Token Works
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FundingWorks

FundingWorks
05-12-25•funding.works•contract

Project Overview

FundingWorks is a non-speculative funding model building long lasting partnerships between creators and supporters on Ethereum

Mechanics

  • Creators can create campaigns
  • Supporters commit ETH to creators, not products.
  • Creators can use the funds as they choose.
  • ETH is held inside a soulbound NFT and vested to the creator over time.
  • Supporters can burn their NFT to withdraw unspent funds, pro-rata.

Backstory

  • I had a lot of inbound from VCs for TokenWorks, but nothing really made sense to me.
  • That being said, I still wanted to capture momentum and be able to fund my ideas.
  • A soulbound NFT would prevent overspeculation, which would prevent too much pressure on me.
  • Allowing supporters to burn made the relationship two-sided and kept me accountable.
  • I decided to launch a factory contract so that anyone could launch their own campaign if I enabled it.

The Launch

  • 7 day mint window, with an allowlist and public phase. 1e each, up to 250 NFTs.
  • There was an allowlist phase that lasted 2 days.
  • Only 15/150 were minted.
  • Once public started, mints slowly came in until about 125 were minted.
  • After the halfway mark, the remaining sold out in about an hour.

What Went Right

  • Raised 250e from 170~ people. This showed clear demand in my ideas.
  • I was paid out 25e instantly, and the remaining ETH trickles to me every second.
  • At the time of writing, 104/250 NFTs have been burned. Everyone who has burned has left on good terms as they felt being able to get a partial refund makes sense.
  • No bugs in the minting/burning logic, which is always the scariest part.
  • Inbound from a few creators who wanted to launch their own campaigns.

What Went Wrong

  • For my specific campaign, too many speculators ended up minting at the end. Many did not know what the project was and were attempting to flip.
  • Seeing funds be removed from the contract is a bit brutal, but that is the game I signed up for. That being said, it's an essential mechanism that protects both parties.
  • Each time I launch a new project, it reminds people they can burn their NFT. This disincentivizes me to launch projects.
  • New people wanted to buy from the users who burned at their burn price (which would have kept the same amount of funds going to me), but that's not built into the contract.

Wrap-up

FundingWorks is definitely my most successful project so far. I tried to think on a grander scale and create something that will last for years rather than days.

The contract eventually will allow anyone to permissionlessly launch. There is almost 0 external dependencies other than hosting the images on IPFS.

I'm very proud of this project and the interest it generated. It's both helped remove financial pressure from mint funds while also keeping me motivated to create as I see the initial pile of funds dwindle from disgruntled supporters.