, we are currently listing self-hosted bounties to incentivize builders in the workshops for further learning about Soroban. We will make the module live for external organizations to list bounties as soon as the Beta platform gains traction and Soroban builders join in.

• Estimated Date of Completion: June 15, 2024
• Budget: $0

Total Expected Roadmap: 3-4 Month Plan

Month 1:

1. Technical Events and Workshops

   • Conduct 3 technical events across India, focusing on colleges and developer hubs in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
   • Host hands-on workshops introducing Stellar and Soroban to new developers, covering basic concepts and practical applications.

2. Proof of Reputation: The Orion Engine

   • Begin development of Soul Bound Token contracts and Core Ring components for PoR implementation.
   • Research and prototype metadata storage on IPFS and OAuth claimable verification mechanisms.

Month 2:

1. Technical Events and Workshops

   • Continue with 3 additional technical events, expanding reach to Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune.
   • Enhance workshop content based on feedback from previous events, focusing on advanced topics and project building.

2. Stellar India Connect - Hackathon

   • Launch the Stellar Indiathon, monitoring participant engagement and providing support as needed.
   • Evaluate project submissions and select winners for further feedback and mentorship.

3. Additional Courses on Soroban/Stellar

   • Develop two intermediate courses on Soroban/Stellar, addressing specific use cases and advanced functionalities.
   • Publish course materials on the platform and promote enrollment among developer community.

Month 3:

1. Technical Events and Workshops

   • Conclude the series with 4 final technical events, covering cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh.
   • Gather feedback from participants and stakeholders to inform future event planning and improvements.

2. Stellar Builders Residency

   • Organize and execute the builders' residency in Bangalore, bringing together 20 developers for collaborative project development.
   • Provide mentorship and resources to support project ideation, execution, and presentation.

Post the success of the Indian intitiatives of onboarding Devs to Stellar, we would be looking to build the Stellar Community in Vietnam in the next quarter.
 

Funding Sources:

Onboarding is envisioned to be a self-sustaining project in the long run. Once the initial community is established, revenue models will be implemented to ensure financial sustainability for the platform. These revenue models will cater to both builders and hirers, providing value-added services in exchange for fees.

1. Platform Fees: A flat platform fee will be charged for listing gigs, projects, and job opportunities on the Onboarding platform. This fee will enable hirers to access a pool of skilled builders and promote their projects to a targeted audience.

2. Premium Features: Builders seeking access to advanced features and functionalities on the platform will have the option to subscribe to a pro plan. This plan will offer enhanced visibility, priority support, and additional tools to streamline project management and collaboration.

By leveraging these revenue streams, Onboarding aims to generate sustainable income to cover operational costs, support ongoing development efforts, and facilitate the growth of the platform's ecosystem.

Our collaboration with the Stellar Foundation in India has proven to be incredibly fruitful, marked by a series of successful events and workshops held nationwide. Here's a glimpse into the highlights:

1. Onboard to Stellar

   • Location: Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
   • Date: November 4th, 2023
   • Over 50 participants were introduced to Stellar, gaining insights into both Soroban and the broader Stellar ecosystem.

2. Builder Meetup - Stellar

   • Location: Bangalore Office
   • Date: December 8th, 2023
   • A cozy gathering of 20 builders convened at our Bangalore office. Discussions ranged from the motivations behind building on Stellar to exciting updates. Notably, Hashcase, a B2B NFT solutions provider, expressed interest in joining the SCF Startup Camp to develop on Stellar.

3. Soroban 101

   • Location: SRM Institute of Technology, Chennai
   • Date: February 1st, 2024
   • Held during the Genesis 1.0 hackathon, this hands-on workshop attracted over 150 participants. Attendees delved into deploying basic smart contracts on Soroban, with one team even pursuing a grant proposal for SCF post-event.

4. Web3 and Stellar

   • Location: PDEU, Gujarat
   • Date: February 15th, 2024
   • Drawing a crowd of 75+ participants, predominantly Open Source developers with notable contributions to Solana and Ethereum ecosystems, this event pleasantly surprised attendees with insights into Stellar's technical architecture, especially its Rust-based foundation.

5. Navigating Web3 and Stellar

   • Location: RCOEM College, Nagpur
   • Date: March 18th, 2024
   • We had over 80 college students attending the session with the discussions being around Basic Web3, types of consensus mechanisms, introduction to Stellar and Soroban and getting them to dwelve more into the Stellar ecosystem.

Event Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1zbeEPjogc8NxTt-hPtAWSy3LwMrsf_WD 

On the product front, we initiated an Alpha launch within these events to facilitate and incentivize builder onboarding to Stellar:

• Profile Creation and Stellar Wallet: Over 300 profiles were created during our activation, with wallets provisioned and funded with test XLMs for users to conduct their initial transactions on Stellar.

• Stellar Courses: We developed two comprehensive Stellar courses, offering users a hands-on learning experience in building on Stellar.

  • Link to Freighter Integration into a React App Course: https://jilltodkar.notion.site/Freighter-Frenzy-Soroban-React-and-the-birthdates-shenanigans-edf5db18c60e4ad189fc9059d2039388?pvs=

  • Link to building a Roll the Dice dapp on Soroban: https://jilltodkar.notion.site/Rolling-the-Dice-on-Soroban-4aaf4e0400fd4f48a48cc40753de4526?pvs=4

• Gigs: Hosting five gigs on the platform, totaling $1,000 in incentives, aimed to kickstart builders' Soroban journey. These gigs encompassed various tasks, from smaller integrations on our platform to deploying mini smart contracts. In total, we received 15 submissions across these bounties.

Initial Activation and Product Proof of Concept

Recognizing the untapped potential in the Asian market, particularly in India and Vietnam, we've identified a significant opportunity to engage skilled developers and bolster the Stellar ecosystem.

Community Events

In our upcoming efforts, we plan to amplify our developer outreach through a series of in-person hackathons spanning India and Vietnam, complementing our ongoing engagements within technical college circuits. This strategic approach aims to cultivate robust builder communities in these regions.

Overall Mission:

• Host 10 developer workshops across India, facilitating Stellar and Soroban onboarding.
• Organize three weekend hackathons, culminating in a nationwide event.
• Establish a week-long Soroban Builders' Residency in Bangalore, India's tech hub, gathering the top 20 developers from workshops, hackathons, and online applications. These developers will collaborate on impactful projects, mentored by Onboarding.club and ideally, representatives from the Stellar Foundation.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Targeting 100+ participants per event.
• Aiming for the development of at least 50 projects during the hackathons.
• Supporting a minimum of 10 projects for further development on Stellar, with potential backing from the SCF.

Product

Addressing a prevalent concern voiced by builders during our interactions, we've identified the need for a robust solution to verify builder legitimacy and credibility. Introducing our cutting-edge Proof of Reputation (PoR) Engine, the Orion Ring on Onboarding.club, designed to authenticate developer activity on-chain via Stellar.

Data Sources for PoR:

• Developer contributions and project data from GitLab and GitHub.
• Skills and language proficiency derived from projects on GitHub.
• Community engagement metrics from platforms like Stack Overflow, Warpcast, and Discord.
• On-chain data tracking blockchain activity, including contracts deployed and proposals voted.
• Onboarding.club platform activity data.
• Attestations and peer reviews from previous employers for work experience and performance.

How PoR Works:

User data from these diverse sources is aggregated and stored as metadata, forming the basis of a dynamic Reputation Score. Advanced metrics and segmentation continuously refine this score, providing a transparent assessment of a developer's credibility.

Beneficiaries of PoR:

• Empowering builders to showcase their work transparently.
• Facilitating better hiring decisions for organizations through verified credentials.
• Assisting foundations in evaluating builders effectively and deterring grant exploitation.
• Encouraging Open Source Development and promoting genuine builder profiles.
• Safeguarding against fraudulent activities such as backdated Git commits and falsified credentials.

Utilizing Soroban

Our vision entails integrating Soroban for on-chain verification, leveraging its high transaction speed and minimal gas fees. Each user profile will be linked to a mutable Soul Bound Token (SBT), with metadata stored on IPFS for efficient, verifiable data storage.

Course Creation

Expanding on our current courses listed on the platform, we're developing intermediate to advanced courses on Soroban, enhancing the learning experience through gamification and NFT rewards for course completion. Our platform tracks user engagement, ensuring content comprehension before badge issuance.

Bounties

Building on our previous efforts, we plan to extend bounty outreach to other Stellar projects, leveraging our growing developer community's expertise and engagement.