Gmgm everyone !
I wanted to briefly address something we came across recently. We noticed that The Social Mask grant proposal, which aimed to build a new platform around journalism and privacy, was rejected, mainly due to concerns around the difficulty of bootstrapping a brand-new platform, user acquisition challenges, and the risk of spreading efforts too thin at an early stage. These concerns are absolutely valid, and we’ve taken the time to reflect seriously on them.
That said, we want to clearly explain how ZKFIED differs in both scope and execution. Our project is not an abstract platform idea or a launch and hope experiment. We are already building, shipping, and iterating with a concrete, narrow initial use case, and with clear feedback loops. Our focus is on execution first, traction second, and only then expansion, not on trying to solve everything at once.
It’s also important to highlight that both of us come from finance and business studies, and we’ve previously worked on projects where audience targeting, distribution, and gtm strategy were critical to success. We’re very aware that technology alone is not enough; understanding user incentives, channels, and adoption dynamics is just as important, and this is something we’ve already applied in past work.
With ZKFIED specifically, we’re taking a deliberate approach: starting small, validating real usage, and integrating tightly with existing ecosystems rather than trying to replace them. If certain assumptions prove wrong, we’re fully prepared to adapt, whether that means narrowing further, pivoting integration points, or adjusting the product surface to better align with what the ecosystem actually needs.
We fully understand that building new platforms is hard, that’s precisely why we’re committed to going all in, both technically and strategically. This grant is not about funding an idea we might abandon; it’s about accelerating work we are already deeply invested in and intend to pursue long-term.
If there are concerns, suggestions, or alternative directions that could make ZKFIED stronger or more aligned with current priorities, we’re genuinely open to them. We’re here to build, listen, and prove this through sustained execution.
Thanks for the honest feedback in advance, we take that seriously 